A Heart of Worship

May 8, 2011

Our family visited the beach recently
and experienced God's
amazing ability to create beauty.
A friend of mine commented,

I view sunrises and sunsets as special times when our Creator comes near to hand-paint the sky with His unique colors and clouds for our appreciation.

Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and all that move in them.
Psalm 69:34







Dec. 15, 2011

Here is a link to view our Christmas cantata, "Emmanuel Has Come" on Youtube.
click here:
http://youtu.be/Rif7d6cdDrI







Dec. 8, 2011

At 7:00 pm on Friday and Saturday evenings this week, our church choir is presenting the cantata, "Emmanuel Has Come" by Don Moen.  This will be a wonderful worship experience filled with songs of praise, hope and worship.

"Emmanuel Has Come" is a beautiful cantata.  If you are in the area and available one of these two evenings, please come join us at Crossroads Fellowship.  You will be blessed and encouraged -- come experience His presence and peace, be filled with His joy and strength.

Do you live out of town but would like to experience the cantata "Live!" -- click on the link below to go to our church website.  On the Home Page you will see an icon below the Emmanuel Has Come picture.  Click on the icon at the time of the cantata (7:00 pm eastern time) for live streaming video.  

http://www.crossroadschurchinaugusta.com/Default.aspx

or copy and paste this address in your browser:
http://www.crossroadschurchinaugusta.com/Default.aspx


Oct. 10, 2011

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.  Psalm 84:5

There is nothing casual or everyday about worshiping a holy God, even though we are able to worship Him throughout the day and on a daily basis.  Psalm 24 says, Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?  Who  may stand in his holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. 

When we make the pilgrimage to the place of worship do we recognize Who He is?  Are we aware of who we are?  Do we acknowledge His supremacy?  What offering do we bring?  What sacrifice is made?  

There is nothing ordinary about worshiping a holy God.  The pilgrimage requires of us time, effort, initiative, energy and much more.  We don't just worship with our lips.  "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."  Isaiah 29:13  Our worship is not routine and is not an act that springs from obligation.  Worship erupts from a heart overwhelmed with adoration...the response of the heart transformed, the life redeemed.  Worship is the desire of those who have personally experienced the sufficiency of God's grace and who stand in awe of His unwavering faithfulness.

Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 6 of seeing the Lord.  His worship experience had a great affect on him both physically and spiritually. We, too, should expect that our times of worship will bring about change in our lives. Standing in the presence of the awesome, holy God is an encounter not quickly forgotten. 

There is One worthy of our worship.  Only One.  He has set the heavens in place, named the stars, and created every living thing.  He knows our heart, the number of hairs on our head and is intimately acquainted with every aspect of our life here on earth.  There is no end to describing Who he is.  He is more than we can possibly understand, and His love for us is fathomless.   

We offer Him our lives, clean hands and a pure heart, poured out as a living sacrifice.  We don't present  Him perfection.  We offer humble hearts, aware of our need for His cleansing and healing...grateful hearts that recognize His faithful and abundant provision...always keeping in mind that our offering must be proper, giving Him our best and not what's left over.

Come, worship the Lord, for we are His. 

July 19, 2011

Worship comes within the moments of our days and is not just a moment set aside to acknowledge His worthiness, although we have those, as well.  So much is missed if we only think about worship in the corporate setting or only when we are having our quiet/devotional time.  Worshiping in spirit encompasses all the parts of us that make up our lives.  To think we can compartmentalize our worship to be contemplated only at our discretion is very much the same as thinking we can somehow fit God in a box. Worship isn't about us. Worship is about Him. Any attempt to manipulate worship to suit our preference and convenience loses footing at the very heart of true worship. Yielding to the authority and nature of the Holy God is a choice, but if you are willing, it can be so much more.
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This phrase, "a heart of worship" is one that I've heard tossed around quite a bit.  In fact, I've used it myself.  What is a heart of worship?  What does a heart of worship look like?  Or what is at "the heart" of worship?

I tend to think of worship as a lifestyle rather than an isolated act.  When a heart is focused on God, surrendered and in a state of awe at who God is, this affects every part of the life.