Page 14 - Full Sample of ec magazine

P How authentic are you with God? 5 Friday > 7/10
Personal Spaceersonal Space
4 don’t be fake.

“You will never know the joy, the love beyond feeling that resonates Thursday > 7/9 ou go to church every
in the heart of a father as he looks upon his son.” God wants it all. Ysunday. you sit in the
uncomfortable chair or pew for at least
an hour. you sing the same hymns and
—kent nerburn o We have any overachievers out there? you know who i’m talking songs you did last week. you hear a
Dabout. it’s the student who always waves her hand in class to answer sermon. you leave and go home. next
the teacher’s question as if she’s working air traffic control. it’s the guy who week, you come back to do it all again.
goes above and beyond in his chores to please mom and dad—even tackling does this sound like your worship
the disgusting jobs no one else wants. you know exactly to whom i’m referring. routine, or do you go deeper?
think about every area of your life. are you that person in any of those places?
“God is spirit, and those
“He has told you men read Micah 6:6-8 and really pay who worship Him must
what is good and what it is attention to verse 8. worship in spirit and truth.”
the lord requires of you: � according to these verses, what —john 4:24
Only to act justly, to love does the lord require of us?
faithfulness, and to walk � now pick these things apart and
humbly with your God.” match them to your life. are you take a look at John 4:21-24. then, go
—Micah 6:8 fulfilling the requirements? back and reread verse 24.
� where could you improve? � what does it mean to worship in
� look over the list of sacrifices and displays of devotion listed in this passage spirit and truth?
as you consider verse 8. how does what god wants compare to these things? � is your worship rehearsed from week
to week? why or why not?
� what does god want from you?
You god doesn’t require you to slaughter a lamb and prepare it as a burnt sacrifice � what steps will you take in order to
� how can you worship god intimately
in spirit and truth?
for your sins each week. he doesn’t ask you to shave your head and commit
do so?
your whole life to serving him in a monastery in the remotest parts of europe.

he won’t ever ask you to quote at least 100 verses of scripture back to him each
night before bed.
jesus had this intense conversation at
high noon one day with a samaritan
he doesn’t need your big, over-the-top displays of devotion. he just wants
woman who was drawing water from
you—all of you. Micah told us exactly what god wants from you. More than
are hIs walking in a close, daily relationship with him. worship style, saying, “you worship
anything else, he wants your holiness, obedience, loyalty, and love while
a well. he confronted her about her
guessing in the dark . . . it’s who you are
and the way you live that count before
god” (john 4:22-23, the Message).
jesus said the father wants
“those who are simply and honestly
themselves before him in their worship
joY. . . . [they] must do it out of their very
being, their spirits, their true selves,
in adoration” (john 4:23b-24, the
Message).
people get too caught up in worship
styles—what to do and what not to do,
what to sing or not to sing, and what to
wear. these minor things have actually
caused churches to split. god cares
about these trivial things—but more
than those, over everything, he simply
desires your pure, unfiltered praise and
adoration. he just wants the true you to
worship the true him.

14 | jul 2009 ec magazine ec magazine jul 2009 | 15