Worship Night - At the Altar

Coming to the altar‘s all about your hearts posture. It’s not about a mental or theological understanding of our positioning with God. It’s about our core, our spirit, our heart towards him. 

Coming to the altar is about being humble, not woe is me I’m unworthy, but an understanding that it is because of his grace and mercy that we can come to the altar. 

Coming to the altar is about his love and though we are undeserving, he chose us. He chose to give us access and welcome us in with open arms.

It’s about his awe and wonder. That the God who created the universe knows your name is interested in every intimate and intricate detail of your life.

It’s about pursuit and running to the Father. Like a dad playing tag with his kid, he’s not running from us, he is one step away from turning around and scooping us up. He made us for relationship and has said that the first step is on our end. Drawn near to me and I will draw near to you.

It’s about love and jealousy, he is jealous of everything that takes our attention. Be it work, or family, or our hobbies. Coming to the altar is about repenting for the things that have kept us from him.

Coming to the altar is about pouring out our lives, every single aspect, our thoughts and desires, our pursuits, our futures, our past, our present, and giving it all to him. 

Coming to the altar is all about surrender. Sometimes coming to the altar is literal, it’s coming down and doing something intentionally to put yourself in a position of surrender. Sometimes coming to the altar happens in our heart where we make commitments and surrender, and from our seats, we worship with everything we are.

Coming to the altar is about his blood that was shed for us. It’s about the nails that he bore, the suffering he endured, the price that he paid for our wrong.

It means that we can finally let go of the idea that God wants anything more than exactly who you are right now. He’s not waiting for some future version of you. He’s looking for you as is, in this exact moment. At the altar He takes who we are and wraps it in love. 

Coming to the altar is not something to do flippantly. It’s not something to do on a whim. It is an intentional act of surrender and devotion to a God who is incomprehensible, and yet loves us. Knowing the worst parts of us, the things that were prideful in, accepting us, knowing that we are going to break his heart again, he stands with open arms, waiting for us to come running to him. So as we sing this song, there’s no waste at the altar, that’s what it means. Not a single thing you lay at his feet is wasted.