Alabanza... en una diferente manera

    Hello! This week's question is one of this/ that. Pumpkin spice or apple cinnamon? It's a hard one for me... both? Is that an option? Yeah, it is. It's my question, so I'll allow it. X D 

   God spoke to me about different things about what worship really is through times of worship and the lectures for the discipleship training school. Worship is usually the time in a church service with music and singing, but God desires for us to know that it is so much more than that. At its core, worship is adoration, sacrifice, and obedience. 

    One of the sweetest things about the past few weeks has been our times of worship. I've realized that I have been more present than ever before in group worship settings. I think it's really neat the way that we spontaneously praise the Lord and pray to Him. I've been doing this a bit too, which is not normal for me. I usually stick with the expectations of singing the lyrics on the screen and I think a lot about what people might think about me. But I've been letting go more and letting the praise flow from my heart, from my knowledge and experience of the faithfulness of my good Father. It is such a precious thing to adore the One who sustains us. He is so worthy of all praise. 

God's awesomeness and power... I see it every morning and every night on the front porch of the villa. The incredible sunrises and sunsets. And I think, "wow, God. You created all of this."

    When I walked into lecture this week, I was surprised that we talked about the responsibilities of a priest. The connection wasn't very clear to me at first, but then I began to understand that worship involves sacrifice. When we worship God, there is something that we give up. My friend said at the end of the week that, "worship always involves sacrifice." This could simply be our time. Putting aside the things on our to-do list to sit and praise the Lord. Or our comfort. Maybe someone is not very comfortable talking about Jesus in conversations or singing around people. Worship is stepping out of the comfort zone to bring honor to Christ's name. 

    "After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying, 'Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.'" 2 Chronicles 2:21 This was one of the passages we read as examples of people in the bible worshipping God. 

    Our last time discussing worship ended in a couple of videos and encouragements to pursue a lifestyle of missions. I was a little thrown off by the fact that many of the speaker's lectures were related to missions and following your calling to go to the ends of the earth to share the gospel, but as I think more about it, it actually fits. This seemingly unrelated topic is the result of saying "yes" to what God calls us to do. Worship is obedience. When we praise his name and sacrifice our own desires for him, the end result in obedience. But before we come to the point where we act in obedience, we first have to sit in awe of who he is... his holiness and grandeur. His power, yet gentleness. His kindness and mercy. Out of this awe of him flows obedience, knowing that He has the best plans in mind.  

    While it's important to recognize sacrifice and obedience as a part of worship just as adoration is, it is also important to know that music is not have to be the only way to take part in worshipping the Savior. We have a time here called "processing time" here at the discipleship training school. This past week's time was a creative outlet to express how the Lord has spoken to us. As we were creating and processing, we were worshipping the Lord, responding to his nature and character by meditating on his word, writing scripture, and drawing symbols that remind us of his love. It is good to know that we can worship in different ways. Because not everyone is musically gifted, or even comfortable singing and playing instruments. 

This is worship. Making pumpkin muffins to share with friends on a Sunday morning when I had originally planned to use the mix from home for myself.

This is worship. reflecting on God's goodness through painting, drawing, writing, and making a collage.

~Kthnxbai! (That's all, thank you for reading! And I'll see you again next week... to tell you about my weekend in Toledo! : D)