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February 10, 2008
Scripture: Psalm 100
Title: "WELCOME - Worship"

I pondered this sermon all week and wondered exactly how I would start explaining our mission statement and how I would create an opportunity for our mission statement of WELCOME to become a part of our DNA as Midway Christian Church. And as usual, I realized that I was sitting at my desk and thinking and no ideas were coming. But as soon as I stepped away from the situation, the window of opening came to me.

This window of opening and opportunity came to me through a conversation with a few Midway College students this past week. I had gotten an email asking if we held Bible Study during the week. I replied that no, we as a church do not, but as the campus minister at Midway College, I would be glad to come and meet with them.

So this week, I found myself in the cafeteria at Midway College, sitting with three young women who all share with me that they are searching. So I ask, Well, what do you hope to get out of this Bible Study? What are you looking for?

And then the window of opening came: One of the young women mentioned that she misses her church. She feels like something is missing in her life since she is not able to attend her church. And then she pauses a moment and simply says: “I miss worship. I miss the connection. I miss the songs. I miss the feeling that I am refreshed and renewed for the upcoming week. I miss you know…worship.”

And I knew exactly how this college student was feeling. As I heard her talking, in my mind, I returned to my college days, when I had pulled away from the church, due to distance, due to time, and truthfully, due to a lack of interest on my part. I wasn’t in church and honestly, wasn’t sure I wanted to be in church. But I missed worship. You know that feeling you get when your Spirit is at peace with the universe, you know that feeling when you know that something or someone is in control of this crazy world and you know that everything would be okay. You know that feeling that lets you know that you are loved unconditionally.

You know… Worship.

I have heard several of you say that when you miss a week at church, you feel lost. It feels like something is missing. It feels like there is a connection that is broken and remains broken until you enter these doors the following week.

You know… Worship.

Worship…It is that feeling that the psalmist is talking about this morning. The psalmist is inviting all to come and make a joyful noise, to come into God’s house with thanking, to come and you know…worship. To come and be a part of the celebration of God. To come and experience God’s goodness and steadfast love. To remember all that God has done in our lives. To remember all those times when God remembered us as God’s children, lost and lonely and how God brought us into the flock, like a shepherd. To remember all those times when God welcomed us.

And then psalmist names that feeling behind our worship today. And then the psalmist names the reason for our deep need for worship in our lives. And then the psalmist names the deep connection that we feel when we come together as the Body of Christ and you know…worship.
That feeling, that connection, that deep need to worship is because God made us and we are God’s.

The psalmist invites us to worship our God because God made us and we are God’s. It is as simple as that. We worship because we are God’s. We are welcomed because God made us. We sing in joy because we are God’s people.

And I know when you think about, it may seem too simple. The psalmist invites us to take another look. To look beyond the simple nature of these words, to not simply brush them away but to let these words fill our hearts and our minds. To let these words inspire us, to let these words fill us with awe.

We are made by God and we are his!

And once we do that, we become changed. We become a praising person. We become a person who is filled with the joy of the Lord and nothing that this world throws at us can take that away.
Once this seemingly simple words come to rest in our hearts, inspire our minds, and lifts our spirits, We begin to sense “ourselves as valued, our talents as gifts, our gifts as necessary, our work as purposeful.”

To worship, to be filled with awe, is to realize what we are in the awareness of who God is. To worship is to enter “into the joy of the Lord, so as to be a witness to it in this world.” Our very calling as the church is to worship and to celebrate that we are God’s very own.

That is the reason we come to church on Sundays. It is the reason why we miss this connection when we are not here. It is the reason we feel at peace when we lift our voices in song and in praise. We come celebrating. We come rejoicing. We come lifting our voices in joy song because God made us and we are God’s.

Through these simple verses of Psalm 100, we are invited to know something that underlies all that we do. We are invited to know the one thing that grounds us, that centers us as people of God.

God made us and we are God’s... How can we not worship!?

How can we not come together as the Body of Christ and embrace our connection with one another? How can we not come together and share in the joy of the Lord through you know…worship?

Through worship we experience the Lord. Through worship, we claim our calling as people of faith. Through worship, we name that God made us and we are God’s. Through worship, we recognize that it is God’s goodness and grace that sustains us, that renews us, that refreshes us, that gives us the strength and energy to go out into the world and share the Joy of the Lord. Through worship, we respond to the welcome that God first showed us!

God has done so much in our lives! How can we not bow down in worship? How can we not sing out in joy? How can we not give God thanks?

When we worship as a community of faith, as people of God, we are publicly claiming and proclaiming God’s love and God’s grace. We are publicly claiming God’s welcome for all of God’s people. When we worship, We are coming together into presence of God in our community and for our community because “When God is present, doing God stuff, people cannot seem to contain themselves.”

And we are reminded that the “words of worship, prayer words, sermon words, hymn words, words of praise and penitence are like stones thrown into the pond; they ripple out-words in countless concentric circles, finding ever fresh expression in new places in our lives.”

When we come together, we feel connected with God and with one another. We feel refreshed and renewed. We feel energized to share the Gospel message. We feel a part of something beyond ourselves. When we come together, we come together to worship. To praise God for all of our blessings. To lift up our voices in thanksgiving. To make a joyful noise. To be reminded that God made us and we are God’s. To be reminded that God first welcomed us as God’s people.

We come together to you know….WORSHIP.

May we always welcome all of God’s children through our worship

Amen.

Rev. Heather McColl
Midway Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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