Hi Awaken Church,

After spending the past five weeks looking at our personal heart posture in worship, this week we will shift gears—now considering how our relationships with others impact our worship of God.

Last Saturday, several of us gathered with a dozen other Wesleyan churches from across the Northeast for our annual Excel Church Health Conference. For me, the joy of attending was not only that we learned important things, but that we experienced the union of fellowship and worship. Excel wasn’t just an event—it was an opportunity to experience how our worship of God and our relationships with one another belong together.

Next Sunday, we will eat together after service at our Potluck. The following week, we will share a meal with a missionary family preparing to serve overseas. These are not just events on the calendar—they are opportunities to experience the same union of worship and fellowship.

This is what authentic worship looks like.

Inauthentic worship separates our relationships with others from our worship of God. It is quick to raise hands and sing songs while holding grudges in the heart. Authentic worship tolerates no such divorce. True worshipers understand that their relationships with others shape their worship of God.

Our relationships either strengthen or undermine true worship.

At Awaken Church, we are committed to authentic worship. We are not content to sing to God while harboring animosity toward others. We believe the love of God and the love of neighbor are profoundly united, and it is our sincere desire to worship God in this way.

Join us this Sunday as we begin a journey that will carry us through Good Friday and Easter Sunday—a journey from Christ’s death, which reconciles us to God, to his resurrection, which gives us every reason to worship.

See you Sunday,

Eric