Sisters and Brothers,
I write this note just a few days after chairing a local preachers and worship leaders meeting in which we shared in a final interview with a local preacher, now soon to be accredited. In that conversation the Wesley sermon that focused our speaking was on the means of grace. Means of grace are outward signs, words or actions, planned by God in such a way that we encounter God through them. These means of grace, are prayer, Bible study and the Lord’s supper. This got me to thinking, in what ways does our worship enable people to God’s grace?
In worship we gather as a community. A Biblical community is essential to our spiritual growth and where we engage God’s word, support, encourage and serve one another, life change happens best in community.
By gathering as we do we raise up followers of Jesus. We have a story to tell about a God who called us into saving faith. Our stories are as different as the people who listen to them, but what they have in common are relationships and people who play an essential role in our faith. In the same way that Jesus invested in the earliest disciples, we now invest in others by sharing our faith, mentoring, teaching and leading.
We offer both an inward and outward focus as we worship. When Jesus was asked the most important commandment for us to follow, he made it simple. Love God and love your neighbour. He modelled the kind of love that compels us to serve sacrificially in our church, homes, communities and world.
Not only in worship of course, but we worship with our lives, and we also worship together on the weekends. We pray personally, but there is also great power in praying together. When we walk closely with God throughout our faith journey, evidence of life transformation is noticeable to us and others.
God bless,
Rev Mark.