Living by the Stream

This morning I listened to a devotional from Shane & Shane’s Worship Initiative called I Delight in You. The devotional brought together two passages that have stayed with me all morning: Psalm 1 and Colossians 3:16–17.

I had to write out my thoughts.

I couldn’t help but think about what happened in our church this past Sunday.

It was an unusual Sunday at Neighborhood Friends Church.

Our entire worship team was away attending the wedding of one of our church family members.

No worship leader.

No band.

No musicians on the platform.

And if I’m being completely transparent, I was a little worried about it.

Worship through music is an important part of the rhythm of our church. We have incredibly gifted people who faithfully lead us week after week, and suddenly, for one Sunday, none of them were going to be there.

So we tried something different.

Instead of a live worship team, we used about thirty minutes from an Elevation Worship Living Room Session video. But rather than simply sitting and watching a video, we invited everyone to engage with God however they needed.

You could stand and sing.

You could come to the altar and pray.

You could kneel.

You could journal.

You could read Scripture.

You could sit quietly and listen.

You could simply rest in the presence of God and the community around you.

Our attendance was unusually low that morning, too.

Everything about the morning could have felt like we were missing something.

But we weren’t.

Because the Holy Spirit was there.

And maybe that was exactly the reminder I needed.

Worship Was Never Dependent on the Platform

Paul writes:

“Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

— Colossians 3:16–17

Notice where Paul places worship.

Not primarily on a stage.

Not in the hands of gifted musicians.

Not inside a particular style of music.

He places it among the people of God.

“Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you.”

Sing together.

Teach one another.

Encourage one another.

Give thanks together.

And then Paul takes it even further:

Whatever you do.

Worship doesn’t end when the music stops.

It becomes a way of living.

That doesn’t diminish the importance of those who lead us in worship. I am incredibly grateful for the gifted men and women who help our church worship every week. Their gifts are a blessing to the Body.

But their role is to help lead us into something that is already available to us:

The presence of God.

The presence of God does not arrive when the first chord is played.

The Holy Spirit is already here.

Coming Home to the Presence of God

Richard Foster, in Streams of Living Water, describes the invitation of the spiritual life this way:

I love that language:

Come home.

Because perhaps worship, at its deepest level, is exactly that.

It is coming home to the presence of God.

It is remembering where our life comes from.

It is returning our attention to the One who has been present all along.

Foster uses the image of streams to describe the different ways the life of Christ has flowed through His people across generations.

Different traditions may emphasize different practices—prayer, holiness, Scripture, compassion, the movement of the Spirit, or the everyday presence of Christ.

Different expressions.

Different traditions.

Different streams.

But the same Source.

And that brings me to the image in Psalm 1 that I can’t seem to get away from.

Planted by the Stream

The psalmist describes the person who delights in the instruction of the Lord and meditates on it day and night:

“He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.”

— Psalm 1:3

I love that image.

A tree doesn’t occasionally visit the stream.

It lives there.

Its roots continually reach toward the source that gives it life.

And because those roots remain connected to the water, something begins happening that the tree doesn’t have to manufacture.

Fruit grows.

Leaves remain alive.

Strength develops.

Life becomes visible.

I wonder sometimes if we have unintentionally treated worship more like visiting the stream than living beside it.

We come to church.

We sing.

We listen.

We experience something meaningful.

Then we leave and return the following week hoping someone will take us back to the water.

But what if the invitation of Jesus is deeper than that?

What if He is inviting us to live by the stream?

To allow His Word to dwell richly within us.

To become increasingly aware of the Holy Spirit throughout our ordinary days.

To worship while driving to work.

To pray while walking through our neighborhood.

To sit quietly with Scripture before the house wakes up.

To notice God’s goodness while standing beneath a Colorado sky.

To whisper gratitude in the middle of a difficult afternoon.

To sing when no one else can hear us.

To simply become aware:

God is here.

The Spirit Forms a People

This was also at the heart of the message I shared Sunday as we continued our series on the Rhythm of Community.

When the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, He didn’t simply create a collection of spiritually empowered individuals.

The Spirit formed a people.

Acts tells us:

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.”

— Acts 2:42

The same Spirit who filled them also drew them toward one another.

That’s one of the beautiful mysteries of life in the Holy Spirit.

The deeper our roots grow into Christ, the more connected we become to His Body.

Psalm 1 gives us the picture of the stream.

Acts 2 gives us the picture of the community.

