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Expecting The Powerful Presence Of God

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” –James 4:8

Dear Church Family,

When you come to worship on the Lord’s Day, do you expect the powerful presence of God? I’m not talking about some ecstatic experience – I’m talking about the “ordinary means of grace”: the Word, prayer, singing, sacraments, and fellowship. But do you believe that through these ordinary means, we really encounter the living, extraordinary God? Is it your aim so to experience God that he is glorified in your affections? Do you earnestly seek his drawing near according to the promise of James 4:8? Do you believe that in worship God draws near to us in power, and makes himself known and felt for our good and for the salvation of unbelievers in our midst? Do you desire something like 1 Corinthians 12:24-25 to happen regularly in our gatherings? “But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.” *

The wonderful rhythms of weekly worship can be lively rhythms of grace, or mechanical routines – and some of how we experience these rhythms of grace depends on how we cultivate Godward expectations in our hearts. We sing, “Come, thou fount of ev’ry blessing, tune my heart to sing thy praise.” And we need God to work at tuning our hearts.

I love the ordinary means of grace. I’m all about sticking it out, in the same place, over a long period of time, living life together with the same church family, and going to church faithfully, week in and week out. But I don’t want to ever let this wonderful pattern of life become a lifeless, mindless routine. I want to act like I believe that Jesus is alive and reigning at the right hand of the Father – that his Holy Spirit is poured-out among us in power to change lives – that our Father calls us to bask in his love as beloved children – that our God is a consuming fire – and “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Heb. 4:12-13).

I’m calling us to remember we serve “the God of so much more” – the God “who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Eph. 3:20).

In our Porterbrook course a few weeks back, we contemplated these words:

“In corporate worship we are re-tuning our hearts and re-aligning our affections. We come together to remind one another of God’s worth and call one another away from false priorities. This is far more than an intellectual exercise. When Christians come together, part of the purpose is for affections to be captured for Christ. It is an important aspect of our discipleship to encourage each other with heart-felt praise, which means that not singing is not an option. In view of God’s mercy, it is our privilege and responsibility to encourage one another with heart-felt prayer and praise … [this is] more than merely an intellectual or emotional exercise. We are to sit up straight, take a deep breath, stand tall, get hands out of pockets and throw ourselves, body and soul, into worshiping God. Why? So that we go out into a hostile and seductive world with our hearts captured for Christ, with a new determination to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice and with a renewed sense that he is worthy.”

Let’s all come to worship this and every Lord’s Day of 2015 with a renewed sense of urgency, expecting the powerful presence of God, and praying, “Lord, capture our hearts!”

Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!” (Psalm 105:4).

Hoping in God,

Pastor David Sunday

*See the Vision and Values of Corporate Worship for Bethlehem Baptist Church for the background to these words:

http://www.hopeingod.org/document/philosophy-worship