For a fine dinner with our spouse, you will go our of your way to clean the dining room, set the fine china, light the candles, and remove any distraction from this event. God appreciates our "setting the table."

What happens when we set the table? God arrives for dinner with his expectant worshipers. He moves in the hearts and lives of believers. He provides jobs, grace, hope, help, and cheer for all occasions. Our God lives. Our God reigns.

For a church to set the table means: praying over the facilities and events prior to the event. It also means: inviting people to this special event. From your own perspective, you must believe that the event is special, or you will have nothing to invite friends to. Strangers will not be attracted to a special event that you are not inspired to be a part of.

For a church: conflict is a distraction to worship. The Gospel of Peace must be shared by believers who live in peace with the Savior and one another. Any church caught in conflict does not share the Gospel message. You will not invite people to a conflict. You will invite them to worship.

Are you distracted? Or is the church actually caught up in conflict? Seek God for the right heart attitude toward your worship and your church.

For the church: Our commission is to share the Gospel of Peace with the world. The world of future believers begins right outside my door. Before you guilt yourself for not sharing. Ask God for something worthy of sharing. Something that only God could work out. Something only God can make happen. Something marvelous, miraculous, and personal from the hand of God to you.

Share what He has done to give you joy. Bless people with your Christ moments and experiences. Others will not debate what you have personally verified. The may debate truth, the Bible, the church, but they cannot deny what you have lived.

Set the table. Feast with Jesus. And don't keep the blessings locked up inside the church building.

Jeremiah 13:11 says, "for as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen."

God's hope and dream for his people corporately and individually are based upon our "clinging" to Him for our every need. Whatever the need, real or imagined, God has an answer for His clinging people. Even our witness is based upon our clinging to Him.

I am convinced that God's people do not witness with those nearby because they/ we do not have anything significant to share of God's activity. We will only share what moves us. Think about it. People will debate facts, but they can only marvel at your personal experience with God.

As we cling to our Savior in prayer and worship He moves. The non believing audience can only be motivated to seek God because of believers that are clinging to God for His everything in their personal issues. The closer we are to God's activity, the more relevant and powerful is our response to our neighbor in need or Jesus Christ. Even believers need to cheer on the work of God in the lives of fellow believers.

God wants to bless his believing audience.

Bro.Bob

As I prepare for worship, I am being led to preach on "the extravagance of God." Christ gave the blind man his sight in John 9. Could he have done less? possibly so, but he didn't Jesus gave him his sight completely.

He resurrected Lazarus in John 11. Could he have done something less. Sure, Mary and Martha even complained that he stayed away too long. However, Jesus resurrected his faithful worshiper, Lazarus.

Mary worshiped extravagantly through anointing Jesus with the expensive perfume that filled the air, and in the process, got all over her body.  She smelled like Jesus. Could she have done less? Certainly! But she chose to smell like Jesus instead.

I believe our prayers need to be open to the "extravagance" of our Lord. Not that we tell Him what we want. This seems to be the essence of many prayers today. But that we hear, give Him permission to do the extravagant, and worship him as he does the impossible.

May every day be a day of worship and eye opening excitement as we worship our wonderful, marvelous, extravagant Savior.

Robert Carruthers