Note from Elihu: Good morning all! I hope you’ll take a moment to read the article below before going to worship. It is my prayer that it will help focus our hearts on Who we worship and Why.
I have a favor to ask of my WordPress readers: please take a moment this week to check out Friday’s article in the “Excuses” series. I had some glitch occur during publishing and my article went out via email, but never popped up in the WordPress reader. Thank you in advance for your time! I appreciate all of you so much.
May the Lord bless you richly!
“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe…”
Throughout my years of being a Christian, I’ve attended thousands of worship services. I’ve listened to sound and engaging preaching, endured a fair number of confusing sermons, sung countless songs, and watched the behavior of fellow Christians. I am ashamed to admit there are more than a few services from which I left saying, “I got nothing out of it.”
I frequently blamed the preaching, the song leading, the members nodding off, my own exhaustion, the failure of others to acknowledge my existence, but rarely did I do the thing that really needed to be done. Instead of saying, “I got nothing out of it, I should have been asking, “What did I put into it?”
When we feel like we are leaving worship “unfulfilled,” it’s time ask ourselves some hard questions.
What is the main purpose of worshipping with fellow Christians?
Worship isn’t about me and what I can get; it’s about God and giving to Him. In going to worship, I am offering a meager portion of my time, my attention, and my devoted praise to the Lord who loves me more than anyone else. Every Sunday, I have the opportunity to remember the death and the resurrection of Jesus. My salvation, the gift of grace, the peace that passes understanding all come to me through Jesus’ sacrifice. Without Him, I’d still be stumbling around in my hopelessness, chasing things that never satisfy.
In worshipping with fellow Christians, I should aim to stimulate and strengthen others to continue walking that narrow road to heaven. If a stranger who does not know the Lord comes into our worship, our love for God and one another should leave a deep impression. They should be welcomed warmly so they can see the love of Christ.
Don’t fuss over what you could be getting, focus on what you can be giving.
Elihu's Corner 
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
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Thank you for this reblog also! May the Lord bless you. 🙂
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You’re very welcome and God bless you too my friend 😎
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Thank you for sharing! I love this. It goes right with what I ‘preach’… Don’t critisize something you haven’t tried to improve! Blessings, Elihu!
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Amen to that! May the Lord bless you also.
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Valid advice.
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I love how you reframed your thinking. I read a devotional with some ladies in my Facebook Community called Worship Changes Everything, and it was powerful. Check it out on Youversion if you have time. May blessings abound! 😀
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Thank you! What a great recommendation. 😊 I’ll take a look. May you be blessed richly also!
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Very nice article, Elihu. I love my worship services! My church is different because we don’t have a preacher giving sermons, but we take turns as members giving talks on gospel principles and I love that. It really strengthens my testimony to hear from other members of my congregation. I have been working on my reflection of Christ as I partake of the sacrament. And then for the next two hours, I have the privilege of working one-on-one with a special needs child and that is so rewarding. It’s my “calling” and I get to feel of our Savior’s love for this child.
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That sounds like a very interesting way to engage the worshippers.
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It’s a wonderful way! We teach each other and lift each other up and whenever it’s my turn, it’s a chance to study the topic I’m assigned and grow my testimony.
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