June 7, 2025

8 Quality Characteristics #5: Inspiring Worship Service

“Be joyful, always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19

We arrived at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center around 11 am. We were expecting some rain throughout the day and we were worried that we couldn’t see much. We saw the heavy clouds as we approached and when we parked our cars we headed over to the Mather Point before taking the shuttle bus. I noticed people walking away from the point and they didn’t look too excited. When we got to the Mather Point, we were disappointed. The clouds and fog filled up the massive canyon and we couldn’t see a thing. ‘We came all the way here for this?’ was the thought I had in mind. My brother checked the precipitation forecast and saw that things would clear up in 30 minutes. We decided to have lunch first. While we enjoyed our sack lunches, my concern did not go away. After lunch, we ran over to the Mather point, and still nothing. We could not see anything. What do we do now?

We chose to take the shuttle bus, as the bus takes us to multiple viewing spots, in hopes to see if other places were clear. We were anxious on the bus, and when we got off the bus after 5-10 minutes of riding, we all screamed, “Yes!!!!!!! We see the canyon!” Everything was clear, the canyon was massive, and the view breathtaking. By instinct, I worshiped God immediately. “Father, thank You, and I praise You for all of this!” What a contrast it was before and after we saw the canyons. After taking a whole bunch of pictures, we got on the bus and headed to the next point, and the views got better! There was never a dull moment, and the sceneries became more exciting at every view point. After checking out the different points, we went on a short hike, that took us down the canyon. A different angle and perspective opened our eyes to various ways to see God’s beauty, and my desire to worship God became deeper and deeper.

Worship at church is similar. Our worship experience at church can vastly change by the worship atmosphere we create that helps us focus everything on God. When we offer a joyous and reverent atmosphere for worship, we also lead others to worship God when they enter into our sanctuary. God will be glorified and His holy name praised. I pray that we will worship God always, and especially in our sanctuary.

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