Corporate Worship - Why It's Important

"I can worship at the golf course."

"I can worship while I'm hiking through the Rockies."

"I can worship seeing a beautiful sunrise as it comes up over the lake."

Yes, if a person is paying attention to his surroundings he can find countless reasons to give praise and to worship our Great Creator. Years ago I hiked through the Rockies with some friends and the majesty of the mountains and the wonder of 100 ft. tall waterfalls and the crystal waters of mountains lakes and streams, the countless shades of greens and browns in the forests and rocks... well, I could go on and on... all of it gave us many times to just stop and thank God and worship Him for His amazing work.

I hope all of you have those times when you are out in nature where you can stop and take a moment to worship. Look what Colossians 1:15-17 have to say about Jesus and creation.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.

But individual worship is not enough. We need corporate worship. (Corporate worship means worship together as a congregation.) Hebrews 10:23-25  Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.  And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Our congregation at Hilldale has had some very emotionally tiring weeks lately. We've had the highs of a great Passion Play and Easter morning celebrations and the lows brought by sickness, trials and memorial services for family and friends. As we gather on Sundays and worship our sovereign King together we share each others burdens, we rejoice together, we encourage each other...

This Sunday we will begin our worship services celebrating the great things God has done in our lives as we sing:

To God Be the Glory
Hear our Praises
Friend of God

But because we have met so many times lately to offer words of comfort to those who have lost family and friends in death, it is important that we offer up together words of  faith, comfort, and hope. We will do this as we sing these two great song:

It Is Well
I Will Rise

We've celebrated the power of the Resurrection in the last few weeks and this week we can join the song of heaven.

"And I hear the voice of many angels sing 'Worthy is the Lamb.'
and I hear the cry of every longing heart, 'Worthy is the Lamb!'"