Great worship?

Every Sunday afternoon I reflect on the worship experience that I lead in the morning. I ask myself, "Was it a 'good' service?" I tend to think about questions like - did the people seem to enjoy being there? Did the sound system work properly, the PowerPoint connect with audience, the music flow well? Did the congregation laugh at the right spots and stay interested in the sermon? All those questions are focused on the audience. How easily I allow myself to get caught up in the mechanics of church, becoming a paid performer on a stage. When I do this I am inevitably dissatisfied with the experience of worship. When I remember that worship is about pleasing an "Audience of One," - offering my songs, words, and prayers to Him, the entire way in which I evaluate a 'good' worship experience changes. The single question that becomes important in evaluating worship is this one - Was God pleased?

How do you evaluate 'church?'
What expectations shape your evaluation?
Is it about the preacher's delivery of the sermons, the singers' songs, the temperature of the A/C, the friendliness of those in the sanctuary?

Or is it about connecting with God along with His people, offering yourself to Him, listening to Him, renewing your devotion to Him?

Of course, the mechanics of a service can be a distraction. If the sound system screeches, or if the music is terrible, or if the preaching is disjointed, it's only human to start to think more about those things than about the Lord God we came to meet.
And yet.... we can meet Him anywhere, if we turn our attention to Him. This came to me so clearly yesterday as I conducted a service in a home for the aged yesterday in the afternoon. The room was not attractive. Some of the congregants dozed in wheelchairs. One dear soul knew enough to realize it was a 'church' gathering, but she wasn't going with the flow. She repeated "Hail Mary" in a drone that went on and on through prayer, through songs, and well into my talk from the Bible. Another lady 'sang' her way from page to page in the hymnal in a loud monotone. She wasn't singing the same verses, often not even the same hymn! But I sensed the Presence of God and I turned my eyes and heart toward Heaven to offer myself to Him. I sang "What a Friend We have in Jesus," with a depth of emotion I have not felt in some time! I came home filled with a peaceful sense that He had met the 30 or so of us in that basement room and that He was pleased by our offering of ourselves in worship. That experience reminded me of the importance of making worship about Him, rather than about Me.

As you begin this new week, let me encourage you to consider your life as an extension of worship. We do not just worship Him in our church buildings.
We are to proclaim His worth (worship defined!) everywhere, everyday. If we are worshippers who know how to focus on Him, how to 'connect' with His Presence during our commute, in our living rooms, at the lunch room table - we will be better worshippers during the worship service!

Here's a prayer - pray it often - as you worship.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. - Psalm 19:14