It's Time For A Celerabration

“At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres. The musicians also were brought together from the region around Jerusalem…for the musicians had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially, they purified the people, the gates and the wall.”

If you ever needed proof that God loves a party, here’s your “Can I Get A Witness” affirmation!

There are many people preparing to fill the pews of churches this morning who are doing nothing more than going through the motions. At best, it’s a check-the-box Sunday routine; at worst, it’s an obligation that they feel they “have to do.”

The reality is that a life lived in Christ and for Christ should be grounded in a mindset of celebration! It is truly one of the key principles of life with God.

When you look at the passage above – and really the entire 12th chapter of Nehemiah – it describes how Nehemiah threw “THE” victory party to end all victory parties. The work that he had begun to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem was completed. They had set forth to accomplish a great task in honor of God and by His grace and His hand of protection, they had finished in record time. The Israelites now took the time to stop what they had been doing and gathered at the direction and guidance of the Nehemiah the party organizer, and worshiped God – the one who had blessed their work and their purpose.

This chapter is a great picture of what our time in church – and for that matter every day of the week – should look like. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that you should climb on top of some large wall or the roof of your church and sing praises to God like these folks did, but what I am suggesting is that we all need a heart check-up regarding the way we approach worship each week.

What is your motivation to go to God’s house each week? Better yet, do you go to God’s celebration each week or do you place other things as a higher priority? I can hear it now, “you don’t have to go to church to have church.” We’ll deal with that one another time, but for today we’ll just focus on the party and celebration and how our passion each day/week should be to want to be a part of that event.

Your worship should be something that you look forward to each week and it should be a party that others in your community, your neighbors, your co-workers all want to be a part of. It should be the "go-to" event on your calendar each week that you will not miss for anything.

As Christians today, we gather to celebrate the fact that the wall that separated us from our Father has been torn down; the curtain/veil has been ripped from top to bottom by the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the cross for our sins. And THAT reality should cause us unbelievable celebration!

So this morning, don’t go to church – GO TO A CELEBRATION!

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