“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.  They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.  Yet their voice goes into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”  Psalm 19:1-4

To my recollection, I think my first “Empowering Encounter” of worship was when I was about 12 years old.  It was on a beautiful summer night in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern California.

Summer vacation for our family was always a trip to our cabin in Calpine, California.  Being farmers, my parents had few vacations in the summer, but they had a co-op deal with another farmer who would look after our chickens and animals while we were gone and then we’d look after their turkeys and animals while they were gone.  However, the vacations we had were always memorable.  Early morning trout fishing in the streams of the Sierra Valley, delicious trout and egg breakfast, games and swimming in the heat of the day, and bonfires at night. 

One evening, we were having a bonfire at the reservoir above our cabin.  I walked up the levy with one of my girlfriends, Susie, and we laid down in the soft grass and looked up into the sky.  It was the most spectacular sight I had ever seen.  It was a hot August night, the moon was just a sliver, and the only light was the glow of the bonfire in the distance.  The stars seemed to be so bright and the sky was full of stars of all different sizes layered for millions, upon millions of miles.  I could only say “WOW, God is big!”  We both laid there in absolute awe of the majesty of our Heavenly Father. I never felt so small and yet so filled with the sense of God’s deep and abiding love for me.  Amazed that the creator of everything, would love and care about “little ol’ me”.

I don’t think I realized at the time what an incredible act of worship I had just experienced.  But from then on, I was much more aware of the how God’s creation shouts His Glory to all.

Join me this Sunday as we explore together “Living Worship” in our everyday life.  When we can do that, it takes everything to a new level of excitement and joy.

Pastor Linda Skinner