WorshipGod06 – Experiencing the Presence of God

“How many times have we gathered with the church to worship God and been unaware or only vaguely aware that God is present in His house? How many times have we sung songs of praise with our minds distracted in a thousand different places, completely unaware that God is present in His house? How many sermons have we listened to and been aware of the pastor’s voice, but only vaguely aware of God’s voice? How many times have we received communion and been aware of the bread and the cup, but been only vaguely aware of the Savior who is living in His people who are His house? It should be of great concern that Sunday after Sunday we could be in the presence of the living God and be unaware or only vaguely aware that He is there. God calls us to be clearly and distinctly perceptive to His presence. God is present in His people and when we gather on Sunday for corporate worship, He is present in our midst . . .

When God’s people gather, we gather to worship a personal God who is present. When we gather on Sunday we are not just running through a program or executing an order of service. We are not just moving through an agenda of a meeting. No, we are gathering in the presence of God to meet with Him personally and to recognize His presence in the church. We cannot honor God appropriately if we do not recognize His presence. We need to thirst for it, enjoy it, celebrate it, for otherwise He will not be properly worshipped. Recognizing God’s presence and responding to God’s presence is what Christian worship is about for we worship a personal God who is present now, here, and every Sunday when the church gathers.

When we think of God’s presence, we are prone to think He is only present to hear our worship. And it is true that He hears and receives our worship. Yet we must realize that God is not only gathered as a spectator, but He is also the actor and speaker in our worship. He is not there only to receive and observe, but to speak and to act. He is present in the table and in His word proclaimed. If we do not see this, we miss Him. God delights in speaking to us and to revealing Himself to us.”