Gathered to Worship

Hebrews 10:19-25 New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁹ And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. ²⁰ By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. ²¹ And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, ²² let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

²³ Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. ²⁴ Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. ²⁵ And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

I participate in a large community Bible study in our town and before we go into our small groups each week we spend a few minutes in worship together. I truly enjoy this time of worshiping with ladies from other walks of life. We represent different age groups, towns, churches, and denominations, but when we stand there together with voices raised in worship and praise to the One True God, we are all the same. We are  family lifting high our Father, Redeemer, King! We are the body...His body...the Church! We make up His temple...the place where His Holy Spirit dwells! I want to challenge us this Sunday to think about the obstacles that stand in the way of our corporate worship. Am I more focused on the ones who lead us than the One we are worshiping? Does my mind slip away to some worry I cannot seem to put down or some hurt I cannot leave behind? Am I easily distracted by other things happening in the room? Do my thoughts turn to what the rest of the day holds? Will I contemplate my own preferences in worship style? You can probably think of many other distractions. What would it look like if today we engaged fully and did not let one thing stand between us and complete surrender in worship? How would we be different? How would it impact us? How would it impact the worship service we attend? Wonder what it would be like if I was giving all of myself in worship and you were giving all of yourself and the next person gave all of herself and so on...let's give it a try!