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Worship

I will never forget one evening in my undergrad studies when we had a traveling dinner night consisting of several dishes from various South American countries. We went from apartment to apartment learning of different culture's traditions and tasting bits of their traditional treats. After plenty of pupusas, tostones, arroz con pollo, y mas the guests began to say their goodbyes and depart. One of the guests said his goodbye, "Thank you for worshiping with me." At first, I was thrown off. Worshiping? We were eating, yes. Laughing and learning, definitely, but worshiping? I was not convinced. Later that night I continued to dwell on his words. As I meditated on the evening I felt the Lord gently telling me our evening was in fact worship to His heart. He delighted in our celebrations.

Many individuals within the church today solely understand worship as a period in service of corporate singing. However, worship means so much more. Christian worship defines a natural response to the gospel. Worship includes our personal reaction to the liberating news of Christ's sacrifice for our sins.

In my church service today, we looked throughout the Psalms, finding imperatives in response to the character of God: Sing, declare, shout, ascribe, etc. The psalmist records the truths of God's character and actions. He then includes his natural response of worship:
Sing to the Lord.... for He has done marvelous things, Ps. 98
Extol Him with music and singing... for the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods, Ps.95
Shout for joy to the Lord... for the Lord is good Ps. 100
Praise the Lord...who forgives all your sins Ps.103 ... and the list goes on and on. May you take time to focus on the truth of the gospel. May you remember your natural response worships the Lord, whether singing, dancing, sharing with others, celebrating, etc. May the average moments of your day be filled with worship as you reflect on the gospel, God's glorious plan of love and forgiveness.

All my love,
Gennavieve

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