Jesus says in John 13:35, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." The greatest commandment, according to our Lord, is to love God with every fiber of our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
What are some concrete ways we can show love our neighbors? Post your suggestions here! Here's some ideas to get you started.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Worshipping Through Prayer
Gloria You, our Team Leader for Worship and Creative Arts Ministry, wrote this devotional on prayer:
"When we think about worship, we usually think music. However, the meaning of worship is veneration, adoration and giving worth to God etc. When the Samaritan woman was discussing worship with Jesus, she was only concerned about where she must go and worship. However, Jesus made it clear, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4: 23-24). How can we worship God in spirit and truth then? One of the ways that we know how Jesus constantly sought to be in tune with God was prayer. He was in spirit and truth by communicating with God through prayer. Prayer is an act of worship. If we don’t feel like singing praise songs, clapping hands, raising hands and so on, we just pray for ourselves and other people around us. We can worship God in many ways, besides using music.
"In fact, prayer must come first before we do other acts of worship. I remember working as a leader of a high school group, at my church in Korea. Before any worship service and any kind of meeting, I would be interceding for hours, on behalf of those who would be there that night. In fact, I literally cleaned the sanctuary before every service, and it was that time that I took to pray. I believed that prayer is a pleasing offering to God. So, God multiplied the group that I was leading and so many high school kids committed their lives to God. It didn’t take music or well-organized programs to attract the young people to the presence of God, but it was the intercessory prayers. When we have worship team rehearsal on Sunday morning at Trinity Church, it is very hectic sometimes and the rehearsal time gets delayed due to technological problems. Yet I always make sure that we pray for the worship service and for people, before the rehearsal. That’s the first act of our worship so that we will be in tune with God, and not only with music. I never want to compromise prayer for anything else. Otherwise, I am not worshipping God in spirit and truth. I appreciate your prayers, and every one of you are the worshippers!"
"When we think about worship, we usually think music. However, the meaning of worship is veneration, adoration and giving worth to God etc. When the Samaritan woman was discussing worship with Jesus, she was only concerned about where she must go and worship. However, Jesus made it clear, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4: 23-24). How can we worship God in spirit and truth then? One of the ways that we know how Jesus constantly sought to be in tune with God was prayer. He was in spirit and truth by communicating with God through prayer. Prayer is an act of worship. If we don’t feel like singing praise songs, clapping hands, raising hands and so on, we just pray for ourselves and other people around us. We can worship God in many ways, besides using music.
"In fact, prayer must come first before we do other acts of worship. I remember working as a leader of a high school group, at my church in Korea. Before any worship service and any kind of meeting, I would be interceding for hours, on behalf of those who would be there that night. In fact, I literally cleaned the sanctuary before every service, and it was that time that I took to pray. I believed that prayer is a pleasing offering to God. So, God multiplied the group that I was leading and so many high school kids committed their lives to God. It didn’t take music or well-organized programs to attract the young people to the presence of God, but it was the intercessory prayers. When we have worship team rehearsal on Sunday morning at Trinity Church, it is very hectic sometimes and the rehearsal time gets delayed due to technological problems. Yet I always make sure that we pray for the worship service and for people, before the rehearsal. That’s the first act of our worship so that we will be in tune with God, and not only with music. I never want to compromise prayer for anything else. Otherwise, I am not worshipping God in spirit and truth. I appreciate your prayers, and every one of you are the worshippers!"
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