(Cancun)
Do not mistake the presence of God for
performance.
It has nothing to do with
entertainment.
Instead of an audience
voting thumbs up or thumbs down on what they thought of the church “service,”
faces and thumbs are on the ground before our holy God.
Our people don’t need great sermons or
great music; they need a great God. Thinking and learning about God is vital,
but the idea all along has been “Emmanuel,” God with us.
A. W. Tozer expresses this when he asserts: “The presence of God is more important
than the program.” - A. W. Tozer
As Leonard Ravenhill said, “You
can have all of your doctrines right—yet still not have the presence of God.”
It’s true that God’s presence can be
mediated through preaching and worship. But, as people leave the sanctuary on a
Sunday morning, we know the real thing has happened if they say, not, “What
great preaching,” and not, “What an awesome worship band,” but rather, “What a
great God!”
James McDonald writes: “God’s
provision for all that we need is His manifest presence with us. God doesn’t
dispense strength, wisdom, or comfort like a druggist fills a prescription; He
promises us Himself— His manifest presence with us, as all that we will ever
need— as enough! We must be terrified at the thought of a single step without
it, without the Lord.”
