Preparing for Worship

With the possible storm coming, we need to decide what to do. The storm, pending a miracle from God, was going to prevent us from gathering. I was trying to determine if I needed to print the bulletin or get anything else ready for worship. The cancellation settled that. When we were buying last minute stuff at the store, I realized that I could have recorded a message to put on the internet. It takes a while to do that, so I was too late to accomplish that. Then I heard of another church that decided to call around and see who could make it on Saturday for the worship. Then I was really mad at myself for not thinking of that. We called around to everyone in the church, plus a bunch of others, letting them know that church was called off. We need to fine tune that list to make it easier and more efficient next time. Even without the service, there still seemed to be a lot of things that needed to be done. I look out the window now and the snow is starting. Just because we can’t get to church doesn’t mean we skip worship altogether. There are other services on the radio, TV, internet that can be a great help. Just be cautious as there are many “churches” that teach things a little contrary to God’s word or maybe even not God’s word. We need to exercise discernment. We can also look to past services that have been posted already on the internet. We can also just spend a little extra time in God’s presence... reading the Bible, a devotional and then spend some time in prayer, asking God to help us to apply the message we read. You may not have the greatest voice, but if you can find words to some of the hymns you know from memory, books that you have, or even looking them up on the internet, you can lift your voice to the Lord. I believe that music is an amazing gift to express our hearts, even if our singing isn’t perfect. It does say, after all, “Make a joyful noise to the Lord”. The joy flows from the depth of our souls as we lift our praise and worship to the Lord. A storm can change a lot of our plans, but they can’t take God from us. These ideas aren’t just for days when church has been cancelled, but a good practice for daily devotion. So, as you prepare for the storm, begin with a prayer, a hymn, God’s word, and a desire to worship the Lord our God. Father, fill our hearts with Your Holy Spirit and lead us daily into a deeper walk with You. You are the One we worship. Amen