What do you think of when you hear the phrase, “house of the Lord”? Maybe you picture the physical church building filled with new and familiar faces gathered for Sunday worship. Or possibly the Old Testament tabernacle or temple where the physical presence of the Lord dwelled. Or maybe even the idea of our bodies serving as the temple of the Holy Spirit. I’d venture to describe the house of the Lord as anywhere that the Lord is near.
We’ve had to get pretty creative this past year when it comes to corporate worship and it’s been hard and sad in all sorts of ways. But I think something that we’ve had to be continually reminded of is that God cannot and will not be relegated to the walls of the church building. He is so much bigger than that! Worship, both personal and corporate, can happen anywhere! In a small group of believers praying together, in a family singing together at home, in Scripture being taught in multiple languages across the world, in a large group gathered in a parking lot. God is there. God is here. God is near. God is with us. And we respond with joy!
As we continue in a season of unconventional worship, instead of dwelling on what may feel like obstacles to worship, may we remember these basic truths and choose to respond with joy! May we be so filled with joy at the knowledge that the Creator of supernovas and tulips and chocolate and E minor and of each human on the planet is present with us that we literally cannot hold back our praise. What a testimony this is to the world around us! Testifying to the bigness of a God who cannot be contained.
I hope you’ll check out the song “House Of The Lord” this week as you prepare personally to worship corporately this Sunday.
Looking for some music to enrich your personal worship throughout the week? Check our Calvary Worship Favorites playlist on Spotify. It’s an assortment of songs that we sing on the regular during our Sunday worship services.
If you want to get a taste of what we’ll be singing on any upcoming Sunday, check out our This Sunday At Calvary playlist. This list is updated weekly with the songs we’re planning to lead at the upcoming Sunday service.
House Of The Lord
We worship the God who was
We worship the God who is
We worship the God who evermore will be
He opened the prison doors
He parted the raging sea
My God He holds the victory yeah
There’s joy in the house of the Lord
There’s joy in the house of the Lord today
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise
There’s joy in the house of the Lord
Our God is surely in this place
And we won’t be quiet
We shout out Your praise
We sing to the God who heals
We sing to the God who saves
We sing to the God who always makes a way
'Cause He hung up on that cross
Then He rose up from that grave
My God’s still rolling stones away
We were the beggars
Now we’re royalty
We were the prisoners
Now we’re running free
We are forgiven accepted
Redeemed by His grace
Let the house of the Lord sing praise
CCLI Song # 7168995
Jonathan Smith | Phil Wickham
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“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
Matthew 1:23
For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Matthew 18:20
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
John 14:16-17
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
I Corinthians 3:16