COORDINATED WORSHIP

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

David left Asaph and his associates before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister there regularly, according to each day’s requirements. He also left Obed-Edom and his sixty-eight associates to minister with them. Obed-Edom son of Jeduthun, and also Hosah, were gatekeepers.

David left Zadok the priest and his fellow priests before the tabernacle of the Lord at the high place in Gibeon to present burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering regularly, morning and evening, in accordance with everything written in the Law of the Lord, which he had given Israel. With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the Lord, “for his love endures forever.” Heman and Jeduthun were responsible for the sounding of the trumpets and cymbals and for the playing of the other instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were stationed at the gate.

Then all the people left, each for their own home, and David returned home to bless his family.

1 Chronicles 16:37-43

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I just love worship at my home church of Bayside Baptist in Virginia Beach and if you’re ever in the neighborhood, I invite you to come and join us as we seek to trust and grow more in Christ each and every week.

There are three services on Sunday morning with three different worship styles but all with the same great Bible-based message preached by our Senior Pastor, Dr. John Nixon.

If you’re one who likes a more liturgical, structured, traditional service, then the 8:30 worship service would fit what you’re looking for.

Maybe you just want a cup of coffee and a casual worship environment. If so, then you would feel right at home at our 9:45 coffeehouse worship service.

And maybe you are one who likes your music more contemporary and led by a praise and worship band. Our 11 o’clock praise and worship service would be right down your alley.

As you can things get pretty busy on Sunday mornings with so much worship activity and that busyness starts well before church begins. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes.

I know I typically get to church a little after 7:30, joining others who are busy getting things set up for each of the worship experiences. While I am setting up the placement of gift bags for our guests, another person is setting up the Fellowship Hall for the coffeehouse service. Still another person is setting up reserved parking signs for our guests and checking the grounds to ensure they look good. The organist is rehearsing in the sanctuary, the choir is practicing their special in a separate room, the ushers are getting the bulletins ready for distribution, and the audio-visual volunteers are checking out the sound system and projectors. Still more volunteers are setting things up for the 9:45 church school hour and making preparations to teach and care for the church’s children and youth. And providing oversight over this is our Director of Administration and Education who walks around to make sure everything is taken care of so that the worship experience will be as good as it can be to glorify and magnify the Lord.

Yes, a lot of work goes into making worship happen. It takes a lot of coordination.

As we see in our passage from 1 Chronicles, Chapter 16, worship has been a coordinated effort since its earliest inception. Look again at the scripture:

David left Asaph and his associates before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister there regularly, according to each day’s requirements. He also left Obed-Edom and his sixty-eight associates to minister with them. Obed-Edom son of Jeduthun, and also Hosah, were gatekeepers.

David left Zadok the priest and his fellow priests before the tabernacle of the Lord at the high place in Gibeon to present burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering regularly, morning and evening, in accordance with everything written in the Law of the Lord, which he had given Israel. With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the Lord, “for his love endures forever.” Heman and Jeduthun were responsible for the sounding of the trumpets and cymbals and for the playing of the other instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were stationed at the gate.

Then all the people left, each for their own home, and David returned home to bless his family.

Note here that people had specific worship responsibilities, not unlike what we do at Bayside Baptist every week. This included:

- Asaph and his associates who were to minister to others regularly according to the day’s requirements.

- Obed-Edom and his 68 associates were also to minister but he and Hosah also joined the sons of Jeduthen as gatekeepers.

- Zadok the priest and his fellow priests were assigned to the tabernacle of the Lord at the high place of Gibeon where they were to present burnt offerings to the Lord regularly, whether morning or evening, in accordance with the Law of the Lord.

- Finally, Heman and Jeduthun were to provide the music, sounding the trumpets and cymbals, and playing other instruments for sacred song.

There were processes to worship in David’s time and it took coordination.

My hope for this devotion is that we will be more acutely aware of all the things that go into making worship happen and understand that there are dedicated servants of the Lord Most High working behind the scenes on them.

This Sunday, take a moment to thank someone who prepares and participates in the worship experience. We owe these people a debt of gratitude for their selfless sacrifice to their fellow parishioners but more importantly, their selfless sacrifice to the Lord we come to magnify, glorify, and praise.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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