Wanna laugh really hard?! This little clip gave me the biggest laugh I’ve had in a long time. Check it out….. http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2007/ellen-gladys-hardy-p1.php?emf=1 and let me know what you think. OMGosh I laughed so hard. Be sure to watch it all the way through to the end. I’m off to watch it again. Enjoy!
PUMPED! March 12, 2008
Boy oh boy….if wasn’t pumped up before, I sure am now! I’ve just spent some time in worship and I am on FIRE! It still amazes me that in my desire to bless the Lord, I’m the one who ends up blessed. All I want to do is worship Him, but the way He pours out His love on me just astounds me.
God continues to bless our church family too. This week we’re having our first service at our new home on 28E. How exciting is that?!?! It’s going to be a wonderful time of worship together. My husband and a few of our kids haven’t even seen the new building yet, so it’ll be neat watching their response. It really is a beautiful building.
The music part of the service has me really excited too. As usual, I’m not going to tell you the songs, but I’ve been totally lost in worship all week, preparing for Sunday morning. I start out with the plan to prepare and practice. I end up lost in worship. Then I feel guilty that I haven’t really prepared. But I found some encouragement in that this morning that really put things in perspective for me.
I read an interesting blog post by Ben Trigg at http://bentrigg.wordpress.com/2008/03/11/the-intimacy-of-worship/ this morning. It talks about getting lost in worship and what the whole point of it is. When I look at it that way, I see that getting lost in worship really is the best preperation of all for Sunday mornings. My desire is to worship Him….to serve Him. How can I do that if I’m not actually spending time with Him? After all, my first service is to Him.
While serving the Lord, I also want to serve my congregation. The best I can offer Christ is my whole heart…every part of me. The best I can offer my congregation is a heart that truly wants them to experience worship with me. My heart cries out to the Lord. I just want to know Him more, to love Him more. I want so much to make His name known and for His people to worship Him….I mean REALLY worship Him. To just open their hearts and adore Him with me. Corporate worship (when we all worship together) is such a powerful thing. When, in unity, we bring praise to and glorify the Lord, He enters into the midst of us. He walks among us, inhabiting our praise. He overwhelms us with His Spirit.
The Lord has blessed me beyond anything I could ever truly convey. Beyond all the earthly pleasures (family, health, friends, a home), He’s brought me into an intimate friendship with Him. He comforts me when I hurt, encourages me when I’m down, listens to me when I can’t seem to shut up and speaks to me when I’m quiet. Sometimes my heart is so filled with His love that I just don’t think my body is big enough to hold it all in. I’m betting that most of the people reading this can say the same.
So when I worship, all of that just pours out of me. I can never give Him enough of my love. I’ve tried. It’s impossible. I can’t sing loud enough, long enough, love big enough, nothing. My offering of worship seems so tiny compared to His greatness and holiness. Yet He takes my meager offering of worship and shapes it into something that is beautiful to Him. And then He covers me in His love.
I want so much for everyone to experience His love during worship. If we could all just get a taste of it, we would be overcome. This Sunday, let’s worship Him with all our hearts. Let’s push everthing else aside and focus on Him, His goodness, how amazing He is. Let’s sing together of His mighty power, His overwhelming love. Let’s stand together, awestruck by Him. Better yet, let’s not wait until Sunday to do it. Let’s do it today. Just let go and worship Him. Adore Him. Love Him. Let Sunday morning just be a continuation, an overflow of what you’ve experienced all week.
I’d probably better stop now or this could turn into a book. I’m just so excited about His love and what He’s doing in my heart & in our church family. How can I not praise Him?!
