I often wondered if I, and the people of God, prepared for Sunday as much as we prepare the setting for a day of football, would we get much more out of our worship experience?
Remembering how the Christmas story began is part of this: Luke 1:5-11
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth...
8 Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
10 And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. 11 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.
The setting was an angelic visitation during his worship. The visit of God's messenger frightened Zechariah, even as it would frighten us today.
We're not use to seeing the heavenly up close. The incarnation story begins with a worship service. It begins with a priest doing his priestly thing. He's doing the normal, the typical, the everyday-priests-do-these-things service.
Sunday, after Sunday, after Sunday, don't we also "go" to worship? The question is "do I expect anything to happen?"
Remembering how the Christmas story began is part of this: Luke 1:5-11
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth...
8 Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
10 And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. 11 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.
The setting was an angelic visitation during his worship. The visit of God's messenger frightened Zechariah, even as it would frighten us today.
We're not use to seeing the heavenly up close. The incarnation story begins with a worship service. It begins with a priest doing his priestly thing. He's doing the normal, the typical, the everyday-priests-do-these-things service.
Sunday, after Sunday, after Sunday, don't we also "go" to worship? The question is "do I expect anything to happen?"
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