God dwells with His people. In spite of their sinfulness, in spite of His holiness, God wants to live in the midst of His people.
God's orignial dwelling wasn't a palace or a temple of marble and gold; it was a tent. God tented--tabernacled--with a people wandering in the wilderness. And if those people needed direction or guidance, if those people needed their sins taken away and their guilt atoned for, if those people wanted to bring their offerings of thanksgiving and praise, they knew where to find Him. If you were looking for the God of heaven and earth, you went to His tent.
God still dwells with His people. In fact, John tells us, in the person of Jesus, the Word became flesh and dwellt--tabernacled--among us. That same Jesus still comes to meet us. That same God still promises to show up in our lives, especially in worship, where God promises to be present to forgive sins and strengthen our faith and faithfulness.
So if you are looking for God, look for God where He promises to be found. On this discipleship journey you can count on finding God in His tent. Join us for regular, intentional worship here at Peace.
Here at Peace, we firmly believe that sinful human beings (that’s us!) can’t do anything toward their own salvation. Martin Luther even wrote, “I believe I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him.” God works through His Word and Sacraments when and where it pleases Him: the Holy Spirit works to create and sustain faith.
At the same time, we also firmly believe that we can and we do intentionally show up to receive what God wants to give us. Luther also said that even sinful humans can show up to worship and choose to listen to the sermon or not. So we can’t force faith—but we do come to worship ready to receive what only God can give.
To get the most out of worship, we invite you to live with the Scripture verses for a day or two before you come. Prayerfully prepare your offering before you show up to worship. Take time to pray and prepare: God promises to show up to forgive your sins and strengthen your faith and faithfulness: we want to be ready to receive what God wants to give. And then take that Word home with you and chew on it all week long. God is at work in our lives: what is He doing in yours?
To help take God’s Word out of one hour of worship and integrate it into our daily lives, we invite you to use two online discipleship resources. First, after you have been to worship, take your worship folder home and go over the readings and any notes you might have made during the sermon. Then check out our "Taking Worship Home" blog. Read what others have shared about their worship and the way God is working in their lives. Think and pray about what God is doing in your life through this Word.
Then, as the week goes on, our focus shifts from the weekend past to the worship service to come. Check out the readings for the week and brief description of the theme at our Preparing for Worship blog. Already on Friday and Saturday be thinking and praying through the readings for worship. In this way, we come to worship with open hands, anxious and ready to receive whatever God would give, trusting that in Jesus, God gives us everything we need. We love joining together around God’s Word in worship here at Peace. We invite you to join us on this Journey of Faith!
If you would like to feel better prepared to invite a friend or neighbor to worship, check out our Invest and Invitepage or send an Evite to our sermon series.
To think about what worship service might speak most effectively to you or someone you would like to invite to worship, check out our Worship Servicespage.
In addition to our weekend worship schedule we offer opportunities for living out intentional worship through special seasonal services. Check out additional details on our current weekend worship series often for updates and service times!
For questions contact: Peace@PeaceChurch.orgAll rights reserved. Material from faithHighway may not be copied, reproduced, or distributed in any way without consent.
Intentional Worship
