Due to an unfortunate case of the flu on my grandmother's side, my mom, my brother, and I will not be able to attend church. Unfortunately, we will miss Jerry Bridges' sermon. He was guest speaking at my grandparents' church. So, my mom, my brother, and I are staying at my other grandparents' house. Does that mean that I can't be on assignment? No!
Just because I wasn't able to attend church today, does that mean that I'm "off duty"? No! Today my mom challenged my brother and me to worship. She didn't mean in church; she meant in all of our daily actions. Even though we couldn't make it to church, does that mean that God won't love us? No! Even though God wants us to fellowship with other believers and He doesn't want us to just "play hookey" on church, He isn't angry with us if we miss it. That being said, I think we should look at some ways to worship in our actions, thoughts, and motives if you miss church. (It may not happen to you today, but I bet some time or another you will miss church, and you'll come back to Jaquelle's Rose Garden to check out this post.)
- Looking for other people's needs. Today, instead of looking for our own interests, we should look for others interests above our own. My brother is the perfect example. One of his favourite shows was on this morning. I wanted to watch my movie. He selflessly gave the T.V. to me (not literally) so that I could watch what I wanted. That is worshipping God in our actions.
- Praying throughout the day. God loves to hear our prayers, and because we don't have the opportunity to pray several times during church, we should talk to God during our day. If you do something wrong, send up a prayer of confession. Maybe something really good happened, send up a prayer of thanksgiving. The prayers don't have to be long, and they don't have to be short. They can simply be prayers.
- Being a servant. Whether it's in your actions or your motives, being a servant is a very worshippful act. You can be a servant by looking for other peoples needs, doing things you don't want to do for other people, (I'm not talking about eating worms for your brother) or even doing something for the right motive.