Yesterday we defined worship as giving worth to God, or in other words, acknowledging he is at the center of our lives, or we want him there if he isn’t.

Worship is about practicing God’s Presence.  We can forget God is there in our busy lives, and something tangible can help.  A friend of mine mentioned Elf on the Shelf on Facebook.  Elf on the Shelf is a small elf doll that parents are supposed to hide somewhere in the house every night, claiming he is a “scout elf” who reports back to Santa.  The elf becomes a visible symbol for small children who might forget that Santa is watching.

Worship is meant to be a visible symbol for those of us who might forget God is watching.

In the busyness of our everyday lives, we cannot always remember that God is with us.  In spite of our best intentions we may find ourselves living and acting without regard to the fact that God is present in every aspect of our lives.

Sometimes we think something in our lives is coincidence, but God is actually doing something incredible.  Sometimes we will find resources are suddenly supplied that we needed, and will think it was luck or our skills, when it was in fact God’s provision.

We want to develop an increasing sensitivity to God’s presence with us. We know that we develop skills and get better at things by practicing: an old saying reminds us practice makes perfect.  It would be more truthful to say that practice reinforces, but in this case reinforcement is good enough. We need a way to reinforce our awareness of God’s presence in our lives.

Question: When have you seen God working in the last week?  What seeming coincidences were there?

Reminder: Earlier in this series, we saw the importance of reading the Bible together in sync, so our new daily bible readings start today in our mobile app and web site.

Read the Bible in Sync Today

Ryan Sim - June 3, 2013

Monday - A New Idea - Judgement

Sermon on the Mount

Have you ever felt judged? According to Psychology Science magazine, it takes just a 10th of a second for us to make snap judgements about character, trust, and competence based on visual first impressions. When you first heard Rob Ford was accused of using crack cocaine, how did you react? Many reacted with judgement, having already decided he was "that kind of person". But according to a poll of people's support for potential mayoral candidates for the next election, 27% still support him, and that did not change with the most recent allegations. This has a lot to do with prejudices one way or the other. We make judgements all the time. Is that good, or bad? Question: How do you react to the idea of judgement? Is it ever okay for someone to judge another? Why or why not?

From Series: "Sermon on the Mount"

Discuss the Daily Challenge

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