Jonathan Schnarr, our Youth & Children's Minister, reflects on worship over the last few months.
After 69 weeks of no congregational, sung worship in our church building, we were finally allowed to join the worship band in praising God out loud again last Sunday – and it was such a different feeling! We could hear the person next to us singing out loud, some of us lifted their hands as a sign of pure joy and others just stood and listened to this new sound in the building.
Don’t get me wrong: It has been such a privilege to come together as a church family through the means of online technology and later in a restricted but physical sense, but nothing comes close to standing together and joining others in (sung) worship.
Some of my most intimate moments with God happened when I was surrounded by other Christians, proclaiming His love, resting in His presence and listening to His voice.
The Bible shows us that we are created to worship God in community and with our whole body, including our voices: We’ve got Adam and Eve in the garden, Daniel’s friends praising God in the furnace, David dancing half-naked during a street parade and then of course those early Christians meeting in each other’s houses to pray, break bread and share with each other.
Yet, over the past couple of months we have had to find new ways of praising God, maybe in the quiet and isolation, or with the help of close family and friends via Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp and FaceTime.
I wonder how you have connected with God during these past months?
Whether you are a confident singer, or more of a only-in-the-shower performer: When have you been able to really worship God from your heart? Let us know in the comments below.
I have definitely had some wonderful moments with God while hiking through Dartmoor or surfing off the North Coast over the past months, however I am very excited to be able to return to the communal worship in our church buildings and I hope you are, too!
As we slowly open up our buildings again, let’s be open to share with each other, old and young, to come together and embrace each other (physically or metaphorically, depending on how comfortable you feel at the moment) and raise our hands as we proclaim God’s goodness and his presence in each of our lives.
Have a wonderful week,
Jonathan