Stating a conviction again: worship is not exclusively what we do in services, but how we live our life and if I am truly a follower of Christ then that ‘living’ changes. If I am becoming more like Christ then I will begin to act more like Christ and therefore love the things He loves and hate the things he hates. My vision of what He loves and hates changes because I know more about Him.

Okay that went around in a circle….

This week we are introducing a worship song to our people: “From the Inside Out.” The words to this reflect the thought of being more like Christ: ‘a thousand times I failed;’ ‘consume me from the inside out;’ and ‘Lord I give you control.’ You can find this song on YouTube here.

So how should we prepare for worship this week?

take time to privately worship; this can be in a quiet house, in the car singing songs of worship and also private worship spending time hearing God speak as you read His word or listening for God in silence.
find out from your church what the theme of the service will be and pray that God will speak to you.
Contact your worship leaders and ask what songs will be used this Sunday. Find recordings of them and do some practicing or just listening so that you can sing to God and not be distracted by the newness of the song.
live a life of worship…trying to see things more like Christ everyday.
How about taking a few minutes on Saturday night to get in a quiet place and talk to God about Sunday’s worship. (I am amazed at how much more connected I feel when I do this.)
Pray for the people who will lead. This week I want to pray specifically for the tech people. The activity on Sunday morning is hectic, but it is also ministry and we are connected in worship because of them.

Here are some thoughts for the ClearView people:

Remember we are in the middle of a sermon series, a study of the book of 1^st John.

The theme of this book is centered around the question: “does my life demonstrate that I am a follower of Christ?” There some encouraging words in this book and there are also some themes that can cause one to do some deep thinking. Last week our pastor covered the last part of the chapter and the title of that sermon was “The Sin Test.” The first thought covered was “a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ will result in a changed life with clear marks.” This week we jump into chapter 2. Take some time to read through 1^st John chapters 1 and 2.

If you missed last week’s service you can find an audio file of the sermon here or you can subscribe to the podcast here.