i like lists (and alliteration)...

our pastor began a series on sunday entitled "back to basics" - about practical things that we do as christians to grow in a life of godliness. well, sunday's messages were about worship - and the real thinker for me came from the statement, "your worship determines your witness" - ie. what i value, treasure, esteem is what i talk about the most... (chew on that one)

the Scripture for the morning message was 1 chronicles 16:23-30 which is part of david's song of thanks when the ark was brought back to jerusalem... what really grabbed me in that passage was the idea of God being praised in "all the earth" and "among the nations" (see previous post "praying for the nations") - how do the nations come to worship Him? through our witness... what is the source of our witness? OUR WORSHIP!

as i glanced back through the entire song of thanks... i noticed that i had numbered stuff at the beginning of it (i like to number lists), 14 imperatives (fancy english class word for commands) that i have spent the last couple of days meditating on:

oh give thanks to the LORD;
call upon His name;
make known His deeds among the peoples!
sing to Him;
sing praises to Him;
tell of all His wondrous works!
glory in His holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
seek the LORD
and [seek] His strength;
seek His presence continually!
remember the wondrous works that He has done,
[remember] His miracles
and [remember] the judgments He uttered,
2 Chronicles 16:8-12

teach me, O Lord, to worship You aright that the nations may know of Your name! (beginning with my neighborhood)