Dear Friends,

I'd like to thank those of you who came out for our congregational information meeting Sunday evening.  There was a spirit of love for Christ and His church that was palpable.  It is not hard to imagine how a congregational meeting dealing with matters of finance, property, and vision could devolve into an unpleasant atmosphere neither conducive to building the body nor to our witness to the world.  Sadly, such meetings often do wind up that way, but to your credit that did not happen Sunday night.  I cannot commend you enough for your tone and level of participation.

We have concluded our brief series of sermons on worship.  Over the past six Sundays we looked at the Scriptures to see what God has said about how we worship and whom we worship.  We have seen Biblical pictures of both right worship and wrong worship.  Last week we considered the touchy issue of music.  Instead of naming specific songs that may or may not be appropriate for worship, I tried to give us some Biblical categories for how we think about music in the Body of Christ, as well as how to apply the guidance of Ephesians 5:8-9 to particular songs.  As we conclude our examination of this important subject, let me encourage you to think about worship throughout this and every week.

Of course, we use the term "worship" in at least two senses.  There is the good and right worship of God in every aspect of life (Romans 12:1-2), as we live Coram Deo (before the face of God).  You worship God as you do your work unto Him.  A woman in a friend's congregation has a sign over her kitchen sink that reads "Divine worship offered here three times every day."  Whether you are a minister, a doctor, a salesman, a teacher, or a ditch-digger, your work is worship to God, who made you in His image.

I'm thinking more narrowly about how we follow up to gathered worship on the Lord's Day, as well as how we prepare.  First, take time in the early part of the week to review your notes from the sermon.  We also publish in each bulletin some application questions that can help you tease out the implications of the sermon in your own situation.  Second, look back at the prayer list from the previous week's bulletin.  We have the great privilege of going to the Father in prayer.  Praying for one another in the Body of Christ will quietly and invisibly bind us more tightly in Christ and to each other.  Third, when the CCConnect comes out each week, begin looking ahead at the passage of Scripture to be preached.  Sing the upcoming songs in family worship.  Stoke the fires of a holy anticipation.  Pray for the preacher and the music leaders in their preparation.  Pray that God would call and bring life to the unconverted who will worship with us on Sunday.  Ask the Spirit of God to change how you think, what you feel, and what you do as the Word of God is sung, read, prayed, taught-even seen, as it is in the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper.