{"id":8137,"date":"2020-04-25T11:20:22","date_gmt":"2020-04-25T15:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/?p=8137"},"modified":"2020-04-25T11:20:22","modified_gmt":"2020-04-25T15:20:22","slug":"worshipping-together-apart-for-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/worshipping-together-apart-for-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Worshipping Together Apart for Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nikki Lambeth, member of Faith Church and wife of Faith Deacon Jonathan Lambeth has been worshipping \u201calone\u201d for many years because of a physical condition. I invited her to share her encouraging story during this time of pandemic isolation.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

-Pastor Brent Aucoin\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

A Guest Blog\u00a0By\u00a0Nikki Lambeth<\/h2>\n

Over the past weeks\u00a0as I have interacted remotely with friends and sisters in Christ, I\u2019ve realized that many\u00a0are struggling with some issues that come along with our current level of isolation. I\u00a0wondered why\u00a0I\u00a0was not\u00a0struggling at all. In fact,\u00a0I have\u00a0been having a great time!<\/p>\n

I finally realized the reason is that\u00a0I have the advantage of time.\u00a0I have\u00a0had\u00a0more than a dozen\u00a0years of\u00a0God using isolated times of worship to teach me lessons about\u00a0what it means to worship together with my church family when\u00a0I am\u00a0all alone.\u00a0You see, my brain reacts to a\u00a0specific\u00a0bass frequency somewhat like a seizure\u2014though doctors still\u00a0cannot\u00a0fully explain it. If that frequency is amplified through a subwoofer,\u00a0I am in\u00a0physical\u00a0danger.<\/p>\n

Through all of this,\u00a0I have received God\u2019s comfort over and over. I have\u00a0experienced\u00a0God\u2019s\u00a0faithfulness\u00a0in the middle of isolation.\u00a0I have learned to\u00a0work\u00a0at\u00a0living\u00a0in\u00a0community when people\u00a0are not\u00a0all around me. I have confessed the sin in my heart that was revealed when I was left all alone. I have found God to be enough when He is the only one with me\u00a0during\u00a0worship.<\/p>\n

So,\u00a0when those around me are struggling with things that have been a weekly part of my life for more than a decade, it is time for me to obey 2 Corinthians 1:4.<\/p>\n

2 Corinthians 1:3-4:\u00a03\u202f<\/sup><\/strong>Blessed be the\u202fGod and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and\u202fGod of all comfort,\u202f4\u202f<\/sup><\/strong>who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.<\/em><\/p>\n

Worship is a community response of praise to God.<\/h3>\n

One of the first important lessons that God taught me about worshipping together apart is that worship can still be a community response of praise to God. It\u00a0is\u00a0easy for the truth that God is fully present everywhere at the same time not\u00a0to\u00a0be at the forefront of our thinking. Isolated worship served to bring my attention to just how important and comforting the omnipresence of God really is. I began to remind my heart that when I sang to God along with those on the screen before me, God hears my voice in concert with the voices of every other person singing. God is not limited by walls like\u00a0we are. Jeremiah 23:24 says, \u201c\u2018Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him?\u2019\u00a0declares the Lord.\u00a0\u2018Do I not fill heaven and earth?\u2019\u00a0declares the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u00a0does not\u00a0matter if I\u2019m sitting all alone singing along with the worship team on the\u00a0TV\u00a0screen. If I am making the choice to worship God through song, then I am joining in beautiful and very real community in the presence of God,\u00a0alongside every other believer in the\u00a0universe who\u00a0is worshipping God at that moment.\u00a0That is\u00a0amazing!<\/p>\n

Learn to truly delight in the presence of God Himself.<\/h3>\n

Through the years I have been regularly overwhelmed and amazed at the opportunity God gives me to stand before Him in worship. God has used\u00a0years of\u00a0isolated worship to teach me more of what it means to worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). I began to see the ugliness of my own sin of pride, and how much of my time singing had been about impressing people around me with my singing voice rather than focusing my mind and my heart on humbly worshipping my God and Savior.\u00a0Whether you sing like an angel or make a joyful noise to the Lord, some of you may also find you\u2019re thinking about how you appear before others.\u00a0Isolated worship stripped me of the opportunity to impress\u00a0anyone and\u00a0laid my sinful heart bare.<\/p>\n

