Worship Start Day 1
DEVOTION 1 – O God, Our God
For over two years, we have started almost every worship gathering with the same confession:
O God, Our God, you are welcome in this place.
As we gather,
may my lips praise you
may my eyes see you
may my ears hear you
may my mind focus on you
may my heart be changed by you
This is a sacred moment; change me in it!
I do not remember exactly what led me to writing this corporate confession, but I am thankful we have it. Sunday mornings can be stressful. For me, it may be a technology problem, a challenging situation, or a last-minute sickness from a volunteer. For you, it may be a bad night's sleep, an argument during the car ride, or an outfit that doesn’t fit right.
Sundays can be hard. The enemy wants us to focus on the hard, not the holy.
Do you feel that?
So, a few years back, I wrote this confession for us to start each Sunday with in the hopes that it would help us center our minds, push away distractions, and be reminded that what we are doing truly is a sacred moment where God meets us.
The opening line is the most important: O God, Our God. The goal of this confession is to start where Jesus starts His model prayer—identifying God.
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name." (Matthew 6:9)
We confess that the one and only God is our God (or, as Jesus says it, our Father). He is not simply for everyone else; He is for me. He is our salvation, our hope, our Redeemer, our strength, our Comforter, and our help.
As the chorus of the congregation states that opening line, we are reminded that everyone in that room is known, loved, and desired by God. Everyone in that room can make Him the Savior from their sin and the Lord of their life.
The God we gather to worship and hear from each Sunday is my God—the God I pray to, the God I seek, the God I follow. But He is not just mine. I hope that He is your God—the God you pray to, seek, and follow.
Here is a glimpse of who our God is:
Psalm 46:1
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
O God, Our God, you are welcome in this place!
Expectations of Self
"And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion..." (Philippians 1:6)
Do you think this should be said of you?
Today, let's focus on this question:
What do you expect your spiritual life to look like?
Have you ever even considered that question?
We ask that about our work, our kids as they grow up, and our relationships with spouses and friends. We even have expectations for our favorite team, our bank account, and our vehicles.
Rarely, do we ask this about our own spiritual life!
What do you expect your spiritual life to look like?
Could it be that the reason so many Christians feel spiritually stagnant is because they have never actually defined what growth is supposed to look like?
We all feel like we are not doing enough, but what are we even aiming at?
Because here is the reality: without a clear expectation of growth, it is easy to settle for maintenance.
In order for there to be growth, there has to be investment. Investment of time, attention, and resources is required.
Most of us already feel a tension arise when I say that because we are too busy, our plates are too full, and our space to add anything new feels nonexistent. Even if we wanted to be more spiritual, we don't know where it would even fit.
So we drift.
We assume spiritual growth happens automatically as we get older.
We assume that staying consistent with church attendance or joining a group occasionally will slowly shape us.
We assume that praying a little more often will eventually solve the problem.
But none of that is enough.
Without direction, intention, and investment, we are not going to grow.
So let’s return to the question again:
What do you expect your spiritual life to look like?
Do you expect to know God better this year than last?
Do you expect to pray with more confidence?
Do you expect to understand Scripture more deeply?
Do you expect to grow in love, patience, generosity, and joy?
Do you expect to become more like Jesus?
Because if you do not expect those things, you will rarely pursue them.
Philippians 1:6 reminds us that God is not passive in this process: "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion..."
God is committed to your growth.
The question is whether you are expecting it—and participating in it.
So today, consider:
What do I expect my walk with Christ to look like one year from now?
What areas of growth have I stopped believing are possible?
Am I actually expecting God to transform me?
Expectations of the Bible
What do you expect from the Bible?
Is it simply an ancient wisdom text that can give you interesting insight?
Is it a history book to help you piece together the story of God?
Is it a biography of God, revealing who He is and how He acts?
Hebrews 4:12 states:
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
The difference between the Bible and every other book is that the Word of God is living and active. That means we are constantly gaining new, fresh, and deeper understanding from the Word of God.
