The Offering - A Part of Our Worship?
I'm grateful for the blood of Jesus that has paid the final atonement for our sins. If I had to live in the days of Moses, I would undoubtedly go broke with sacrificing animals. How awesome a God to pay for our sins. Not with an animal, but with His own son. That is the ultimate sacrifice that will never be outdone, because there was nothing left under heaven or earth to redeem man. Why is it that we know it, we understand it to a degree, and yet we take it so lightly? When I give of my tithes and offerings I want it to be a large part of my worship experience. I want God to know that I am grateful for His providing for me from day to day. I want to place my offering in the plate as a meaningful gesture of worship and not hope to be able get it ready before the plate passes me by and then sit in smug self-satisfaction as if I had done God a favor. Is the giving of our tithes and offerings a true worship experience for you? Is it for your church?
I doubt if God will ever consume us with fire for treating the offering as a mere component in the service or a time to collect the operating expenses of the church. I am grateful for His grace in my life that allows me to fall and yet He still loves me. However, I also want to be all that He wants me to be. I want to be faithful in all He gives me and obedient to all that He has called me to do in my life. As I look for ways to better present our gifts to the Lord during the worship times, I pray that each of us will examine our hearts concerning this matter. Are we sincere in our wanting to give to the Lord? Do we honor the Lord with our tithes? Do our people see the offering time as a part of the worship experience? Do they understand that it is a very important step of faith in our growth as believers?
I pray that we will step back and take a good look at how we conduct our offerings in worship. Many churches make it a wonderful time of worship. It is my desire that we will not treat it as a social time to talk to our neighbors as someone plays music, but that it will become a time of true giving through prayer and quietness as we sit before the Lord giving Him thanks for all He has done in our lives. As we present to Him a small portion of what He has given us, I pray that God will be honored because our hearts and our finances are focused on Him. It means more to me when a person hands me a gift in person than it does to receive one in the mail. I believe that God wants us to come to Him and as we stand before His very throne, He wants us to present our offerings to Him in a spirit of worship.
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This is the debut album by EXW friend Paul Langford. Paul is a Chicago based singer, arranger, keyboardist, producer and conductor. Paul has a career that spans 14 years. Paul's work includes arranging for groups like GLAD, Voices of Liberty, VoiceTrek, The Chicago based "Caroling Party" and Day of Discovery Singers. His arranging has appeared on recordings side by side with greats like Gene Puerling and David Maddux, and he has sung with Don Shelton, Bonnie Herman and Bob Bowker, among others.