Preparing for corporate worship

“Thus says the Lord, ‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being,’ declares the Lord. ‘But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word’” (Is. 66:1-2). More could be said about this passage, but I will focus on only a couple of things here. These words from God prompt me to recognize anew we don’t go to the house of God to worship this Sovereign Lord who is the Maker of everything. No church building or, in our church’s case, school building is the house of God. He certainly is not limited to any building. Also, the New Testament says each of us is, in essence, the house of God by virtue of each of us being a “temple of the Holy Spirit” (I Cor. 6:19). These words from the Lord also tell us something about what God looks for in His worshipers – “him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.” When we gather this Sunday as temples of God, may we do so humbly before the only One worthy of worship, and may we yield ourselves to the Word of God as we read it, sing it, hear it read and listen to it proclaimed. May God be glorified, Jesus be magnified, and the gospel be enunciated.