Tonight I found my way to the Florence Gospel Fellowship International Church service. With one step, I left a world, foreign to me, and entered a sanctuary filled with beautiful voices, singing familiar worship songs. Songs that flooded my mind with memories of countless worship serves as a child. The stone walled church echoed with praise all around me, I became overfilled with joy. Lifted hands, fallen knees, and bowed heads; the signs of whole hearted worship. Knowing the treasure I had just found, and the friendships that will be planted, I couldn’t help bun grin from ear to ear. It felt so good to worship God, in this church, surrounded by people who share this love I have for my farther (Chapman Hamborg).
DINAMIC & CONTEMPORARY
WORSHIP CELEBRATION!
WORSHIP CELEBRATION!
PLACE:
Via de' Benci, 9
50122 Florence
(Between Piazza Santa Croce and Ponte alle Grazie)
50122 Florence
(Between Piazza Santa Croce and Ponte alle Grazie)
TIME:
Sunday 6:30 pm
Sunday 6:30 pm
LOCATION MAP
click FLORENCE GOSPEL FELLOWSHIP INTERNATIONAL on a larger map
EXPERIENTIAL WORSHIP
Worship: Experiencing God
Worship is a life of fellowship and conversation with God.
Worship is the engagement of one's entire being with the person of God. God speaks, we respond, God responds, we respond again. Worship involves listening, looking, tasting, feeling, and smelling. We breathe in the presence of God wherever we are. We inhale the memories of His faithful acts in the past.
Worship is our response to who God is.
As we meditate on God's nature and character, the Holy Spirit reveals who God is more and more fully. As we experience who God is and what He is like, we give Him more worth in our lives.
Worship is transformational
The more we come to experience who God is, the more we desire to open our lives up to the transformation that He desires in us. Paul wrote, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." It is in this way that true worship is transformational. Perhaps the clearest image of such conversion in worship is found in Isaiah 6:1-8.
Worship is our response to what God has done.
That is what Paul communicated when he wrote, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your act of spiritual worship" (Romans 12:1).
When our conscience is brought to life by thoughts of God's holiness, when we grasp a deeper experiential understanding of God, when we grow in compassion for others from knowing God's love for us, when we surrender our desires to the will of God, worship happens.
Worship is more than a spiritual discipline. When we take up the practice of worship with the intention to experience God in every area of life, worship will no longer be a practice, but a way of life.
Celebration: Experiencing the Goodness of God
The life of Jesus' disciples is one of celebration.
We live as Christians with the confidence that God has overcome the darkness. Jesus told his disciples, "In this world you will have troubles, but rejoice, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).
We celebrate, even in our suffering, because we know the God who is with us
How is it possible to celebrate in times of loss such as death? We can celebrate because we know the meaning of the cross. In his dying, Jesus swallowed up death's power over us. It is no longer a scary unknown, but a conquered enemy.
Celebration as giving thanks to God
There is much to celebrate in life. God has given us things to enjoy (1 Timothy 4:4), to be received as a gift and "consecrated by the word of God and prayer."
God is good and the life He gives us is good. There is beauty to celebrate. There is love to celebrate. There is answer to prayer to celebrate. There are victories to celebrate. There are changed lives to celebrate. There is a wonderful future to celebrate.
Celebrating God is much more than just “having a good time”, it’s a practical awareness of His presence (Philippians 4:4-7).
