Romans 12:1
I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies as a living sacrifice.
The following are thoughts taken from notes that I jotted down during the evening.
6:19 p.m.
I am here at the church. Seems to be a small group for the conference, but that's o.k.
You come, Lord! Let us worship You.
The band is practicing. Jimmy Henderson on drums / LeNoal Bagley on Bass / Liz Wood, Todd Bagley and Brook Finlayson on vocal and guitar. I am very much aware of the stirring of Holy Spirit as the team worships before we start the conference.
I confess that I come to these type of events with a mixed bag of thoughts and emotions. "What if it is a bust? What if God doesn't show up? What if I'm not suppose to be here?" I manage to corral all of these thoughts and focus my attention on God.
First Song: Spirit of God.
Oh God, remove the scales from my heart and let me see the cross afresh. Let me forget about the past...all the events...all the people....all the times I failed You. Those times I allowed myself to be led astray by the enemy.
Let see Your cross...only Your cross...let it flood over me and fill me with a true sense of remembrance. Let me always remember how you have not only brought me to where I am today, but have sustained me every step of this journey. Like Paul, I want to proclaim that "I have laid hold of that which Christ Jesus has laid hold of me."
Forgetting the past....all of it...to move beyond the influence and power of it...May I lash myself to You, Lord, and to Your cross. Here from this place I will worship You.
2nd Song of The Conference:
Vocals proclaim that "My heart runs after You". Easy to get lost in this worship.
Thought comes to my mind: "We either chase Jesus out of a sense of duty...or because we have fallen in love with Him. Love for Him motivates us....it gives us direction...it is the love that fuels this chase and fills our hearts. We chase hard after Him for no other reason that we have fallen in love with Him. Now what He does....Not for what He teaches us....but for simply who He is.
Crispin Schroeder Teaches:
There's not much in the N.T. about how to worship. Mostly reserved in the O.T. under the instruction of David. The early church may have gathered and sang songs that almost resembled chant's.
A.) Early church probably sang songs comprised of three notes.
We get a true look in the heart of worship when we ready Revelation Chapter 4 and 5. John the Apostle had been locked away on the prison Isle of Patmos. Sometimes being put in hard places, dealing with hard times opens us up to receive from God.
John got to attend the mother of all worship services as he wrote these two chapters. We see worship going on around the throne of God. We see all manner of creatures....of twenty four elders seated on thrones...we see a singing out, a crying out of worship unto God.
The strange thing that came to me while Crispin was teaching, was the fact that there wasn't a "worship leader" leading this outpouring of praise. I think maybe there was, He just wasn't very visible to the natural eye. I think that you had a coordinated move among those present by the Holy Spirit and presence of God. It was an cooperate movement of obedience by those present in an effort to proclaim the greatness and goodness of God. I thought to my self as the teaching progressed..."This worship was fully demonstrated and not fleshly orchestrated." What if our worship could tie into such a move of the Holy Spirit? What would our services look like? Would we even be aware of a clock? Would we even care about time...how long the service was going?
In these two chapters, we get to see the duel nature of Christ. When the scroll is offered to anyone who was worthy to receive it and open it...we see Jesus step forward as the Lion of the tribe of Judah....but when He moves to receive the scroll, John writes that He (Jesus) was a lamb with the appearance of one who was freshly slaughtered. The Lamb received the scroll. Those present at the throne break forth in declaration and celebration to Jesus.
The worship we are called to, should contain a "full view" of Christ. We need to be saturated with this view. Full hearts...full spirits....and full minds of the magnificence of Christ.To be honest, my praise pales in comparison to what I see taking place in Revelation. The worship in Revelation 4 and 5 seems so unnatural to my human mind....but truth be known, in the presence of God..it is very natural. I want that! I want my praise to a continual outpouring from my life, declaring the awesomeness of God. My life is to be a testimony to the goodness of God.
IT was a good start to the conference.
Looking forward to what is going to happen today and tonight.
God on you...
mb
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