Come and Worship
Come, let us bow down and worship, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker. Psalm 95:6
Bishop Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, advocates seven spiritual practices. One of those practices is worship. A few months ago, Paul Henry’s online class hosted his seminary friend, Reverend Bill McCleery from North Carolina, for a discussion of those seven practices using the contents of Scott Gunn’s book, The Way of Love -A Practical Guide to Following Jesus.
We have various ways to worship at St. John’s. There is the 9:00 am contemporary service, the 10:30 am traditional service, and the online/livestream version of the traditional service. Other churches have online services, as well, and many like those of Adam Hamilton at Church of the Resurrection in Kansas.
Gunn claims that getting to church puts us in a right relation to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and our neighbor. He goes on to assert that a love of God is the key component of worship - an offering of our best to Him. Such worship is a glue that holds our spiritual practices together. For most, Sunday is the traditional day for worship. Gunn thinks that we need to get ourselves physically to the church building (if physically able) to worship with those in our faith community who also follow Jesus. For those unable to attend a service, the online worship offerings are available. Sunday worship needs to be on our calendar, be it in person or online.
In addition to honoring God, in person worship allows us to support our neighbor in the pew through a smile, a wave, a hug, an encouraging word. Some weeks we might be eager to attend worship while other times getting there may seem to be a chore. One Sunday we may be able to give comfort, but the next Sunday we may need reminders of God’s love. Worship involves other spiritual practices – turning away from daily stresses, prayer, rest from the business of daily life, learning something new from the sermon, blessings given or received, and incentives to go into the world to serve.
Prayer: Lord, we know that we need to honor You by worship. Now that the summer vacation season is ending, help us to get back into the habit of doing so weekly. Amen.
Carol Rice
