My initial thought was 'What is he going to ask me to do? Don't answer yet. He can leave a message. Ugh! Dang it! Ok - answer and say no. No. No, Jill ... you are busy... Hellloooooo!'
He asked me if I would give a little testimony to the congregation this coming Sunday about why I worship ... YES I said ... lol whoops :)
So I am 2 days out from addressing the church on the importance of worship and I haven't really decided what I am going to say - what direction I am moving in - what scripture I can use ... the whole shabang...
BTDubs!! If you weren't currently in the know - I am a worship leader at my Church!! If you ever want to come to St Andrews Presby in Dunedin I am the chick with the microphone in the contemporary service completely lost in the power of Jesus!
So I guess I could start by saying ... DANG it feels freakin amazing to worship! Even though it doesn't always make me smile ... sometimes when I am up on the platform singing even though I am worshiping and loving on God, I am working through tough stuff ... sometimes I'm crying and I have stress on my face and then other times, MAN I just feel so free -- Like I'm out of my body and my arms are spread out and I am just singing the glory of God to whoever hears it.
When I am not in the church and I am not serving God's purpose for my life - I just don't feel right - like a lot gets bottled up through the week and by the time Sunday rolls around I'm ready to burst!! And the explosion could come in the form of tears or smiles ... but always ALWAYS I combine it with surrender and I leave it all up on the platform. I worship til I feel depleted ... when I walk off that stage and out those doors my knees are weak, my heart is beating intensely, my mouth is dry ... Thank God for the sermon!! It is planned at just the right time ... I get replenished with a message, with the PROMISE, of love ... Who else can pull out your fears, your grief, your pain, that quickly and then fill you right back up with hope and joy? JESUS!
Jesus hung on a cross and was drained completely of life, He surrendered every bit of Himself, every ounce of resistance... He left everything on that cross and God filled Him again and gave Him new life -- That is the EXACT promise on which we stand as followers of Christ! Should we worship him for that? YES!
I worship the way that I worship because I was directly called to it.
What does worship look like for you?? Everyone does it differently ... some people sit quietly in their seats, lip sync, or sing really loud, or close their eyes, sway, hold their hands to their chest ...
Worship has no definitive appearance .. HECK some people dance and jump in the aisles and get on their hands and knees at the altar ... I know because I went to a wild service in the Bible belt while I was on vacation ... We are rigid compared that crew!
If you are going to worship and do it with your whole being - you have to forget about what you look like, what you think other people are going to think about what you look like and just do it... If you want to shout AMEN and roll in the aisles because that makes you feel closer to the Lord then that is what you need to do -- if you want to sit quietly at your seat with your eyes closed because that makes you feel closer to the Lord then that is what you need to do ...
You know that saying "Dance like no one is watching." How about we start saying "Worship like no one is watching!!!!!" I like that so much better!!!!!
Now excuse me while I go do my Jesus Jig and sing my Hallelujahs!
No comments:
Post a Comment