Sincere Worship

While I was privileged in 2009 to enjoy a 13 week sabbatical, I was able to visit various churches of all sizes throughout the western half of the United States. Then in the summer of 2009, my son Caleb and I made a road trip from Oregon to Orlando and back and visited various churches on that trip as well. One of the things that stuck out to me was just how performance based many churches have become. In the mega churches I visited, the worship was flawless, as if you were listening to a CD or MP3 in high quality but with singers and musicians who looked like they just walked out of a modeling magazine. While I enjoy good music and worship, I fear that North American expressions of Christianity and in particular, Christian worship, have become predominately, if not exclusively, performance based.

With that in mind, I want to share a portion of an email I received from a first time visitor to our church. I love hearing the great impressions that people have of our church, especially first impressions. It tells me that our church, in seeking to truly honor the Lord in all we do, is doing a lot of things right! Thanks worship team – Tim, Mike, Brad, Jim, Dan, Jacob, Karen, Connie, and Renee!

“Pastor John,
I am so glad God helped me to overcome all the reasons why I shouldn't go to church today! I was truly blessed by the music, teaching, and prayer... and I left knowing I had been in the presence of God and that I had been where I was suppose to be today.

The music wasn't a performance or a drudgery, but true worship. The message of the songs reached out to me in Spirit and Truth. As I sang I experienced an uplifting joy and a soft stirring of God's Spirit within me. I was able to lift my voice and heart to God in praise and adoration to Him. The teaching of God's Word was very fitting for my life and was taught from a different perspective than I have heard before... how refreshing.”