Welcome

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.         –Romans 15:7 (NRSV)

Introvert or Extrovert?  Do you readily welcome people or hold back until you are approached?

In our gathering, we acknowledge and begin to focus on God, speaking and singing the praise and presence of God.  God is welcoming us.  How are we welcoming each other...and God in our lives?

Talk to God about welcoming.  Do you feel welcome?  Do you actively welcome others?  Listen carefully for God’s answer...

Blessing, honor, glory and might...

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, ¹²  singing with full voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" ¹³  Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, "To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!"          –Revelation 5:11-13 (NRSV)

When God draws everything together...we will be gathered together to sing God’s praises.  With the above verses set to music we anticipate this time of God’s victory over all the enemies of goodness and righteousness.

We will join...we will be the heavenly chorus singing:  “Worthy is the Lamb...”

Take a moment and imagine that day...

Kyrie eleison

O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.          –1 Chronicles 16:34 (NRSV)

“God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”         Luke 18:13

The Kyrie has been part of the gathering rite in most Christian circles for centuries.  It expresses, along with the tax collector of Jesus’ parable in Luke 18:9-14, a recognition of our need for God’s mercy in light of our failures to be the kind of people that properly and fully bear the image of God.  As we gather each week for worship, we acknowledge our need for the grace and mercy of God.

How have you received mercy...from God...from others?

Talk to God about mercy...your need of it...your offering of it to others.

Divine greeting

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
         –2 Corinthians 13:13 (NRSV)

This greeting is so familiar that we hardly give it a thought.

Well...take a moment and give it some thought.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ...what does that mean to you?  How have you received it?  How often?  Have you given it to someone else?

The love of God...what does that mean to you?  Where...when...how do you see it...experience it?

The communion of the Holy Spirit...now what does that mean to you?  What does “communion” mean?  (If you don’t know, look it up, the definition that doesn’t have to do with Holy Communion)

Talk to God about that blessing/greeting.  What does it mean to God?

Offering my life

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. ² Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.          –Romans 12:1-2 (The Message)

Can you memorize these two verses (in another version that’s a bit shorter than The Message)?

And after you memorize it, can you meditate on its meaning for you and your life?

Talk to God about what it would mean to give your body to God.

My meditation, mouth and heart

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
         –Psalm 19:14 (NLT)

Are my thoughts and words pleasing to God?

Be mindful of your thoughts and words throughout the day.

This meditation is worth repeating (from last week) and worth memorizing.  How quickly can you memorize Psalm 19:14?

At the end of the day, talk to God about your most pleasing words and thoughts...and your least pleasing words and thoughts.