“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” Psalm 100
Anticipation: The art of waiting for something spectacular.
Disney World opened its doors when I was in the seventh grade. I could not wait! I would have been there on opening day if I could. At least I can say I was there during their opening year. My grandparents lived just 30 minutes away from Disney World. We would beg them to take us but they always said, “There are too many people trying to get in there.” Well, one time it worked. They woke us up and said, “We are going to Disney today.” Oh my word, I was thrilled. I will never forget driving under the sign that said “Welcome to Disney World.” Then we parked in this gigantic parking lot and caught this amazing thing that looked like a train. The tram had this speaker talking about welcome to Walt Disney World and keeping arms and legs in. We were parked in the Chip and Dale area. How cool is that!
Back then, you had to catch the monorail at the Polynesian Hotel. Just seeing those little towers and pagodas poking up out of the parking lot would have been enough. The palm trees and all the greenery were newly planted. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. Then we boarded the monorail. It was air-conditioned. Who would have thought? And that same guy was talking to us about the 7 seas lagoon, fireworks and the different things we were seeing. Our first stop was at the Contemporary Hotel. The monorail actually went through the hotel. Like, right through the very center of it. That was a scene straight from the Jetsons! There were people, gift shops and restaurants right underneath us. Our next stop was the Magic Kingdom. The monorail made some crazy loop so you could really get a good look at the park and the castle. No words could explain the awe and excitement of my first glimpse of Cinderella’s Castle and the Magic Kingdom.
It was the best day of my life. The most amazing place on earth. It was well worth the wait and the anticipation.
We are told that we should approach God and worship with an even greater sense of awe and anticipation. Often times we approach worship with a “get er done” approach. When in reality, we have the privilege of worshipping the One True God with a group of believers united in the same belief. So many things get in the way of our worship. So many things that are not important takes the place of our church attendance. Sure you don’t have to go to church to worship, but we are told to not forsake the assembly of believers and to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
Psalm 122:1 says, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go unto the house of the Lord.”
We read in Exodus 34:10, “Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant before all your people. I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among who you live will see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.”
God is doing amazing things at Eastern Hills right now. God is moving. There is excitement in the air, there is anticipation. He wants you to be a part of His work. Let’s not treat Church as just something else to do during the week, or worse, one of the optional things we do during the week.
Sunday night was a great night of worship as we enjoyed The Sounds of EHBC. Thanks to Keith Pate and all those who made the night such a great success.
I also want to say a great big congratulations to Chad Royal for 24 years of faithful service to our church. Make sure you let him know how much you appreciate his untiring work to keep our facilities looking top notch.
Greg