Rolling Out The Red Carpet

I recently had the pleasure of helping with my Brother-in-law's wedding.  My son, Gabe, was the ring bearer.  Months and months were spent preparing every single detail down to the very songs that would be played as people walked into the church.  I remember waiting for the wedding to start, thinking of all of the preparations.  Beautiful flowers decorated the aisles, guests attended in their best attire, and the sound of Canon in D played by a beautiful stringed quartet...heavenly.  The wedding party began to enter and my heart grew with excitement as I knew that we would get to see the Bride and Groom share their most intimate pledges to one another.  Soon after the familiar Wedding March began, and the Bride and her Father entered...everyone rose to their feet in honor of the Bride. 

Our worship times are very similar to the preparations for a wedding.  We are rolling out the red carpet, welcoming and thanking God.  Just as in a wedding we are preparing our hearts for the celebration and the intimate relationship with our Bridegroom, the one true God.  But then, as with our marriage, if we don't think about it and give attention and care to it, we can become lazy in worship, calloused to His Spirit.  We can begin to do what we've always done because that is comfortable.  We forget that we are truly rolling out the red carpet to welcome God’s presence and hear from Him.  

This week during your personal time of worship think about a song or a verse that rolls out the red carpet of your heart for His Spirit to speak.  I have many but recently that song has been Waiting Here for You.  I have gone through a time of waiting so I can very much relate to the words of this song.

T-shirts Anyone?

A couple of weeks ago when we attended the Mini-Summit, Bill Hybels encouraged each ministry to consider a “nutshell” thought that described your ministry’s vision – perhaps something that could be quickly read, sort of like a saying on a t-shirt.  That caught my imagination; in fact, I probably missed the next five minutes of what he was saying because I was trying to think of what I’d put on a t-shirt to identify TABC’s worship ministries.
 

At that same time we were in the midst of fine tuning plans for the Uninhibited Worship event, and it was fresh on my mind that we were going to use small bottles of sand for each person to pour out altogether into one larger container to symbolize how worship is a pouring out of ourselves and joining together with others in serving and glorifying God.

Those thoughts all evolved into what has stuck with me for a while now – Poured Out for His Glory.  I don’t need a t-shirt to wear stating this, but I do want to keep that thought at the front of my mind.  Daily I want to be emptied of myself and poured out with my Brothers and Sisters in acts of worship for God’s glory!

What would you put on your t-shirt as a “nutshell” statement for this season of your life?

Joann

Invitation

I just wanted to take a moment to personally invite you all to our Uninhibited Worship event. It is going to be a great chance to lift up the name of Jesus, learn a little bit more about what worship truly is, and exhalt Him in more ways than just music. The definition of uninhibited is the ability to express thoughts and feelings freely, the freedom to act, and to not be restrained. Our goal is to provide an atmosphere where we can all put our hindrances aside and give all of who we are to the only one who deserves it. It will also be a place where you can feel free to worship in whatever way is comfortable for you. Whether that is sitting, standing, kneeling, arms raised, eyes closed, it doesn't matter, we just want to enable you to show Him reverence in a way that fits you.  There will be music, a chance to write an expression of love or thanks to God, and an opportunity to corporately express unity in our praise. We are all called to worship. So come out & lift your praises to the King who is more than worthy of all we have to offer.


Jason