As the primary worship leader at Mercy Hill, many of you have heard me share the idea that our worship is more than a song on a Sunday morning.  In all honestly, I realize I probably sound like a broken record.  But the brief moment I take to share my heart between two worship songs is hardly enough time to give this idea the weight it deserves.  

See, as a follower of Christ- as someone who has been chosen by HIM to follow HIM- my life now takes on new LIFE. My life is now filled with a new aim, a new goal, a new purpose.  I no longer live life toward my sinful desires or even, simply, my own ambitions.  Rather, I live my life to accomplish my purpose in God.  

And what is my purpose in God?  WORSHIP.  TO PROCLAIM HIM. 

The last few weeks, we in the youth ministry here at Mercy Hill, affectionately known as UPRISE, have been studying through the book of 1 Peter.  This week we came to 1 Peter 2, and although I've read it many times, this week the simplicity of my 'calling' or 'purpose' in God was renewed.  

^"9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

As Peter writes these words to the persecuted and scattered Church, he’s encouraging them to take heart in who they are: God’s chosen.  And they’ve been chosen to proclaim who God is and what He has done: to worship.  Worship not just with words or a song on a Sunday, but in Spirit and Truth- with heart and deeds.

So, no matter what circumstance you find yourself in today, take heart.  If you have been awakened to the beauty and truth of the Gospel, trust that it was God’s doing and choosing.  And He chose you to proclaim His excellencies: to live in WORSHIP.