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- Every ocean has a shore
Every ocean has a shore
Deeper doesn't mean 'Truer'
![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,format=auto,onerror=redirect,quality=80/uploads/asset/file/1f7cbf2e-f52f-48c5-8222-7e15123827ed/DALL_E_2023-12-08_14.55.13_-_A_photorealistic_16x9_image_showing_the_perspective_of_a_child__around_7_years_old_and_of_Hispanic_descent__looking_out_at_their_father_in_the_ocean._.png?t=1702065342)
Call me out upon the waters….
Congregations around the world are yearning to be led into collective worship encounters. I champion the idea that our gatherings can be regularly transcendent. Once you have swam in those depths, it’s hard to settle for anything less.
One of the challenges with promoting the concept of collective or corporate worship encounters is that it can come across as spiritual elitism… or like "corporate encounter," is the ‘real/true’ worship, and anything less is not worship. That could not be further from the truth.
Every ocean has a shore.
The Father is not after "worship", "spirit and truth worship", our songs or offerings - He is after worshipers who worship in spirit and truth.
“From now on, worshiping the Father will not be a matter of the right place but with a right heart. For God is a Spirit, and he longs to have sincere worshipers who adore him in the realm of the Spirit and in truth.”
He is after sons and daughters to gaze back at Him face to face (the realm of the Spirit and in truth). When we do that - our only response is worship. (Just like blinking is our natural response when we look directly at the sun.)
Back to the ocean analogy.
So whether you are ankle-deep or just dipping your toes in the ocean of worship - it’s all good. But like an eager parent who wants you to experience the thrill (and importance) of knowing how to swim, the Father calls us out into the deep, where we learn to worship with our deep crying out to His deep… and as we do we move His heart, enjoy the experience and build that worship muscle that will be required when the storms and floods of life hit.
Sure, you can stand by the ocean and get your feet wet, go ankle deep and maybe you are already deeper than others around you - but what if we ventured out a little further than we have been before - let’s trust the One who is calling us to come to Him, out upon the waters. Swim out to where He is - a whole new world awaits us out there.
PS: While we are still thinking about every ocean having a shore. This is true for our spiritual journeys, too.
What looks shallow to you is someone else’s deep end.
What looks deep to you is shallow to someone even further out.
The only one you need to keep your eyes on and measure yourself against is the One who is lovingly gazing at you right now. Lock eyes with Him - you might walk on water - and change the game for all the self-proclaimed deep ocean swimmers.
I know Instagram is big for the worship community, but I would like to know if I should spend time developing worship content and community on Twitter/X?
Honestly, I would love your thoughts.
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