Sermon - 2019-03-13 - Prayer and Worship

1. Prayer - This is a basic one but also is one of the hardest things for us to do.  Whether it is personal prayer or praying with others. We often do not do this, but it is the connection that we have with God.  The way in which we share with God what is on our hearts and minds, but also to take the time to listen to what God is sharing with us.  
2. Worship - This is similar to prayer, is so basic but often times we determine; what am I getting out of it.  However, it is not about YOU. Worship is a means of being with others. It is to be in the presence of God, but also being with others to know that we are not alone.  We are in a community.

Tonight, we begin a series of conversations and reflections based on key aspects that a disciple does in order continue to strive on this journey of faith.  For many of us, we go through the motions of our faith but we need sometimes to come back to the root of meaning so that we can be encouraged, correct ourselves, and even support one another as a community of people.  

Tonight, I want to talk about two marks but really they are two aspects of the same purpose.  The marks are of: Prayer and Worship. Now both of these are dealing with your relationship with God and your connection to God.  However, prayer is often done as a more private aspect but can be used in public means. Worship is often a public format but can also be small and intimate as well.  

Both of these are so very important within our continued growth and understanding of God.  For prayer, is a connection with God in which we are able to share all that is on our heart, our mind, and all the burdens and celebrations that we have in this world.  Prayer does not stop there. Prayer leads us to hear the message that God is also wanting us to hear: that God is with us every single step of this journey, that God knows our challenges and heartaches but God is picking us up every single moment, and that God delivers to us what it is that we need, not what we want but what we need.  

So similarly is worship to prayer, I put these together.  Many of the same aspects are present. In the worship service, we bring all that we are to the worship service.  However in the worship service, an understanding is shared with us that worship is NOT about YOU but rather it is about God and what God has done FOR YOU.  As you gather with others for worship, God reminds you that you are not alone but an entire community of people are with you. Now it is here in midst of worship, in the presence of God and in the midst of others, we bear witness to the love God that enters into our life.  In worship, our focus shifts from ourselves to others and specifically God. God, the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of the world cares about the whole of Creation, also cares about you. We gather to also learn more about what it is God is calling us to focus on that is outside of our own thoughts.  We are gotten out of our own minds and into the heart and mind of God to really look at the world. Now not only is our worship service only focused on our hearts and minds but also on our own bodies. As we go through worship, we have you stand and sit and within some churches they will also kneel. This is often jokingly called Christian Calisthenics.  

Now for many, these two marks of discipleship are what we engage in, especially worship.  However both of these are the foundational support of our faith, to nurture it to grow and develop to what God is calling us to be as disciples.  It is this foundation that can and will sustain us through the challenges while giving us hope to the future and know that God will continue to celebrate with us in the joys of the world.