In worship…
God gives to us.
We come to worship to receive from God. We need his Word and sacraments more than oxygen. Week after week, he declares our desperate need for Jesus and promises that he has met our every need in Jesus. We have peace with God. Nothing can separate us from his love. His love fuels our loves for others. His word is a lamp to our feet and a light for our path.
We give to God.
Not that he needs anything from us. We cannot offer to him anything we haven’t already received from him. Our giving to him is actually his gift to us.
We give him our prayer and praise, our offerings and time. We give to him when we give to one another.
We give to one another.
We don’t come to worship merely as consumers. We gather so that we may be blessings to one another. To encourage one another. To hold each other accountable. To offer a hug to the hurting and a hand to the suffering. To remind each other that we don’t walk alone.
When we gather for worship, it’s a family reunion.