Psalm 57:7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.
Yesterday, a loud bang occurred that shook the entire church building. It wasn’t an earthquake or an explosion. It was the demolishing of the concrete entranceway to our sanctuary. We’re building a new carport that will allow our people to drive their cars to the front door. Our church rests upon a steep incline which makes it difficult for some of our seniors and families to walk from their cars to the sanctuary, especially when it is wet. Over the years, several people have fallen in slippery conditions, so we’re hoping to put an end to that by building the new entranceway with a car port.
The downside is that this demolition and construction is going to affect us for about four months. Our people will have to come into the sanctuary from a different set of doors. It will be inconvenient for a while, but the hope is that our people will still faithfully attend church each Sunday because they want to worship together in the sanctuary. Our hearts will be steadfast and we will sing and make music to the glory of the Lord.
This will also give us an opportunity to see what kind of priority our people give to worship. Churches exist purely to glorify Christ and praise the Name of God. Everything else that we do as a church is merely temporal and peripheral. Worship takes place in Heaven and on Earth. Worship goes beyond this world and on into the next. Worship is infinite; all else that we do is finite and limited to this one life. If we choose to be active in our faith community, but do not make worship a priority, then we are only serving ourselves and dishonoring God by robbing Him of the glory and praise due to Him for His work amongst us.
For the next four months, it will be interesting to see what happens to our worship numbers. I hope that the Holy Spirit will bless each of our people with perseverance and patience, enthusiasm and endurance so that by the end of summer, our worshipping community will actually be stronger, more faithful, and closer to God.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the blessing of worship in our lives, churches, and communities. We praise You for such a divine privilege and we pray that we will never take it for granted. Throughout times of change and challenge, keep us consistently seeking to praise, glorify, and worship You. Both now and forever, we pray. Amen.
John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.
Today’s image is of John’s latest drawing called Sunsphere Celebration which depicts the Knoxville Sunsphere on Independence Day. If you would like to view a larger version online, please click the following link: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/4698147293_f49d8d39a6_b.jpg
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