We’ve been talking this summer about what “worship is…,” to borrow an idea from Charles Schulz! This week is the fourth installment and you can catch up on the series here.

Worship is good.

Last week, I mentioned one of my favorite verses when it comes to worship: Psalm 92:1.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;

It is good. I think we sometimes overlook the power of this word, “good.” I’ve been through many deep valleys where life wasn’t very good. There have been plenty of times when I just needed anything to be good because everything felt bad. Have you ever felt that way?

Unfortunately, many have lived through difficult and tragic situations. Abuse and neglect. Abandonment and rejection. We are all orphans before the Father adopts us as his own (John 14:17-19; Romans 8:14-16). We all know the loneliness of separation on some level – separation from God, separation from others, and even separation from ourselves. But God is faithful, and has never been absent or unaware of our pain or grief.

I digress slightly. No matter where we are in life, it is good to praise the Lord. No matter what evil is staring us down, it is good to praise the Lord. And that’s why we keep coming back to worship week after week after week. And not just every week. I don’t know about you, but I need him for a few minutes every few minutes!

So again, if God says something is good, then it’s good – it’s not bad. I know that sounds simple, but it seems that often we come to church to worship and would rather just be somewhere else doing something else – but why? Perhaps we think the goodness of worship is negotiable, or that it changes based on how we feel about it, whether or not we want to engage in it, whether the music sounds good or the song is our favorite. But it’s not about all those things. It’s about us and the Lord and doing something good. Don’t you need something good in your life?

So, let’s check in for worship this week and realize that it’s a good thing, a gift from God. It’s an incredible privilege to worship, and certainly here in our beautiful, comfortable sanctuary. There is nothing evil that will come from offering praise to God. Nothing. It is pure and right and worth every second you spend on it.

Jeremy Buzzard, Director of Music Ministries

 

Check out the songs we’ll be singing in Contemporary Worship (11:15am) this week:

NEPC Contemporary Setlist