Hey everyone! Last night marked the very first Linger @ the Living Room service. If you weren’t there it was an extended time of sung worship for those who really connect with the Spirit through that type of worship.

– side note – I know the term “worship” is often only a reference for music, and I get that it’s commonly known as such, but the reason I always distinguish it as “sung worship” is because, in reality, there are many ways to worship. And also not everyone connects best to God through songs at church. Some worship God best in silence, some in their relationships, some in nature, some in meditation, prayer, and contemplation. Additionally, every service we have is a “worship” service. So to relegate worship to mean only our songs to and for God totally diminishes the power of prayer, Scripture, fellowship, and everything else that is part of a Worship Service. I just wanted to make my thoughts clear on that here because, for the purpose of keeping it simple, I will compromise and refer to last night’s service as an extended “worship” time – meaning music. And I know most everyone will still consider worship time to mean music time moving forward, but perhaps this can initiate some further thought for you on what you consider worship to actually be. Okay, I’m done now.

I thought it was nice to have a full worship night. I really enjoyed being open to the movement of the Holy Spirit, and being led by the words of others, particularly Mark, Nicola, and Robyn.

I think it’s nice to have a special service where all we do is pour out a hearts to God in praise and worship, while also receiving much from the Lord in his presence at the same time. Music has a way of evoking the Spirit and moving us humans. I have no doubt God loves music and loves when we worship him with our voices and musical abilities, and doing more of it could be really good.

Like I said in the promo for Linger, we plan on doing these types of worship nights periodically, usually at the end of a series to mark the end of what we’ve discussed as a congregation, and to do something a little different to normal. I think this will add variety into our worship and give those who REALLY love music to have something to look forward to.

I do also realise that not everyone digs these kinds of nights though. and that’s okay. that’s why we’ll do them periodically, so if you’re one who doesn’t like singing for an hour you don’t have to come. BUT it could also be a new spiritual discipline for you to try engaging with, seeing as it’s only once a term or so. Just something to think about.

But hey! I’d love to have your thoughts on last night’s worship service. Was it what you were expecting of us? Was it was you were expecting of God? What did you like? What did you want more of, or done differently?

Answer with replies below, or on facebook if you’d prefer. We’ll make note of your feedback when planing the next Linger service.

Thank you!

Shalom.

-jonathan