"EXTRAVAGANT WORSHIP, EXTRAORDINARY PRAISE"
Extravagant worship is born out of our brokenness and our desire to
be made whole.
Grasping the concept of "extravagant worship" for us can be difficult, especially
in times when we're experiencing less than fair weather and unexpected
turbulance in our lives. We tend to associate extravagance with good feelings,
beauty; a lack of words for the amazing perhaps. But the road to extravagance
is generally not the best of journeys. There are several examples of
extravagant worship in the Bible. Following their crossing of the Red Sea, and
the total annihilation of Pharoah's army, the children of Israel sang a song of
praise to the Lord. They sang of His majesty, of the warrior He is, the greatness
of His excellence, and how He works wonders. And if that wasn't enough,
Miriam took her tambourine and went to work dancing before the Lord. David
gave God no-holds-barred praise when they brought the Ark of the Covenant
back to Jerusalem. In each of these examples, however, the times leading up to
these moments of extravagant praise were frightening. These people were
broken and had a strong desire to be made whole.
Extravagant worship requires action.
In Luke 7:37 a woman, who was a sinner learned that Jesus was nearby. She
collected a vial of perfume and went to Him. She had to take action to see the
Messiah. For myself, the only way I can even begin to scratch the surface of
extravagant worship, is to set aside time each day, every day and spend a few
moments with God. It isn't until I've done this several days in a row that I, once
again, begin to feel the closeness of my Creator King and the extravagance of
His love. Then, extravagant worship begins and extraordinary praise can take
place.
Extravagant worship has a price.
Daniel prayed; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, while being threatened with
a fiery encounter with a furnace, refused to bow down to a false god and
worshiped God Almighty instead. Job, after losing everything, fell to his knees
and.....yep...worshipped. These people didn't just bring words. They brought
everything.
I want to encourage you to take some time to think about what extravagant
worship might look like in your life. God wants us to experience the joy of
knowing Him and not just on a by name basis. He wants us to know Him
intimately. If we're willing to be broken, take action and bring "more than a
song", I believe we will begin to know Him intimately and that's when
extraordinary praise will take place.
With His Music,
Chad
Extravagant worship is born out of our brokenness and our desire to
be made whole.
Grasping the concept of "extravagant worship" for us can be difficult, especially
in times when we're experiencing less than fair weather and unexpected
turbulance in our lives. We tend to associate extravagance with good feelings,
beauty; a lack of words for the amazing perhaps. But the road to extravagance
is generally not the best of journeys. There are several examples of
extravagant worship in the Bible. Following their crossing of the Red Sea, and
the total annihilation of Pharoah's army, the children of Israel sang a song of
praise to the Lord. They sang of His majesty, of the warrior He is, the greatness
of His excellence, and how He works wonders. And if that wasn't enough,
Miriam took her tambourine and went to work dancing before the Lord. David
gave God no-holds-barred praise when they brought the Ark of the Covenant
back to Jerusalem. In each of these examples, however, the times leading up to
these moments of extravagant praise were frightening. These people were
broken and had a strong desire to be made whole.
Extravagant worship requires action.
In Luke 7:37 a woman, who was a sinner learned that Jesus was nearby. She
collected a vial of perfume and went to Him. She had to take action to see the
Messiah. For myself, the only way I can even begin to scratch the surface of
extravagant worship, is to set aside time each day, every day and spend a few
moments with God. It isn't until I've done this several days in a row that I, once
again, begin to feel the closeness of my Creator King and the extravagance of
His love. Then, extravagant worship begins and extraordinary praise can take
place.
Extravagant worship has a price.
Daniel prayed; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, while being threatened with
a fiery encounter with a furnace, refused to bow down to a false god and
worshiped God Almighty instead. Job, after losing everything, fell to his knees
and.....yep...worshipped. These people didn't just bring words. They brought
everything.
I want to encourage you to take some time to think about what extravagant
worship might look like in your life. God wants us to experience the joy of
knowing Him and not just on a by name basis. He wants us to know Him
intimately. If we're willing to be broken, take action and bring "more than a
song", I believe we will begin to know Him intimately and that's when
extraordinary praise will take place.
With His Music,
Chad
| CHAD MARVIN HAS BEEN WORSHIP PASTOR AT THE SUMMIT CHURCH IN BOISE, IDAHO FOR THE PAST SEVEN YEARS. |