Hi Everyone,
Thanks for starting this thread Beth. It's posts like yours that make me feel such a part of this body of Christ.
I haven't posted lately, but I've been reading a lot. I've just started Kat's latest transcription of the 2009 conference (thanks for all your work in doing this, Kat). I thought the following excerpt would fit in well here:
WE ARE ADMONISHED TO ASSEMBLE TOGETHER:
Now we are admonished to assemble ourselves together and it is a difficult thing when you live in Great Britain and central Mexico and northern Canada and all of that. But we are here today and you know we are making a golly good effort. As Jesus say;
Matt 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another…
1John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
So hopefully that is what we are doing here. We are assembling… trying to get the true knowledge of God… we are hopefully humbling ourselves… we are determined to walk in the light… learn God’s Truth… we are having fellowship one with another… the end result is we will be cleansed from all our sin! How good is that! That’s a good thing. Right? That’s worship.
We are worshipping here. We are not singing, we are not dancing, we are not falling over backwards and foaming at the mouth or speaking in mumbo jumbo. But we are here, we are assembling, we are fellowshipping, we will hopefully have a humble attitude, we are hungry and thirsty for God’s Truth. That’s WORSHIP! We are worshipping. Do you follow?
Well what about all the days we don’t assemble? Well you don’t have to be in a physical assembly to worship. Just follow instruction.
John 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh, when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
v. 22 You worship you know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
v. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him.
v. 24 God is a (‘a’ is not in the Greek) Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
Not that you can, but you “MUST worship Him in spirit and in truth.” Not that you can or can’t, you “must.” We must worship “in spirit and in truth.” There’s the answer as to how, when and where we are to WORSHIP God.
When Israel was condemned for idolatry, they didn’t worship “in truth.” Those statures and stuff that they bow down to, that’s not truth and it’s not spiritual, but very physical. You can bust the nose off of those gods.
Geoff