A Living Sacrifice

A Living Sacrifice

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God- this is your true and proper worship.  Romans 12:1

I was reading this scripture today, a scripture I’ve read many times before, and I began to really think about it’s meaning.  To offer your bodies as a living sacrifice implies that it will cost you something. It’s not really a sacrifice if it’s effortless or costs nothing.  In 2 Samuel 24:24, King David was building an altar to make a sacrifice to the Lord, and a man offered David the animals he needed for the sacrifice at no charge.  But King David said, “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God that which costs me nothing.”

David understood that true worship costs something.  As worshipers, we must understand that every day we are to be that living sacrifice on the altar for our Lord and Savior. Worship is far more than just singing songs and playing music.  Worship is a lifestyle.  It is honoring God with our every thought, motive and choice. Everything we do should be a act of worship to the King.  Jesus paid the ultimate price for us and in return we are to devote our lives and heart to Him and His will.  That is our true and proper worship.

But the truth is, many believers are still the lord of their life.  They have excepted Jesus as their Savior, but are not allowing Him to operate as Lord over them.  We ask God to speak to us, but when He does, do we listen?  This is really a matter of obedience.
When God speaks to us, it is usually to give us direction about something or a command to do something.  Often times we enjoy worship services because we enjoy feeling God’s presence and being close to God, but when God begins to give directions to us, how submitted are we to obeying his commands?  These scriptures, Romans 12:1 and 2 Samuel 24:24, talk about being completely sold out for God’s cause.  It is not always comfortable, but it is what’s right.  As Christ followers, we need to determine to sell out to God completely, no matter what.  I encourage you to make it a point every day to say, “God, I lay down my life as a sacrifice to You.  Not my will Lord, but Yours be done.”  When we choose to live a surrendered life, we choose to live a fulfilling life.

Ashley

Worship Leading- how to keep it fresh

For anyone who is involved in ministry it is a constant challenge to keep things in the right perspective.  Let me explain.  I am a worship leader. So week in and week out I plan set lists of the songs we’ll sing for the weekend services (all 5 of them), show up for rehearsal,  lead the same songs 5 times and then do it all over again the next week.  When I explain it that way, it can come across very boring and unfulfilling.  However, true worship is FAR from that.

When we lead worship we are ushering in the very presence of the Almighty God.  For anyone who has ever experienced that, you know that it is absolutely invigorating!  But the truth is, often times we allow even the most amazing experiences in life to become mundane; especially the things we experience frequently.   At my church, we have multiple campuses, weekend services, special events, children, youth & college services, prayer services and much more.  Worship is almost always a part of every event we do, which means we lead worship A LOT.  So how do we stay passionate for worship when we do it so often?  How do we not lose interest?

When I’m struggling with this (and I do), the first thing I do is remind myself the “why” behind the “what”.  You have to ask yourself, “what is the reason that I am doing this?”  The “what” for me is leading worship; that’s the easy part.  The “why”, I think, has a general answer as well as a very personal answer. The general “why” is because, as a child of God, it is my duty and great privilege to honor God with my worship.  God loves to hear his children thank Him, praise Him, exalt Him & worship Him above ALL things-and that includes our own selfish feelings.  Sometimes we just don’t “feel” like worshiping God, but it’s not about our feelings at all.  It’s about humbling ourselves before our Maker and saying, “God, I’m going to give you praise when I feel like it and when I don’t because You are worthy!”

The more personal “why” for me is about my calling.  I have been called by God to lead people into worship which is different from just worshiping on my own.  When I lead worship, it’s much more about the people in the congregation than myself.  I ask myself, “How can I help them experience God in a new way?”  Because of this calling on my life, the “why am I leading worship today” is because the people in the congregation need a touch from God.  They may be going through a tough time and need to feel God’s loving, comforting presence.  They may have just received great news and need to shout praises to the King for the victory in their life.  Whatever the circumstance might be, the people of God need to experience His tangible presence and I have been called to be a leader for them.  When I put it into perspective like this, it seems ridiculous that I would ever take this experience for granted.  It truly is an honor and a privilege to serve God’s Kingdom in any way.

After getting your perspective straight, spend some time in God’s presence.  Allow God to speak to you and lead you.  Although he has called you to lead His people into worship,  He is still the one you receive your direction from.  God always has an agenda for every service, so make sure your ears are open to hear Him.  Often times, God will speak to me about a specific theme or word that I will focus on during the service.  For example, God has laid the word addictions on my heart before.  I knew that there would be many people in church that night that were struggling with addictions and strongholds.  God gave me that insight, not to go on stage and call it out, but to be praying for it and to be sensitive to it.  When you learn to tune in to what God is speaking to you, leading becomes much more exciting.

It’s not always easy to be excited about leading worship.  It takes effort and intentionality to be able to focus and press through to another amazing encounter with the Lord.  As worship leaders, we must be aware that the enemy wants to distract us, discourage us, and anything else he can do to take us out.  So, be on your guard and keep your eyes on the prize!

Ashley

Joining the Blog World!

Well, hello blog world!

I know, I know…  I’m a bit slow getting on the blogger train. I know blogs have been a big hit for quite awhile now and I’ve read many blog entries but never done one myself.  So today I embark on a new journey.  I am officially a blogger!  YAY!

My hope is to use these blog entries for many purposes- to reflect on what’s going on in my life, express my thoughts and feelings about particular topics, share revelations that God has been showing me, and just to keep everyone updated on what’s going on in my world (for anyone who might be interested).  I certainly don’t claim to be the wisest, most knowledgeable person, but I do feel that we can all learn something from each other and we should NEVER stop learning!

As you’ll find out, I’m a passionate person; passionate about what I do and what I believe in.  I’m at a point in my life that I want to soak up as much knowledge as I can, particularly with things that will help me be a better worshiper, leader, servant, friend, wife, and overall person.  I am also married to a very passionate husband who brings so much joy to my life.  His name is Jeremiah and we both work for Church of the King.  He is an incredibly gifted man in basically every area of his life, but his primary gifting is in Cinematography.  During these blogs you’ll certainly hear me referring to him (he’s amazing)!

Well, that’s my quick intro blog.  I hope that as I continue in this blogging journey you will be blessed, encouraged or just entertained by what’s happening in the Fry world.  Till next time!

Ashley