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Reflections on Community Worship Night
“If you do not worship God seven days a week, you do not worship Him on one day a week. There is no such thing known in heaven as Sunday worship unless it is accompanied by Monday worship and Tuesday worship and so on.” -A.W. Tozer
Every day encounters. Students lifting their voice as one to sing out their worship in chapel. Moms and dads in a conference room, heads bowed, voices raised. Teachers sharing a word from the Bible with their coworkers in the break room before the first bell rings. Morning devotions on the classroom rug. Bible class in the schedule. High school girls clustered in desks for Bible study. Sending out an entire campus of fourth through eighth graders to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Opportunities. Moments. Encounters.
When we think about the invitation we give our students here at Eastern Christian School to develop a relationship with the Lord, I see all of those encounters and more. I know the teacher who sheds tears as they lift up the circumstances of their students. The kindergartener who comes early on Fridays so they don’t miss Prayer Club. The mom who asks if she can pray over me, our hands joined, heads bowed.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of seeing people across every age range and Eastern Christian affiliation gather together for Community Worship Night. The atmosphere of that night, the depth of worship and love, still lingers even now.
I knew early on that the night would be impactful. The faculty and community members that had assembled to form the band for the night love the Lord and I was confident that our hearts would be turned toward Jesus from the start. For weeks, faculty and parents shared that they were praying over the event. Even students were rising up in anticipation of a night of seeking Jesus. It was exciting. After all, God promises in his Word that “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” We were seeking him and I couldn’t wait to see what happened.
That night, we saw God move. The sound of two hundred voices lifted in unity was powerful. The words and prayers from Pastor Dan Rainville led us to seek the Lord for our community, our faculty and staff. At the end of the night, all of the students in attendance gathered at the front of the room and were prayed over while the adults extended their arms in blessing.
There are so many times that I wish everyone could see what I get to see. It is a gift to witness the many ways we chase after God in our school. At the Community Worship Night, it was like watching all of those little encounters spill over and pour out. When our students ended the night by singing Waymaker on their own, it was a taste of Heaven; a reflection of our heart here at Eastern Christian. In their song, I heard an echo of words spoken for generations both here and throughout the kingdom:
You are waymaker,
Miracle worker,
Promise keeper,
Light in the darkness,
My God, that is who You are!
