Bring Out the Book

The word of God is living and active

and sharper than any two-edged sword

Our church service lasts for about an hour.  It seems like it starts and before it really gets going, it ends.  I know that sometimes it feels like we approach going to church like we are selecting from a menu.  Let's see - let's go to the first service or maybe the contemporary service.  And then there is the service in the venue our church calls the Cafe where people worship with one hand on a cup of coffee.  I am not at all saying our church misses the mark.  People can worship in lots of different ways.  We learned that going to services in other countries.  We have a lot of people come to our church and it is great we provide different ways to allow them to worship.

But I often wonder if we really approach the word of God in a cavalier way.  In Nehemiah Chapter 8 at the dedication of the wall, there was a six hour church service.  You heard that right.  People heard the word preached from daybreak till noon.  But it was their attitude that caught my attention.

1. They listened attentively - v.3
2. They responded affirmatively - v.6
3. They worshiped appropriately (faces to the ground) - v.7
4. They applied it personally - they grieved - v.9
5. They celebrated joyfully - v.10

My attitude towards worship starts Saturday night.  I need to prepare my heart much earlier than Sunday morning.  I need to pray that God will work in my heart and that my time is a personal encounter with the living God in community with my brothers and sisters.  I need to pray that God will block out anything that gets in my way during that brief time.