Community is the domain I talked about yesterday. One of the areas where God seems to form us the most is in community. While there are a number of beneficial habits (spiritual disciplines) in community, I decided to introduce the habit of worship first. There is great formation potential in worship. My focus here is on public/corporate worship (church gathers). Here are some practical ideas to help you gain or perhaps make yourself more available to the Spirit’s leading for worship.
- Before you ever arrive, ask God to speak to you through the music, conversations, testimonies, prayers and teaching.
- Choose to be a participant.
- Arrive with an expectation to experience God.
- Come early and often.
- Stop by Connections Coffee for a latte (well, at least that’s my routine).
- Speak to those seated around you.
- Pray along in agreement when people are praying.
- Sing the congregational songs.
- Think about the words as you sing them and don’t focus on the style. The words are what is important.
- Take a risk and sing the ones you don’t know.
- Find one phrase in a song that day you can mediate and ponder upon in the coming week.
- Remember it’s about lifting the name of Jesus high.
- Remember it’s about rehearsing the character and attributes of God.
- If you want to raise your hands – that’s okay. It’s an expression of worship.
- Familiarize yourself with any introductory information printed or displayed.
- Pray for those leading in the service that day.
- Pray for those seated around you at the service.
- Ask God to removed the distraction that might interfere with your full attention.
- Take notes on the lesson to stay engaged and look back upon later in the week.
- Write down the main points of the lesson to review later.
- Underline or highlight passages or references discussed during the message.
- Are there any key words to identify and remember?
- Pray during the invitation for others who need to make a decision about their relationship with Christ or about becoming a part of the Cool Spring community.
- What’s your one takeaway that you can apply to your life this week? Determine practical steps to incorporate this into your life and start.
- Maybe you have an idea or two you’d like to add to the list?
Worship is a great time to learn. It’s when we remember, reinforce and encourage. We gather for a reason in community. Take advantage of this great forming opportunity and get the most out of worship.
