..::Nehemiah Moms::..

     Our church's motto is "Helping people take the next step in their relationships with Jesus Christ."  So our worship ministry team has been discussing this topic in relation to worship.  And one of our conclusions is that we can pray.  We can apply the 3-5 minutes of thankfulness (see previous blog entries) and pray through our congregation, "Thank You, God,  for Ted and Sally Smith, thank You for Bill and Ann, Tammy, and Willy Cramer, etc.  And we are praying that the Holy Spirit will convict us of sin so we can confess and have clear consciences, ready to worship. 

     But what does that next step look like?  It will be different for each person or family.  For some folks, taking the next step may mean determining to make regular church attendance a priority, or to arrive on time for worship.  For others it may mean deciding to move forward in the sanctuary to make it easier to engage.  Sitting closer to the front can eliminate distractions and we've found it easier to have our children with us in the front than in the middle or back.

     For some, the next step might be singing for the first time, or raising hands in praise, or kneeling or closing eyes during a sweet praise song.  God delights in being worshipped in spirit and in truth.  These physical acts of praise engage our spirits and our bodies.  We can't say one form of worship is better than another, or that everyone should worship a certain way.  But we do want to remove anything that interferes with worship, even if it is our own pride or self-consciousness.  This is an excellent opportunity to practice "taking thoughts captive" according to 2 Cor. 10:4-5.   My next blog entry will be about the process God took me through in taking my next step.