As We Gather ...

One of my favorite songs as a new Christian was As We Gather. I can remember the first time I sang it and how it resonated in the depths of my new found love for God and for his people.

As we gather may your Spirit work within us... These words set me on a path that was to shape my very being and help me understand that to seek God met to seek the work of his Holy Spirit in the midst of his people. They help me understand that even though I have given my life to Christ and found a personal relationship with God through Jesus, my spiritual life would be continually influenced by his Spirit as I worshiped with his people.

Worship is what we do as God’s people; it is our primary calling. Yes, missions are to be supported, evangelism is commanded, small group ministries are necessary and fellowship important, but worship is vital for our spiritual well being. It is in worship that we, as a community of faith, meet the object of our faith. In we worship, we who are unholy, are deemed holy by our holy God.

This does not happen because we have become holy through some action of our own; we are all aware of our sins and failings. It happens because God the Father views us through our relationship with God the Son, and his sacrifice for us on the cross. Because of that sacrifice, and our relationship with Christ, we are indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit and encouraged to approach our holy God with a confidence that is not human but divine. Worshiping, gathering together, this is the essence of our being as a community of faith.

As we gather may we glorify Your name... We gather to glorify the name and the person of the one, true, living God; not ourselves, our likes, or our desires. It is our time to give thanks, to praise, and to listen as God speaks to his people through his Holy Spirit.

Knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship, we’ll be blessed because we came… Worship is the coming together of all that we are and giving all that we have to God; seeking his presence and his voice by the leading of his Holy Spirit. In worship we find the joy that comes to those who have an intimate relationship with the giver of all things; and we recognize how blessed we are.

C.S. Lewis once wrote, “The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God.” So let us never forget that as we gather, as we come together, we seek to glorify God, and let us always enjoy the blessing that comes from spending time together, as his people, with him.

RefRev