One of the best parts of my week is when we all gather together on Sunday morning. And while I appreciate all the friendships at Marion, Sunday morning is more than friendship building. There is something special about when we gather for the purpose of worshipping God Almighty.
Music is a huge part of our worship experience, there is something about singing together, singing songs with a deep, rich theology, voices coming together aided by instruments to make a joyful noise unto the Lord.
One of the things that excites me about this series about worship is that each week the worship leader will choose songs that are meaningful to them. It is a bit of a role reversal between me and the worship leaders. Instead of them choosing music based on the direction of the message, I have asked them to choose music that is meaningful to them and guide the rest of us in worship.
I will offer some brief thoughts, but my hope is that over the next five weeks we can celebrate the goodness of God and be active participants in worship.
This week I am drawn to how we can experience worship in rest.
Does that sound contradictory?
Can you think of times when Jesus rested…?
Jesus rested in the middle of a storm. (Matthew 8:24)
Jesus rested after performing miracles. (Matthew 14:22-23)
Jesus spent time in solitude with God before choosing His disciples. (Luke 6:12-13)
Jesus encouraged the disciples to rest with Him. (Mark 6:30-32)
Jesus withdrew to pray before He was arrested. (Luke 22:44)
Did I miss any?
Why is rest important for our spiritual formation?
Why is rest a part of our worship?
When we rest, we can offer our rest as a form of worship. When we pause from life’s demands, we rest our body from our work and stress and reconnect our soul with our creator.
Jesus tells us to come to him and rest (Matthew 11:28). May we do just that.
I read this week that… “When we rest well, we worship well”.
Let’s talk about it on Sunday.
May you experience worship this week… every day this week!
~ Pastor Dustin
