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- What is ‘corporate encounter’?
What's an encounter? It might sound super spiritual, especially in the context of worship. When we mention worship encounters or corporate encounters, we're talking about something supernatural, transcendent, and unforgettable. Scripture is filled with individual and corporate encounters, like the dedication of Solomon's temple, where the glory of the Lord fell upon the people, and everyone was face down on the ground.
“When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. The priests could not enter the temple of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled it. When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, ‘He is good; his love endures forever.’”
Incredible.
But in our day-to-day lives, encounters happen all the time with people. You can bump into a stranger on the sidewalk and have an encounter. Why? Because you felt their presence and they felt yours. Encounters can be fleeting or life-changing, but what makes it an encounter is that someone else's presence impacted us.
We experience encounter happen when someone else's presence impacts us. They experience encounter when our presence impacts them.
I believe an encounter with God can happen when I set my heart before Him and decide that He will feel my presence - in adoration, worship, or whatever it may be. And God can step into my world at any moment - during worship, prayer, or just walking the dog - and make His presence known to me.
Encounters can happen both ways. Corporately, God promises to be among us, saying, "Wherever two or more are gathered, I will be in the midst of them." So whenever we gather, there's an opportunity for an encounter.
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Corporate encounters should be a desired outcome of our worship times.
We don't just assemble to sing songs or watch our worship teams perform well;
I didn't get up on a Sunday morning just to have a good time. I've come to meet with him together with you that we might adore Him and know Him better together.
we come together to experience the Lord collectively, remind ourselves of who we are in Him, and express our shared adoration for Him in unity. The goal isn't just to have a good time; it's to encounter God together.
Corporate encounters are not some subjective feeling that believers have. It's an objective reality that even unbelievers will notice.
“But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 (NKJV)
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