This is obvious to us who are in ministry--that the best way to keep Sabbath is through corporate worship. But why is this not so obvious to our church members? Peterson writes: "When we walk out of the place of worship we walk with fresh, recognizing eyes and a re-created, obedient heart into the world in which we are God's image participating in God's creation work" (p.113). I don't know about your church and your worship service, but that just does not seem to happen very often (if at all) where I go to church. Most people put in their hour at church and seem to walk out the doors totally unchanged, thinking only of where they're going to go out for lunch.
Peterson also addresses the golden calf "incident" and how the Israelites were looking for worship that they "could get something out of." So TRUE of how people in our consumeristic culture view church/worship. I get tired of people telling me they got nothing out of church. What I thought was most interesting about this section is Peterson's discussion of the space for worship--he emphasizes that Moses and Bezalel built a place, a building, where worship could take place. Although a church is not merely a building, it is a gathering of people, it raises the question, "How important is the space/building in which they gather to worship?"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I cannot imagine not being in worship on Sunday morning. Yes, I "get something out of it"--it's the deep joy of being with God's people, all gathered to give honor to the Lord. I know that is "ideal" and not always the way we are thinking about what we are doing--but it IS what we are doing.
I do think it helps to always remind people about the names of furniture and space--it's a chancel, not a stage, for example. Names help us remember what we hope to be doing in the space.
I had a much more asture comment the first time I tried to enter, but it got lost in the stupid blog wilderness somewhere...
Post a Comment