Here's our set from yesterday: "Rise and Sing" [Steve Fee] "Hosanna" [Brooke Fraser, arr. by Starfield] "Glorious" [Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown] "Our God" [Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, and Jesse Reeves] "Cannons" [Phil Wickham] w/ tag: chorus of "Let My Words Be Few" [Matt Redman, Beth Redman] MESSAGE: "Catching a Glimpse of the Glory of God, Pt. 2" [Dr. Jay Dennis] INV: "Let My Words Be Few" [Matt Redman, Beth Redman] OFFERTORY: "Indescribable" [Laura Story]
This week was another great day of worship with Church at the Mall. Pastor Jay continued his message about the glory of God, and we led in that direction with the music. The glory and awe theme ran throughout the music, because when we see God in the truth of who He is, we cannot help but see ourselves more clearly. Such was the case for Isaiah, as Pastor Jay shared in his message from Isaiah 6. When Isaiah saw the Lord, high and lifted up, with the temple shaking and filled with smoke, and God's glory overwhelming everything, Isaiah's response was one of dread and fear, recognizing his own sin and unworthiness of standing in the presence of God. Because of Christ, our response can be a little different because we may not fear for our lives, but we should still see our own lives clearly and recognize God's grace and mercy all the more. We have no right to stand before God and enter into His presence. It is only because He made a way for us where there was no way. He redeemed us and adopted us and made us free. As a result, we can stand before God without fear, but we should never forget who we were or how desperate we are for His help and grace.
One could argue that it begins and ends with worship--we worship God for who He is and lift Him up in our praise, exalting Him and recognizing His surpassing worth and glory; then we see how unworthy and undeserving we are of His love, grace, and mercy; finally, we worship Him even more because of what He has done for us.
May we continue that cycle in our lives, worshiping Him wholeheartedly for who He is, seeing ourselves more clearly and honestly, and responding to Him with thanksgiving for all He has done.
The last few lines of "Indescribable" say it well: "Incomparable, unchangeable/ You see the depths of my heart/ And You love me the same/ You are amazing, God."
I hope you had a great day of worship wherever you were.
Bill