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April, 1944
not worship necessarily by engaging in these activities. Recently a soldier attended a church service near his camp. After the service he said: “The service left me disappointed and distressed. More than that, I was ashamed. The music was cheap arid the sermon was barren. No one seemed to feel that it made much difference whether the service was held rr not. And it did not.” The Christian Advocate published the following letter from a devout man who had just had word of the loss of a son in action: “I went to the house of God with a consuming pain in my heart, and they seemed to think they ought to entertain me by making the service ‘snappy.’ But I didn’t want to be made cheerful. I wanted to be reassured of the nearness of God.”
suffers because both clergy and laity are too often ignorant of its- nature and function. Even personal devo tions have been crowded out by the feverish rush of modern life. The family altar lies forsaken in our twentieth century homes. ' When we see even ministers confused as to the nature and function o f .wfcrship, we are not surprised that there are few laymen who know much about wor ship, and that few take time to prac tice the art of worship. Wrong Conceptions of Worship Too often the minister is>more con cerned with his sermon than with the leading of the congregation into a v i tal experience of worship. As a result, he treats the elements which precede the sermon as “ preliminaries” to be gotten through as quickly as possible: Usually these “ preliminaries” are in terrupted at intervals by the arrival of latecomers, many of whom try to miss as many as possible of the “pre liminaries.” In ‘ our Sunday-schools the “ open ing exercises” vary from formal, in tellectual assembly periods to noisy pep meetings. We try to “ pep up” the audience by singing jingly, jazzy choruses under the direction of a song leader who stops the music to make every one smile, and then exhorts the crowd to “raise the roof.” Such condi tions and practices do not develop a spirit of reverence, and certainly do not develop worshiping saints. Many earnest Christians do not go to these extremes, yet they do not have those genuine- and satisfying experiences in which the worshiper realizes that God has been present and has spoken to his heart. You may come from the mid-week prayer and testimony service and say, “We were worshiping God tonight.” But prayer is not worship; testimony is not worship. You may listen to the minister preach and expound the Word of God, and going away you may say, “We worshiped God this morning.” But listening to the min ister is not worshiping, no matter how eloquent and moving his mes sage may be. Exposition of the Scripture is not worship, regardless of how reverent and scholarly the exposition may be. Prayer, testimony, and exposition of the Scriptures are, essential elements of worship that should aid*in produc ing a worship experience, but we do
She endured a night of continuous hemorrhages; and when I called on her in the morning, she was in a very weakened and critical condition. The patient asked me to read the third chapter of Ephesians. As I read, I could hear her repeating from mem ory oertain verses of this"1 great chap ter. . When I finished reading, she said, “I shall not ask you. to pray that I shall get well. I feel that my time is short, and if my work is finished I want to go to be with my Saviour. Please pray that if my work is not finished, He may make clear His will and I may have a little more time to serve my Lord.” What faith in the goodness of the will of God for one’s life! Apparently her ministry is not finished, for she has shown rapid improvement. To pa tients, nurses, and visitors, the radi ance and joy of her life in the midst of suffering are a constant witness of God’s wonderful grace. Another cancer- patient had been in the hospital for more than a year. His eyes, nose, and much of his face were gone as the result of this dread disease. Yet this man was a glorious testimony to the saving and sustain ing power of the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of a living dedth. In spite of intense suffering he never com plained or pitied his lot in life. As I read the Bible and prayed with him, his spirit would fairly bubble over w ith .joy and praise to the Lord for His goodness. He had the secret of victorious living. Key to the Abundant Life Jesus said, “ I am come that they might have life, and . . . have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). Every child of God has a right to possess the spir itual uplift and strength which Christ has promised. Many are living vic torious lives in the central streanl of God’s w ill; others are living in the shallows of spiritual defeat and floundering in the mud flats of dis couragement and self-pity. T h i s abundant life in Christ must be ap propriated if one would meet the crisis of life with peace of heart, quietness of mind, and strength of soul. One significant means of coming into possession of these inner spirit ual resources of Christ is worship, which enables man to establish that intimate contact and fellowship with God which open tne channels of His grace and enables Him to flood our lives with His sufficiency for every human need. It is commonly acknowledged by au thorities on the subject that worship is the most misunderstood and neg lected function of Protestant Chris tianity. The public worship of God
“ 0 God, our souls are rest? less until they find their rest in Thee.”
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