Musings Along Lifes Way: Worship and Transformation
Dear Friends, What a wonderful worship last Sunday! It was good to have Andrew Metcalfe back with us as he brought the good news of God with us on the Feast of Epiphany. I found that the service had a deep center and the the contributions of our choir and the Samoan congregation were rich and filled with the light and life of Christ. Each week worship presents to us an opportunity for transformation, a crucible for deep encounter. This transformational encounter is integral to our worship and it happens in two ways:
1. ”We have one another. Worship is a gathering of the beloved community” (Martin Luther King, Jr.). We come together with our natural diversity -- each of us is who we are, experiencing life as the unique person we have been blessed by God to be. As the beloved community we celebrate our deep integrity, our unity as those loved and honored by God. Our gathering is no petty occasion. On the contrary, it is sacred where together we begin to experience ourselves in a way that transcends our individual identity.
2. God is present to us. The deep mystery of God's presence permeates all of worship. This presence opens us, empowers us and guides us to reach beyond ourselves to an identity that is, simply, larger. In God's presence our perspective begins to take on the universal, we begin to experience the depth of what have been called divine virtues: love, peace, joy, harmony, etc.... God's presence transforms our gathering as we begin to sense that the divine benevolent mystery lives in our midst and encourages us to reach out with love into a fractured and chaotic world.
Worship is spiritual practice as we take our refuge in God and in the beloved community. Worship is central to who we are. Worship is where the divine is revealed in the midst of everyday life.
Love, David
Have you ever been talking with someone and wanted to tell them how much you love your church? Here are some responses to that question from members of the United Church of Christ. 16 reasons UCC members love their church.
1. ”We have one another. Worship is a gathering of the beloved community” (Martin Luther King, Jr.). We come together with our natural diversity -- each of us is who we are, experiencing life as the unique person we have been blessed by God to be. As the beloved community we celebrate our deep integrity, our unity as those loved and honored by God. Our gathering is no petty occasion. On the contrary, it is sacred where together we begin to experience ourselves in a way that transcends our individual identity.
2. God is present to us. The deep mystery of God's presence permeates all of worship. This presence opens us, empowers us and guides us to reach beyond ourselves to an identity that is, simply, larger. In God's presence our perspective begins to take on the universal, we begin to experience the depth of what have been called divine virtues: love, peace, joy, harmony, etc.... God's presence transforms our gathering as we begin to sense that the divine benevolent mystery lives in our midst and encourages us to reach out with love into a fractured and chaotic world.
Worship is spiritual practice as we take our refuge in God and in the beloved community. Worship is central to who we are. Worship is where the divine is revealed in the midst of everyday life.
Love, David
Have you ever been talking with someone and wanted to tell them how much you love your church? Here are some responses to that question from members of the United Church of Christ. 16 reasons UCC members love their church.
posted by FirstUCCSR at Wednesday, January 09, 2008
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