Second Baptist Baytown

A couple weeks ago my family and I boarded flight 439 in Houston and prepared to be taken to Nashville’s International airport where we would spend a weeks vacation with our son Jared. As we were in flight I began to think about this Sunday’s service and the musical God Is In This Place. My prayer is that every week God would be in this place...  From the greeters who say hello to everyone as they enter our building, to our fellowship as we prepare to worship, our music service, special elements, message spoken, the congregation’s response, announcements of the week, to the final parking lot volunteer flagging the last car on the next destination....in every part, God would be present.. So often I pray and ask God to show me what I need to do to usher in the spirit in each worship service... I was reminded this week that I cannot do anything to usher in his spirit. All I can do is prepare for his spirit to come and expect him to do so.... and true to his word He will. It is a bit like getting on a plane and flying somewhere. All we really do is prepare for the journey, get to the airport, expect our plane to be there then get on... Then we fly... We participate fully in the action but God is doing the work of lifting our spirits, revealing himself, exposing our sin and encouraging our heart..

I am convinced we need to approach each worship service just like we would any flight. We should prepare our hearts for wherever God is going to take us today. Our destination is to be with Him and learn what He wants us to learn. We should expect Him to take us.... He will. He can then take our hearts to a place where He wants us to discover truths about Him and ourselves and convict us to be more like him when we return.

This week we will be sharing this message musically.... God is in this place and no matter what you may be going through, He is in control. He is God. Our job is to worship Him and lift Him up no matter our circumstances. “His Love is Irresistible” and He will “Inhabit our Praise” if we “Just Stand” and bless Him, our rock.  Just like the rushing of a “Mighty Wind” God’s spirit will come and take us with Him. We just need to be prepared to be blown away.