"INTIMACY IN OUR WORSHIP"

As we begin today I want to let you all know that the following writing is to be my communion thoughts around The Lord's Table this coming Lord's day. Feel free to use it and pass on to others.
As we come together each Lord's Day to worship, it should not be a time to look for something in that service to make "ME" feel good. It is, according to scripture, a time to give and look to the needs of others and not ourselves. The Lord's Table is a time of intimacy to draw close and worship as God so well deserves. In the New testament the word for worship is a beautiful word when understood in its meaning. And I will get to that in a moment.
For those of you who are sports fans, if you were offered free tickets to your favorite team's next game, how excited would you be? As some of you think about the idea right now your mouth is watering already. Suppose those tickets were right down on the front row. Now you are more excited, right. You could reach out and give a "High Five" to your favorite player after he makes that winning point. Two players clash in a thunder of trying to reach that goal and you feel their sweat splash on you. You can go home and brag a bit, or a lot, about how intimate it was for you at that particular game. You could relive that moment and that day and share it with everyone who was willing to listen to you, even some who could care less. That is intimacy. You could not brag so much if you were in the nose bleed section with a pair of binoculars. But because you were close and intimate, you have something to talk about and something important to tell.
Worship, in the original Greek (Proskuneo), means to bow towards and kiss. To bow towards and kiss. When we worship here in this setting on any given Lord's Day, do we not want to worship in that truest sense? Do we not want to bow before the One who gave Himself for us and took on Himself the wrath of God that each one of us deserve? I know I do.
Jesus told us in His Word, as together He and His Disciples celebrated the Passover, "Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom" (Matthew 26). This is intimacy in our worship because He is here today is His Kingdom, The Church, as we worship. This is each one of us individually and all of us corporately sitting right there up front and sharing in something greater than any sporting event you could ever witness. As we partake each Lord's Day, let's do it with the attitude of bowing before God and Christ, and doing all we can to show our love to Him, and our togetherness as His family. He deserves our worship, and we need to remember Him and what He has done for us.
God bless until our next time........