The Church’s Heartbeat – A New Sermon Series
The Church’s Heartbeat – A New Sermon Series
Every living thing has a heartbeat. It’s the steady rhythm that keeps life going. The church has a heartbeat too. At its center is worship—our weekly rhythm of being gathered in by God and sent out again into the world. Worship is the pulse of the Christian life: in and out, push and pull, gathered and scattered.
This fall at Mount Lebanon we’re beginning a new series called “The Church’s Heartbeat.” Together, we’ll step into this rhythm and rediscover how worship shapes our lives.
We begin where David once stood—with a longing to be close to God. When he brought the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem, his emotions ran wild: joy, sorrow, fear, dancing, even anger. Isn’t that how we come to worship too? We bring trumpets and ashes, praises and petitions, tears and fruit. And God welcomes it all. He welcomes us.
But worship is more than simply being welcomed—it is being formed. Like Solomon lifting open hands at the dedication of the temple, we come as beggars, ready to receive from God’s generous hand. Here we learn postures of humility, gratitude, and trust. Like priests, we offer our sacrifices—not for sin, for Christ has already made that offering once and for all—but sacrifices of praise, of prayer, of generosity, and of ourselves. In worship, God reforms us, reshaping us into the likeness of Christ, retraining our loves and reordering our lives for his kingdom.
And then the heartbeat pushes outward. Worship scatters us into the world, co-missioned by God to live out our vocations. The faith we confess in the sanctuary becomes the life we embody at home, at work, in our neighborhoods, and in our city. Worship gathers us as beggars in need of grace; worship sends us as servants filled with grace.
This is the rhythm. This is the pulse. This is the church’s heartbeat.
Join us Sundays at 9:30 am at Mount Lebanon as we experience this rhythm together, discover the God who welcomes us, and learn to live out our worship every day.