Pastor's Time

February 2010

Vibrant, fruitful, growing churches offer Passionate Worship that connects people to God and to one another. People gather consciously as the body of Christ with eagerness and expectancy; encounter Christ thorough singing, prayer, Scripture, preaching, and Holy Communion; and respond by allowing God’s Spirit to shape their lives. People are searching for worship that is authentic, alive, creative, and comprehensible, where they experience the life-changing presence of God in the presence of others.

We may not ordinarily use the word passionate to describe our practice of gathering for worship, but perhaps we should. Worship describes those times we gather deliberately seeking to encounter God in Christ. We don’t attend worship to squeeze God into our lives; we seek to meld our lives into God’s. It’s a time to think less about ourselves and more about faith, less about our personal agendas and more about God’s will. We encounter a fresh vision of God’s reality in Christ so that God’s Spirit can reshape our lives and form us into the body of Christ.

Comprehending the meaning of worship requires looking beyond what people do to see with eyes of faith what God does. God through Christ actively seeks relationship to us through worship.

God uses worship to:

·         Transform lives

·         Heal wounded souls

·         Renew hope

·         Shape decision

·         Provoke change

·         Inspire compassion

·         bind people to one another

Through Passionate Worship, God draws people to Christ, deepens understanding and relationship with Christ, and over time transforms lives as disciples grow in the image of Christ.

L. Bryan McClain

Pastor, WSUMC

804-435-3555