Saturday, August 02, 2008
Student Choir Devotion for July 27, 2008
Zion’s Walls
Read: Acts 2: 38-47
Reflect: What is/was the favorite high school organization of which you are/were a member? A club, team, performing group, study group? Did you have regular meeting times or practices?
Consider: You know the feeling you get when your team wins? Whether it be the finals of a tournament, a big band competition or opening night of a play, there is nothing like sharing an accomplishment with a group of people with whom you have busted your rump in order to achieve a common goal. There’s a French term for it: esprits de corps – the spirit of the team!
The word “Zion” is the name of a team. It has been used since early Bible times to describe the people of God. “Singing the praises of Zion and shouting around the walls of Zion” means running around the stadium singing the fight song to the top of your lungs because the game is over and you have won!
God has given us a team with whom to live life. We call it the church. The scripture from Acts is a wonderful description about one of the very first churches ever formed. They shared everything together, supported each other and devoted themselves to learning about Christ in order to serve him better. Tonight we will be joining with a part of God’s church we have never met before: the International Baptist Church in Nuremberg. Other choirs will be there and we will all sing and worship together. We will be celebrating together as a team, as the body of Christ.
God made us to be at our best when we are yoked together with other people. We are hard-wired with the need for other people. Our happiness is always multiplied when we share it with others and our disappointments are divided when we allow others to help us. By worshipping and serving together regularly with others at church we follow the example of Jesus who “on the Sabbath went to the synagogue as was his custom.” That is what being a church is.
Think about your Zion. Do you realize how big the world-wide body of Christ is? Who are the important players in your own church who inspire your faith? Who are members of your church who might need your compassion right now?
Pray: Pray and give thanks to God for the universal church and the strength and encouragement it gives you. Ask God to help you become a loyal, valuable part of the body of Christ.
(written by Clark Sorrells)
