When I was in undergrad – really not that long ago…I had to take a science.  I knew I didn’t like biology – even though I have a daughter who loves it.  But, when I saw astronomy on the list – I thought wow!  This could be really interesting!  I am here to tell you that I struggled in that class.  I’m terrible at math and our labs were nothing but math!  I could not fathom the light years and distance that we were from those little tiny twinkling stars that we see in the sky!  Not to mention the SUN and its distance from us – which is a star! It is absolutely mind-blowing to me.

We did do one thing that I will never forget as long as I live.  We went to Cincinnati where there was a telescope that you could climb up to and see the planets.  I got to see Saturn – with the rings around it.  It blew my mind!  And, it was amazingly beautiful.

In his book, The 7 Habits of Jesus, Robert Schmalzle, talks about “Preparing”  Preparing for worship and preparing for the Holy Sacraments – Holy communion and Baptism.  I want to focus on worship.

He writes: “Most of us who grew up in the church were not expected to prepare for worship.  The emphasis was merely on being in worship every week, not getting ready for worship…Being prepared for worship is not an option for a disciple of Jesus; it is a necessity…” (p. 182)

 And, how do we prepare ourselves for worship?  Well, he gives some really good examples, such as:

• Remember your baptism and recall times during the week when you died to self. Recall times when you experienced new life in Christ.  I suggest to journal about these events.  You will be amazed how you see God working in your life.
• Hear and listen to the God’s Word – through Bible Studies and the study the readings for the Sunday ahead.
• Consider how you can grow your relationship with God. Think about ways that your relationship with God may need to be restored.  How does my relationship with others need reconciling?  And, is there anger in my heart that needs healing?

No doubt, as we begin to think about ourselves and how broken we are, we understand the need to come to Christ.  While Robert Schmalzle is completely right – and I highly recommend ALL the above – I believe that it can often be the really profound events in our lives that turn us to God – Because here is the thing…I don’t think our minds can handle the greatness of God.  We are human beings and our minds can only imagine a limited amount of information –

I struggled through astronomy – not just because of the math, but also because I could not wrap my head around what God had created.  When I saw Saturn through that telescope, I had tears in my eyes – It was so magnificent and it made me begin thinking about our earth and how God created this place just for us! This planet earth, is perfectly made just for us humans – the sun is perfectly placed so that we are not too close, not too far away.  The moon is perfectly placed to give us light at night – The stars are perfectly aligned –We have water. We have air to breathe. We food to eat. The list goes on and on and how God thought of EVERYTHING in order for us to live out our lives here on earth –

And, all God wants in return is a relationship with Him!  In fact, God wants that so bad that He sent His one and Only SON to conquer death and sin, so that in all reality – THERE IS NOTHING THAT CAN COME BETWEEN US AND GOD!

HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!. God’s power and strength is unfathomable! God is capable of raising us from the dead into a life with HIM!  And, God promises that He will do that!  I don’t know about you…but that is enough right there to make me want to fall to my knees and worship my Lord!

God is the only one who can heal us from all our brokenness.  God is the Only one who can mend our broken relationships.  God is the Only one who can create a place for us to spend our eternal life.  God is the Only one who can forgive us and give us a clean heart.

 If you can somehow fathom the works of God – the creation of our world, the death and resurrection of our Lord – We can “maybe” begin to understand that we are created for worship – It is the heart and soul, the very CENTER of a Christian life with God. It is not about us but about what God is doing to us and for us – Just so that we can have a relationship with Him!

Worship then becomes completely natural!