Lead Pastor Blog I.V

Attended a conference recently which challenged me to think once again about the purpose and reason for our worship. There is no doubt that God is worthy of our worship but let’s take it a step further if we can.

Essentially when we worship God properly we are simply telling him by our actions that He is “worth” our worship. We submit to Him and in that action we worship Him by what we know in our hearts to be true. Our speaker talked a lot about the glory of God. As we worship God we are in tune with this great activity of God’s glory being affirmed.  From time to time I encounter people who choose not to participate in church life because they love God but they can’t stand the church. In their actions they are not submitting to God but rather choosing what they want to do…worship God apart from His bride the church.  In other words they are placing their wants above God’s glory.

God designed the activity of worship to be one we can do alone but it is also to be done within the company of the church body. When I complain about the music or the time of the service or the length of the service or the seating arrangements or any of a host of things I hear complaints about we tread on thin ice.

We have forgotten that the activity of worship is not about our likes or dislikes or or comforts. It is about submitting our hearts to God and affirming His glory. It is about God not about me. When I choose not to sing a song of worship because I don’t like that song am I making the worship about me or God?

When I choose to sleep in and not attend church am I making that activity about me or God?  Worshipping God is not about me….it is all about God.  It is about His glory being magnified in my life and in my world.

The speaker shared that when God is glorified there is a result. God pours out his blessing upon the people who engage in this activity. It is like we are aligning ourselves with God’s purpose and he blesses that choice. It makes sense when we explore it that way. We have experienced that sense of blessing when we have surrendered our hearts to God and then engaged in worship and left the experience knowing all was right in our relationship with the Father.  We also know what it is like to walk away from a worship opportunity when we have been there in body but not in mind and felt like there was nothing to show for the activity.

As I sat and listened to Word I was excited as I thought about our vision for Cornerstone. I want to change the world not in some world domination kind of way for Christians but rather in a God-honouring way where the love of God flows through us to touch our world.

I want to change the world by seeing men be examples of worshippers in spirit and truth leading their families to glorify God. I want prodigals to return to the place where they once again encounter this great good of giving God glory. I want to change the world but surprising seekers with the great news of God’s offer of grace to them. I want to change the world by glorifying God through meeting practical needs within our world.

At Cornerstone we are on this exciting adventure of literally changing our world for the very glory of God. Come on there’s lots of work to be done. Join us!