We continued on in our study from Renew Your Worship with the subject “Worship Gathers the People”. We dove a little deeper into what the acts of entrance do in worship. Webber states “An entrance is comprised of acts of worship that bring people into the presence of God and prepare them to hear the word of the Lord.” We focused on the Contemporary Worship model. In this model we see a direct correlation to the tabernacle worship. We enter through the gates with thanksgiving, praise in the inner and outer courts and then worship in the holy of holies (thanks to the tearing of the veil at Jesus’ death).
As a group we discussed that in order for worship to be alive we need to discern where life is coming from and be a part of it. This means that if God is alive in your church via video, or if people are hurting, or if people are bursting with praise…be a part of those things. Allow for people to experience the life of Christ in those things. This helps them with the story. It allows them to move forward in worship and not catch up. It’s logical to help people focus on the time to worship.
Some of the things that help us focus in on worship are:
Prayer time, singing (thinking about the words), the wind down after announcements and leading into praise (this signifies the transition into our corporate worship), it’s also important to gather the people with a welcome and greetings, accountability (ask yourself, your spouse, your family, your friends “are you prepared to worship”. this is a question that helps center people in worship), and music that is infused by the Spirit. If we know that the Spirit is in all things that bring honor to God we know he is in the music and in all things that serve His purpose on Sunday mornings. We need to be praying that God will allow us to see him and that our eyes would be revealed to his presence in worship.
God will help us focus, move us into community and reveal himself to us if we just ask Him to.
This week during our time together on wednesday night we will be experiencing worship in a different way. We will be journeying through the tabernacle and entering his courts with thanksgiving, singing praise in the inner and outer courts, offering a sacrifice, and basking in the presence of God in the Holy of Holies. The beauty of the tabernacle model is that there is no back door so we need to do all of these things in reverse order as we leave.
If you are a part of this class, please prepare your hearts for worship and communion for tomorrow night.
