We are now in the third week of Advent. Derived from the Latin venio, (come) and ad, (to) or come to, in Advent we anticipate the celebration of the coming of God in flesh. Often, I’ve found great comfort in the truth of God’s incarnation. There isn’t a day that passes when we do not hear of some type of human suffering, Throughout history, injustice, poverty, scandal, health issues and more have all dotted the map of humanity and yet in the midst of it all – God has come. He has answered the problem of human suffering by becoming human himself. Indeed, he has not abandoned us but took on our vulnerable state and taught us how to really live.

      My prayer for you this Advent season is to find time to nurture a sense of appreciation and anticipation of the coming of Christ –not only as a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes; but also as the Second Coming King. 

John Palmieri 

    Have you ever been hurt by people who you trusted?  Ever find it easy to play a part and hard to be real?  Maybe you can relate to this song by Simon and Garfunkel?

“A winters day
In a deep and dark December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
I’ve built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.
Its laughter and its loving I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.”

    Many times when we’re hurt we build walls to keep people out.  We figure if we can keep people out, then we can keep ourselves from being hurt again.  Anything to avoid pain, right?  That was my case.  Having suffered through my parents divorce and being stabbed in the back by friends who swore their loyalty to me, I came to the conclusion early on that people just can’t be trusted.
 
    I unknowingly built up walls to distance myself.  The message I got from my high school years was that I was on my own.  I accepted that and decided that if I was on my own, then I was going to live that way and not let anyone in.  Nobody was going to be able to hurt me anymore.  
 
    Well, that didn’t work either because as much as I didn’t want to admit it to myself, PEOPLE NEED PEOPLE.  God designed us for community.  “God said, It’s not good for man to be alone” Genesis 2:18.  “Two are better than one... If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!...” Ecclesiastes 4:9-12.
 
    At the age of 17 I laid my life in God’s hands and allowed him to shape me.  As time went on I began to realize (slowly) that these walls existed.  Even though God rescued me from the kingdom of darkness, I was (and still am) in a process of facing my fears and building real relationships with people I trust with whom I can be vulnerable.
 
    God used Nancy (my lovely bride) to help me see myself more clearly.  She is one of the biggest blessings I’ve ever known.  Her friendship has caused me to see how much I tend to pull away and isolate myself.  God used people to show me how much healing still lay ahead of me.
 
    Though it is quite scary at times, I’ve decided to be vulnerable.  It is then that God is my protector and fortress.  No more being my own protector.  As David said in Psalm 25:1-2 “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God.  Do not let me be put to shame.”  I’m letting God fight my battles for me.  I’m trusting His sufficiency to permeate my deep insecurities and fill my life with His love so that I can live life to His fullest intention: in community.  
 
    It is then that I see the great beauty and wisdom in God’s plan to use people in the lives of people.  Simon and Garfunkel were wrong.  No man is an island.  People need people.  Have you cultivated the kind of friendships that grant you the freedom to be vulnerable?  Why not start today?
 
    “Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does it’s work.”  Ephesians 4:15-16

Living a life of worship to the true God yields countless benefits to the worshiper.  She will soar above the burdens of shame, anxiety, fear, doubt, and depression to name a few.  She will not be tossed around and abused by the false gods of image, pleasure, and substitute acceptance.  She will experience victory over bad attitudes and skewed perspectives that pin people down.  
 
In the context of worship, God’s word says that “Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.  Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name” Psalm 97:11-12.  
 
Worship (to the true God) is the greatest activity available to us.  It is arrayed with benefits (Psalm 103:2).  Yet the benefit we experience is not the bedrock reason for our worship.  In fact worship is not about us at all.  It is not about what we can get from God, or how he can make us feel in his presence.  Like we sing in the song “I will not forget you”, “My sacrifice is not what you can give, but what I alone can give to you”.    
 
We worship God because of who He is.  His greatness is beyond description and his intimate love for us without limit.  Worship is a wonderful debt gladly brought by creatures lovingly wrought and redeemed.  “We were created by him and for him” says Colossians 1:16, “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together”, and on top of all that, “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” Colossians 1:13-14.
 
As creatures, we owe a debt of worship to our creator just for the mere fact of our existence.  To refuse to acknowledge him as God, and our selves as his debtors is to harden our hearts in rebellion.  Rebellion against God separates us from intimacy with God; separation from his presence, from his goodness, from his life that we so desperately need.   “Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened…they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the creator who is forever praised.  Amen” (Romans 1:21,25).  
 
We all worship.  If not God, we’ll worship our selves or someone else.  So, “Why Worship God”?  Worship God because he made you, he died in your place to save you, and if you don’t worship him your heart will grow hard and you will be given over to sin.  Worship Him.

   It was the summer of 1998,  I had only been following Christ for one month when I was asked to serve on a worship team for a weekend youth retreat.  The drummer had bailed out with one week’s notice.  I had never even been to the youth group and didn’t know what to expect. I was just a baby Christian and had yet to discover the vital place of WORSHIPING WITH MY HANDS.  I was reluctant but because of a friend who was going to serve on the team I decided to give it a shot.  

    The retreat was life changing for me.  It placed me in uncomfortable and stretching positions and caused me to grow spiritually.  I saw God work through us and experienced an exciting new joy.  The next thing I knew I was serving on the youth group’s worship team every week.  I signed a covenant saying that I would keep a good testimony and remain committed to the team for the next season.  I was held accountable and challenged to grow spiritually and relationally.  There were many trying times with various relational dynamics.  My commitment found me traveling out to the South side of Chicago three times a week.  I would pick up and drop off other team members on my way; this took a lot of sacrifice.  We had long practices and times of prayer.  We laughed, worked, fellowshipped and grew together.

    At the time I didn’t see the full significance of serving in ministry, but as I look back ten years later I realize that, this first of many ministry experiences shaped my heart and changed my life forever.  I used to think that it was the Pastor’s job to do the work of the ministry.  But as I read God’s Word more I learned that I was created to do good works (Eph.2:10; Mt.5:16) and that God gave us “Pastors and Teachers, to prepare God’s people for WORKS of SERVICE, so that the body of Christ may be build up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become MATURE, attaining to the WHOLE MEASURE of the FULLNESS of Christ... EACH PART DOES IT’S WORK” Ephesians 4:11-16.  

   The fact of the matter is, if we are to be people who are growing to “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” we must be people who are serving in ministry (worshiping with our hands).  “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in it’s various forms” 1Peter 4:10.  So you love God, how are you “worshiping with your hands”?  You are unique and thus you have a unique way of “serving others”.  How has God created your personality, spiritual gifts, abilities and passions?  God wants to work IN and THROUGH you in a unique way.  Will you take the challenge and begin to worship with, not only your heart, but also with your hands?