My new glasses came in last Friday. It would seem that my prescription changed a great deal from the last time my eyes were examined. I was supposed to be wearing bifocals for the last few years but now I wonder. These new spectacles are like grandfather once wore. They come complete with the lined section for the reading part of the glasses. To say there is a big difference would be a huge understatement. It feels like my age jumped about ten years just by putting these on. It feels like the first time in ages my eyesight actually could catch up to the small print. I may look or even feel old now but at least the vision part is working.

This leads to the topic of the night. How do we view worship in relation to our spiritual life? One of my job issues is that of serving as a worship leader. But is it possible to take a congregation made up of all ages and opinions to create a realistic worship experience? We talked about this a few weeks ago. It was my thesis that we often begin with the wrong vision when it comes to worship. We usually begin with our preferences for how we do a service. Careful study shows that the first question to be answered revolves around God and His desire for our life. What we do on Sunday morning is for a audience of one. He is the one that is to be pleased in what we do.

We often mistake the act of worship with singing. No doubt that singing is an element of our worship but it is not the beginning point. When my ministry began years ago the prevalent style of church music was like the great evangelistic crusades that were popular. We all wanted to have the same style of song that we heard in those revival services. Before long the growing measure of music was if it was contemporary to the crowd. Music leaders and pastors flocked to conferences to learn the new tricks of the trade in singing the upbeat choruses. Today it seems that the cowboy congregation is the latest model in doing a church service. We moved in thirty years from the great songs of revivals to the "holy hoedown." Do not mistake that last sentence as being critical of those who do use the cowboy approach. It is simply a statement that what we tend to think is the great breakthrough in leading worship will again change in a few years. We will put our boots and spurs in a closet as soon as something else rolls along.

Music really isn't the issue in worship. Today there are even churches who are reverting back to very liturgical type expressions with great results. Some of the leading contemporary type congregations are starting traditional services with the old hymns of the faith. What was once old usually ends up being new again. Worship is about your heart and mine with God. Once you nail that down you can end the wars over style. If God's word does not change our heart in our encounter with Him then we can sing all the songs we like without much if any authentic worship. We need to nail down three questions in order to fully embrace real worship.

Question one simply asks if we know what God desires from us? It may surprise you that the Almighty desires that our heart in worship is connected to our habits in living life. He says over and over that His desire is for people to love Him and others first and foremost. Some people fall prey to a pride that says our interests or experience is more important than genuine humility. The second question asks if we understand what God does for us? Do we really get the meaning of the phrase, "sinners saved by grace?" He knows our heart whether good or bad. We may fool others but never Him. The third question asks about what God deserves from us? This answer depends on our grasp of His patience and mercy. Every person on this planet is eternally loved by God but do they recognize the magnitude of that statement? A person who gets worship is one who understands the undying grace of God in their life.

We could end with a long list of things that worship entails. We could talk about style constantly yet miss the heart of the matter. When you are deeply in love with another person it is less about style points than it is just expressing the truth of the relationship. We do not fail at worship as individuals or as congregations simply due to our methods. Failure begins and ends in our heart for the Father. This is what God wants eternally. He wants us to let His heart overflow into our life until we have to express it back to Him. Major on that and the minor issues of style or methods will melt away.

Bro. Trey