God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24
Some of you may be aware of this song ‘The Heart of Worship’ by Matt Redman, a very powerful and popular worship song from the 1990’s. It still has great resonance in many churches today. It is a song all about the ‘heart of worship’ that is personal, deep and an expression of love that is not dependent on a great band, flashy lights or a large church of thousands.
The heart of worship is our heart, delighting in Jesus and expressing praise to him for the true things the Scriptures teach us about who he is and what he has accomplished for us. It is, then, “all about” Jesus, not us. It involves us, but we’re at the periphery. He’s at the centre. He’s the focus. It’s his commands we consider first, not our preferences. Redman’s song is about refocusing, and re-centering, and reminding ourselves why we worship — and who we worship.
Last week we had such a tremendous time celebrating our culture. It was a an extremely positive time and the faces of our students made it clearly obvious that they were enjoying this manifestation of the schooling community and its shared values. The power of these values comes from the foundation that our College is based on, that being the Gospel. The freedom and joy that comes from the truth of Jesus’ sacrificial love that paid the way for us to have an eternal relationship with our Heavenly Father, is what motivates our community and what drives our culture.
The Bible verse above directs us in the balance that we need to worship Him. We worship with the understanding and thankfulness of the truth of Jesus and power of the Gospel and we worship with all of our being, fully emotionally, physically, spiritually and deeply engaged with God. Totally worshipping from love, that has an evident fruitfulness in how we act, behave and re-act with those around us.
So, with the amazing ‘You Belong’ week now behind us and now that the ‘music has faded’, we are left with a reality and a challenge. We are left not relying on exciting events, bright colours and sounds but reliant on the role we each play in fostering and protecting the culture we enjoy. For so many, it is seeking God in all that we do, allowing His grace to permeate us, to heal us and to fill us with a deep seeded joy. A joy that is not superficial or so fickle that it is robbed easily, but a joy driven by Spirit and Truth.
We have now entered the final 3 weeks of the term and it has been an enormous term. Now is the time that we all dig in and despite being tired, we anchor ourselves in Him to finish well. We also start to be reminded of the truths of Easter and all that means for us. The College’s prayer is that we all become more familiar with the story of Easter and the profound ramifications of this time for us as individuals and as a community.
Be blessed!
Chris Mills
Week 8 // News and Updates
