You should have been there!

Country singer Roy Clark told a media interviewer once, "When I am invited to a party or other social event, I always go.  I do not like getting a knock on the door early the next morning with someone saying, 'You should have been there last night.'" 

If there were those who missed worship some Sunday, would you call them to reflect on the exciting praise and worship they missed, and say something like, "You should have been there!" Could we relate to them the awesomeness of the prayers, or the genuine sensing of the presence of God during communion? A better question might be; could we even tell them what the sermon was about?  or which songs brought you the greatest blessing?

When I sense the presence and approval of the Lord throughout every aspect of  worship,  I find myself asking, why can't it be like this every Sunday?  I soon realize that the opportunity for encouraging and uplifting worship isn't God's responsibility, its MINE! And it's yours, too.  I know God was present with us last Sunday and it was very special. But I also know he is present with us every Sunday, even when we do not feel so uplifted.  I wrestled with that thought a bit and came to the conclusion the problem isn't God, it's us.   When we come to worship, we are accustomed to bringing with us all the stress, all the problems, all the sore feelings, and all things negative.  We are even sometimes the self-appointed servant of the Lord to watch out for things that go wrong, or things we don't agree with. Is it any wonder that we enter with a frown and leave with a bigger frown?  He welcomes us to bring all the negative and let him lift our burden, so he can bless us with things gloriously positive. There is not a single reason for anyone to depart from a worship assembly with a frown!

By his grace and the love he extends to us, worship is our time to show the gratitude of our hearts for all he has done. He welcomes us into his presence so he can see his children, his very own, as they praise him for his goodness and greatness. Yes, we can also come with fear and guilt and shame, but he offers us peace and love and forgiveness.

In the love I have for each of you, I tell you the goal for every Sunday worship is the praise and glory of God.  We can deal Satan a huge defeat weekly as he sees our hearts full of praise and honor for our Lord.

I sense the excitement and happiness when new believers are brought into God's family, but also in our worship, we who have been Christians for years become victorious over our sins, our lukewarm lives, our "going through the motions."  With God's help, we can enjoy victory.  With His help, we can continually praise and honor him.  He is the audience, and He will not miss a single gathering of His people when they assemble for worship. God bless.

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