My kids are awesome. They’re at the age when they get overly excited about anything their little minds can comprehend. The enthusiasm over a single grape or a 5-minute ride in the car just astounds me. Last week my 3-year old son Jacob came home from church just crazy about his memory verse they learned, jumping up and down doing the motions they learned. Not to be outdone, Emma (the 5-year old) simultaneously shouted her verse at the top of her lungs.
Once the chaos died down, I asked the kids if they knew what those words meant. We talked about the Bible, God’s plan to save us and how much He loves us, all in preschooler terms. Emma’s verse was Psalm 122:1, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’” Here’s the 5-year-old version: I’m happy to go to church with my friends.
I explained to Emma that in the older part of the Bible that people went to church (tabernacle/temple) to be with God because that’s where God lived. But then Jesus came and He changed everything! Now He lives inside of us and so He is with us everywhere we go. We can pray and talk to Him anytime and we go to church because we are so happy.
That night at worship team practice as we were discussing how we live our lives as worship I shared my Emma story in 5-year old language. I received the warm response of, “we like the 5-year old version!”
How quickly we forget that we are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19) and that we are God’s house (Heb 3:6). It’s not Biblical to go to just go to church to meet with God, we never stop meeting with God and should talk to him every day! We go to church to grow in community, celebrate together the amazing grace we’ve been given, to learn and to encourage each other.
I led this trendy song in 2005 to start the worship service: “I’m here to meet with you, come and meet with me.” As good as it sounds, it’s just not true! Don’t come to church to be with God. Instead BE the church every day to the world around you, sharing the love of Christ with everyone you come in contact with. That is New Testament worship! 2 of the best NT worship verses to always remember:
Romans 12:1
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship."
Colossians 3:16
"Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts."
- Rich
