Meet Graham Shelby

Top recruiting class. Eight months without a snap. Tailgate grills fired up. Kyle Field filling up. It’s game day in Aggieland, the most optimistic day in the State of Texas. In verses 1-2, David can relate to the 12th Man. He feels the same way about corporate worship. The only problem is most of us don’t believe him. How could anyone be that excited about church?

Fortunately, he tells us why. And in this golden opportunity to describe church, what do you think David highlights? Hip music, trendy coffee shop, modern architecture? No. He describes the people: their relational unity, their sole aim to worship God, and their leadership in maintaining justice. David shows that God’s church is a people, not a place. It’s an entity, not an event. And when it operates as God intends, it has societal impact of flourishing and joy to the world around it. But how does that reality come about? How do we “be” the church? David gives us two ways:

Gathering: God’s people aren’t limited as gospel agents to non-believers only. We are commanded to be gospel agents to each other. Hebrews 10:25 commands us to never neglect meeting together, as is the habit of some, but to encourage one another. Hebrews 3:13 says, “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Never stop encouraging.

Scattering: Do you know why we say, “Have a great week of worship” at Watermark? It’s a reminder that your entire life is an act of worship to God. It’s not that your gathered worship should be limited, but that you shouldn’t limit your idea of worship to a gathering. David didn’t just worship God in writing psalms. He worshipped in leading a nation politically. He worshipped in actively seeking the welfare of his city with his time, talents, and resources. We have the same divine invitation to participate and engage society, all to the glory of God. And when we grasp this idea—God’s idea—for us, we see a church worth getting excited about.