The Chosen

There is nothing more powerful than a well-written worship song. We got to go see The Chosen Christmas special at the theater this week. The first hour consisted of music performed by Christian artists. Several of our favorite artists were featured like King and Country, We the Kingdom, Phil Wickham, Jordan Feliz, Cain, Maverick City, and more. We really enjoyed it.

The second part was the actual Christmas episode. It was so well done, of course, and incredibly moving. It was a look into the night Jesus was born, retold and remembered through Mary’s eyes after Jesus has already gone back to Heaven. The team creating The Chosen is so incredibly talented, and I love the work they are doing! They always bring out details that you miss when you simply read the account in the Bible.

The Right Kind of Worship

Since watching that episode, I’ve been thinking a lot about Mary. This time of year always makes me reminiscent to think of what it would have been like to be Mary. I was reading in my morning time this morning, and I read these verses.

It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.

John 4:23,24 MSG

I read these verses, and that phrase your worship must engage your spirit got my attention. What does it mean that our worship has to engage our spirit? I think it means to engage our spirit means that our heart is completely engaged in the activity. It’s the difference between singing and not paying attention and singing with tears in our eyes because the song moves something inside of us. These verses then go on to say that God is looking for those who are simply and honestly themselves before God when they worship.

Thinking about Mary

Maybe that’s one of the reasons Mary was chosen. Could it be that she figured out how to worship God with her spirit, bringing her honest self before God? How else would she have been able to respond to the angel’s announcement with words of worship?

As soon as the angel leaves her, Mary makes her way to her cousin Elizabeth’s house. As soon as she gets there, Mary bursts into a song of worship to God. The words flow beautifully and elegantly from her tongue. That was her form of worship to God. I don’t know if she spoke the words or sang them, but the result was the same. She worshipped God with her honest self.

Three Ways to Worship God this Christmas Season

This Christmas, in the midst of the hustle and bustle, we need to find the time to worship God with our true selves. We need to find a time to worship, engaging our spirit.

There are three ways we can do that this Christmas season:

1. Spend time with God in your morning time routine. Get a Christmas devotional to work through this holiday season or a journal. Our Christmas devotional or Journal are great options.
2. Engage in the Christmas story with others. Don’t spend your worship alone this holiday season; bring others along with you. In our growth group this past week, somebody asked a question about the Christmas story, and we spent the next probably thirty minutes talking about the intricacies of that night. We talked about what caught our attention and what made that night so special to us. It ended up being a wonderful time of worship.
3. Worship God through music. This is one of the easiest ways to worship.

I know at our church, Christmas is one of the best times of year to worship God through the music service. It’s different from other times of the year in that every Christmas song is about the birth of Jesus and so wholly focused on him. I think some of the best worship songs are Christmas songs. It’s so hard to pick just a few, but here’s a list of a few of my favorite Christmas worship songs:

1. Joy to the World by Phil Wickam
2. Messiah by Franscesca Batistelli
3. Noel with Lauren Daigle
4. Christmas Day by Chris Tomlin
5. Joseph’s Lullaby by MercyMe
6. A Baby Changes Everything by Faith Hill
7. Hope is Here by Building 429
8. Christmas is Here by JJ Heller
9. Hope was Born this Night by Sidewalk Prophets
10. Behold Him by Francesca Batistelli

This holiday season, let’s find ways to incorporate worship that engages our spirit, that puts our heart into it and see if that doesn’t change this holiday season for us!