This entry continues a week-long series from guest blogger Doug Lee on whole life worship.
A unique kind of worship can take place in small communities. We can come together and share with each other our experiences of God throughout the week. These can be experiences that invoke praise, experiences that involved frustration or obstacles, or simply times of awareness of God. The community can then support and encourage one another, lifting up our lives as a living sacrifice.
Often this type of worship is missing in the traditional church. Most small groups are Bible studies or need-based groups (marriage, parenting, etc.), so time is not set aside to simply share how each person has experienced God during the week. If people are living personal worship and everyday ordinary worship, here is the place they can share those experiences in the context of a small community. That can’t be done effectively in a larger corporate gathering, but in a small group setting there is both the time and the safety necessary for processing our experiences of God with others.
Challenge: Next time you’re in a small group setting, set aside time for people to share how they’re experiencing God.
Challenge: Next time you’re focusing on mission in your small group setting, remember that you’re not just on mission FOR God, but you’re also on mission WITH God. God has called us to a partnership with him, and we’re not out there on our own. As Jesus said in John 5:19: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”