| "We all get so involved in our silly little lives that we | | | | inside your heart." |
| have made for ourselves to where we don't have the | | | | Christians should be most grateful for Jesus' sacrifice |
| time to do anything for God," says Travis, age 12. | | | | on the cross. In fact, one of the names for the Lord's |
| Worship is the way we see God's larger purpose for | | | | Supper is "Eucharist," which comes from the Greek |
| us. A life of worship usually doesn't make media | | | | word meaning to give thanks. |
| headlines, but even the smallest things done in relation | | | | We read about the early church in the Book of Acts: |
| to God are significant because they're part of a grand | | | | "Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples |
| plan. | | | | came together to break bread ... " (Acts 20:7). |
| Saying you don't have time to worship God is like | | | | Fellowship was important in the early church: "And |
| saying you don't have time to breathe. If you don't | | | | they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and |
| breathe, you die. If you don't worship, you'll wither and | | | | fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers" |
| live small. | | | | (Acts 2:42). |
| Oxygen deprivation does strange things to your head. I | | | | Bible commentators concur that the breaking of bread |
| once flew to La Paz, Bolivia, which is almost 12,000 | | | | refers to a fellowship meal called the "love feast." |
| feet above sea level. For the first 24 hours, I felt | | | | About 20 years after the church began in Jerusalem, |
| disoriented and strange. Being too busy to worship | | | | the apostle Paul wrote a stinging rebuke to the |
| God is similar to oxygen deprivation. You'll feel | | | | Corinthian Christians for drinking too much wine at the |
| unbalanced. | | | | meal, eating before others and failing to distribute the |
| "Worship means fully opening your heart to God and | | | | food fairly. The fact remains that the Lord's Supper as |
| expressing your true love and feelings for him," says | | | | a fellowship meal was the predominant form of |
| Christian, 13. "It means not just saying the words to a | | | | worship in the early church. |
| song in church. It means actually meaning them with | | | | Where is it today? Most churches have traded the rich |
| your heart. Serve the Lord wholeheartedly." | | | | table-fellowship that characterized the worship of the |
| The Lord called David a man after his own heart, not | | | | early church when they assembled on the first day of |
| because he never sinned. His sins are well chronicled. | | | | the week for little plastic cups of grape juice and |
| David went after the Lord with a whole heart. His | | | | pieces of crackers served in pews once a month. |
| heart is on display in the psalms he wrote. | | | | Think about this: Let's worship the Lord like the early |
| A huge part of worship is thanksgiving, says Mitchel, 11. | | | | Christians by starting a Lord's Supper revolution! Think |
| "Take time to thank God for all the stuff he gives you. | | | | of all the people who would rather come to a "love |
| All the stuff that you have was sent from heaven." | | | | feast" on Sunday morning. |
| Hmm. That's a new perspective on possessions for | | | | Memorize this truth: "Now on the first day of the week, |
| some. | | | | when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, |
| "Worship means to be thankful for God's gift of Jesus | | | | ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and |
| dying on the cross," says Brittany, 11. "It shows how | | | | continued his message until midnight" (Acts 20:7). |
| much we love him. We rejoice in him for the many | | | | Ask this question: Can you imagine millions of Christians |
| gifts he has given us. It means to put our whole heart | | | | eating together and enjoying fellowship every week |
| in him. When you worship, you are telling God what is | | | | around the Lord's Supper as a fellowship meal? |