Is that what you think is going to happen when you read your Bible?
Do you really expect that your life could be changed by the next verse you read?
Do you wonder if God is going to reveal something about your real life in this leather-bound book?
We must raise our expectations of the Bible because the Bible is both the guidebook for our lives and the foundation of our hope.
Did you know that reading the Bible regularly has real and noticeable effects on your life?
Here is some data from people who read their Bibles four or more times a week:
A reduction in loneliness by 30%
A reduction in anger by 32%
A reduction in bitterness by 40%
A reduction in abuse of alcohol by 57%
A reduction in pornography usage by 61%
A reduction in spiritual stagnation by 60%
What if the problem is not the church you attend, how much you feel God in worship, the preacher, or the worship style? What if it is our failure to use what is right in front of us? What if we are failing to realize what we already have?
Engaging the Bible has real effects.
It changes your life.
Maybe we should stop expecting the Bible to merely inform us and start expecting it to transform us.
Expectations of Prayer
We cannot overstate it enough that the God of the universe hears our cries, listens to our pleas, and cares about our desires.
Prayer is talking directly to the God of the universe who is always listening.
But...
What do we expect of our prayers?
Is prayer one of many ways we attempt to solve a problem?
Is prayer a psychological tool to make us feel better and listened to, as if God is a cosmic therapist?
Is prayer actually effective in changing the mind of the all-knowing and all-powerful One?
What do you expect from your prayers?
The Bible is very clear that prayer is effective.
Listen to these verses:
James 5:16b — "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."
Matthew 7:7-8 — "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."
Psalm 145:18 — "The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth."
James 1:5 — "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him."
1 Peter 3:12 — "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer."
The Bible shows a very different picture of prayer than most of us live with.
What if you prayed expectantly?
What if you prayed specifically?
Quick story: A few weeks back, I began praying very specifically for a certain person in my life. I told God exactly what I wanted and honestly believed He wanted. I asked with timelines, expectations, and clarity.
I will be honest, it is a bit scary praying this way because what happens if He does not provide? That is something to wrestle with another day.
This time, however, as I prayed for a specific thing on a specific timeline for a specific person, God answered every single one of those specific requests. I sat in awe for days over how good, present, and real God was.
What do you expect when you pray? I bet you need to raise your expectations.
Expectations of the Church
Yesterday, we considered our expectations of God.
Today, I want us to consider our expectations of the church.
What do you expect from the church?
A sermon that you can kind of remember?
Music that fits your preferred style?
A few people who know your name?
Someone to reach out to you when you are in the hospital?
A place to be spiritually refreshed?
None of the above ideas are bad. I think you should expect all of those things, but should you expect more?
Should we not expect God to move? For lives to be changed, walls to be broken, acceptance to be felt?
I ask these questions because I wonder how much we actually expect to happen when we gather together in a worship service. A few weeks ago, I taught that today is the day God wants to change your life, but how many of us were able to quiet that conviction and miss the opportunity?
Do you really expect anything to happen when you show up each Sunday other than shake some hands, sing some songs, listen to some stories, and be out by 11:15?
Trust me, I wonder the same thing about myself! It is so easy to simply show up with little to no expectation of the God of the universe doing anything consequential in the time we gather... and I think that is dangerous.
We start each Sunday saying, "This is a sacred moment. Change me in it," but how many of us mean it? How many of us truly expect to have eyes that see, ears that hear, and hearts that understand God in those moments we share in a sanctuary?
What if there are higher expectations for our service?
Shouldn’t we expect the good news to convert sinners to sons?
Shouldn’t we expect baptisms, new members, and invited guests frequently?
Shouldn’t we expect prayers requested, convictions felt, and tomorrows changed?
Yet all of us are perfectly content showing up and scooting out without any true impact being made.
Let's start expecting more.
Consider today:
What do you expect from church?
And more importantly, what should we expect from church?