And 1 Corinthians 12 gives us the picture of the Body.

Different people.

Different gifts.

Different personalities.

Different roles.

But one Spirit.

One Body.

One Lord.

Paul writes:

“For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ.”

— 1 Corinthians 12:12

Christian community isn’t simply something we attend.

It is something the Holy Spirit creates among us.

And perhaps this is part of the irony of living beside the stream:

The deeper we go into the presence of God, the more we discover the people of God around us.

The Spirit draws us toward the Source, but He also draws us toward one another.

When a Church Doesn’t Have Much

This is something I’ve been thinking about beyond our own congregation.

As superintendent of Rocky Mountain Yearly Meeting, I have the privilege of walking alongside churches of very different sizes and circumstances.

Some have worship teams.

Some don’t.

Some have multiple staff members.

Some have one pastor doing almost everything.

Some have children’s ministries, technology, musicians, and resources.

Others gather faithfully with a small group of people who simply love Jesus and love one another.

And I want to remind every one of those churches:

And when God’s people gather around the presence of Christ, something sacred is already happening.

You don’t need a professional worship experience to worship.

You don’t need a stage to encounter God.

You don’t need impressive technology to experience the Holy Spirit.

And you don’t need a large crowd for Jesus to be present among His people.

The worship team can help us notice His presence.

The pastor can point toward His presence.

The gathered community can help us experience His presence.

But none of us manufactures the presence of God.

He is already here.

Our invitation is to recognize, receive, and participate in the life of the Spirit who is already present.

Sometimes the smaller and quieter spaces actually help us rediscover what was there all along.

Practice Living by the Stream This Week

So here’s an invitation for this week.

Don’t wait until Sunday to worship.

Find a few minutes each day to intentionally become aware of the presence of God.

1. Begin with Scripture

Read Psalm 1 slowly.

Don’t rush through it.

Pay attention to the image of the tree beside the stream.

Then ask yourself:

Where are my roots drawing life from right now?

2. Let the Word Dwell Richly

Read Colossians 3:16–17.

Choose one phrase and carry it with you throughout the day.

Write it somewhere you will see it.

Put it on your phone.

Return to it when your mind begins moving in a hundred different directions.

Let the Word of Christ dwell within you rather than simply passing through you.

3. Worship Without an Audience

Put on a worship song at home or in your car.

Sing.

Don’t worry about how you sound.

There is no audience.

There is no platform.

There is no performance.

There is simply you responding to the goodness of God.

4. Practice Stillness

Turn everything off for five minutes.

No music.

No podcast.

No phone.

No television.

You don’t have to manufacture a spiritual experience.

Simply become aware:

God is here.

Listen.

Rest.

Receive.

5. Practice Gratitude

Paul connects worship with gratitude:

“Singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”

Before the day ends, name three places where you noticed the goodness of God.

They don’t have to be dramatic.

A conversation.

A meal.

A sunrise.

A friend.

A moment of laughter.

A quiet answer to prayer.

Gratitude trains our hearts to recognize the presence of God in ordinary places.

6. Reach Toward Community

Call someone.

Pray with someone.

Share a meal.

Send an encouraging text.

Sit with someone who needs company.

The Spirit doesn’t only draw us deeper into God.

He draws us toward one another.

Bring That Life With You on Sunday

And then carry that awareness into Sunday.

Instead of coming to church only asking:

I wonder what they have prepared for me today?

Try coming with a different prayer:

Maybe you’ll sing.

Maybe you’ll pray.

Maybe you’ll encourage someone sitting nearby.

Maybe you’ll listen.

Maybe you’ll serve.

Maybe you’ll come to the altar.

Maybe you’ll simply sit quietly in the presence of God.

But come ready to participate.

Because worship isn’t simply something happening in front of you.

Worship is the life of God being expressed within you and among His people.

Stay Near the Stream

Sunday reminded me of something I already knew but apparently needed to experience again.

We didn’t have everything we normally have.

Our worship team wasn’t there.

Our attendance was low.

The morning looked different.

But we had everything we needed.

We had Jesus.

We had one another.

And we had the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps that’s the invitation for all of us this week.

Stay near the stream.

Let your roots grow deeper.

Let the Word of Christ dwell richly within you.

Become aware of the Spirit who is already present.

Allow Him to draw you toward the people around you.

And watch what begins to grow.

Because when we learn to live by the stream, worship stops being something we attend once a week.

It becomes the life we live.