May 5, 2019 Third Sunday of Easter

“11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” 14 Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.” (Revelation 5:11-14 NKJV)

In Psalm 100 we are shown the difference between thanksgiving and praise. The psalmist says we can enter the gates with thanksgiving but with praise we come into the court of God, into His very presence!

If we are not careful we can never get beyond Thanksgiving and on to praise. It is very easy to spend our time of worship as a time of entertainment, giving thanks and coming up with a Christmas list of needs and burdens.

This passage of Scripture is a revelation of worship as all of heaven worships God for who He is. Thanksgiving is a time and way to acknowledge all God has done for us and given us the chance of life. But praise acknowledges who God is and that God is worthy of our worship even if we have nothing to be thankful for!

This picture of worship reveals to us how heavenly and earthly beings come together in praise of God. Scripture tells us that God’s presence is with us even if only two or three of us of us are together. When even the smallest group comes together in praise we become part of the heavenly celebration of who God is!

The revelation of God in Jesus Christ and the resurrection which offers us eternal life in the presence of God is why Christians went from Saturday to Sunday as a sabbath and the day of worship. CELEBRATE EASTER NOT JUST EVERY WEEK BUT EVERY DAY!