Oh\u00a0how sweet worship has become to me! I have never wished isolated worship on anyone, but I have often wished I could somehow help others see with me just how delightful it can be to revel in the presence of God. Alone, I\u00a0did not\u00a0have anyone watching me. Nobody cared if I fell to my knees as I realized my brokenness and sang it out to God. Nobody judged if I danced and cried with joy in praise to my marvelous eternal Bridegroom.\u00a0God taught me to worship Him with abandon, and to quit thinking about myself while worshipping.<\/p>\n

That is\u00a0the\u00a0second\u00a0lesson God taught me that I want you to know. As you worship alone, learn to truly delight in the presence of God Himself. And then when your isolated worship season ends, continue to delight together.<\/p>\n

God is Enough<\/h3>\n

One of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes is:\u202f\u201cHe who\u202fhas God\u202fand everything else\u202fhas no more than\u202fhe who\u202fhas God\u202fonly.\u201d My mind accepts this concept easily. My heart has required years of having one ministry after another stripped away by my loving perfect Teacher to begin to\u00a0accept\u00a0that truth.<\/p>\n

During the times when I\u00a0feel\u00a0alone, I have God. That is a statement of truth that should simultaneously cause me to jump,\u00a0shout for\u00a0joy and\u00a0fall on my face in wonder. The everlasting God who is eternally\u00a0enough\u00a0has chosen to be with me. In fact, God is so fully invested in having a close, intimate relationship with His children that He made sure that each of the three persons of the Trinity has a special role. God the Father has adopted me as\u00a0His child. God the Son bought me with His blood, and then claimed me as part of\u00a0His eternal bride. God the Holy Spirit indwells me. God is all in! Wow!!<\/p>\n

The times\u00a0I have\u00a0spent through the years worshipping God alone have taught me that God really is enough. I LOVE singing worship songs with fellow believers. But when God decided that needed to be changed, at least for a time, He was there and completely capable of filling the relationship void. God is enough, and I can enjoy Him fully as I sing to Him in an empty room.<\/p>\n

Learn to Be Grateful.<\/h3>\n

I cannot overemphasize what a huge difference focusing on gratitude made in my attitude and response to isolation<\/p>\n

In the early years of worshipping in isolation\u00a0I often felt\u00a0sorry for myself. Naturally, that always led to a self-focused attitude that was just plain wrong.<\/p>\n

When I focused on being genuinely grateful for the many blessings in my life, I quit feeling sorry for myself. I made lists–sometimes mental, sometimes written–of the many ways God has blessed me.\u00a0I made a point to talk about those blessings to my family and to friends. I worked to develop the habit of replacing thoughts of woe-is-me with thoughts of thank-you-God.<\/p>\n

People are Worth the Work.<\/h3>\n

Spending Sunday after Sunday alone eventually had the effect that I grew comfortable alone. I learned to really enjoy God as I worshipped apart. I was content and grateful. Then I found myself becoming lazy.<\/p>\n

Since I was always alone during worship, it took deliberate effort to make sure I connected with other people.\u00a0Sometimes it was physically draining or even painful to me to make that effort. I had to re-learn to invest in people. I had to learn to make time to pursue relationships with my sisters in Christ.<\/p>\n

The truth is that even in times when the investment cost me physically, I was always thankful for the relationships that were built or strengthened as a result of that investment.<\/p>\n

Today, that investment looks different.\u00a0It is\u00a0a matter of making a phone call, initiating a FaceTime or Zoom or Messenger video call. Sometimes I feel like doing something else, but people are worth the work and time investment. I leave these times refreshed and\u00a0encouraged. I\u00a0realize that I need it as much as the person I have called to encourage.<\/p>\n

The Conclusion of Worshipping Together\u00a0Apart<\/h3>\n

I am\u00a0so excited about what God will do in this body of Christ as we all grow in understanding and reveling in the truth that we are NEVER alone. As we worship at God\u2019s feet we bow alongside angels and Old Testament saints, as well as the rest of the congregation. Now\u00a0that is\u00a0something to\u00a0be excited about!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nikki Lambeth, member of Faith Church and wife of Faith Deacon Jonathan Lambeth has been worshipping \u201calone\u201d for many years because of a physical condition. I invited her to share her encouraging story during this time of pandemic isolation.\u00a0 -Pastor Brent Aucoin\u00a0 A Guest Blog\u00a0By\u00a0Nikki Lambeth Over the past weeks\u00a0as I have interacted remotely with… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":8140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[25938,25939,4250],"yoast_head":"\nWorshipping Together Apart for Years - Faith Church Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/worshipping-together-apart-for-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Worshipping Together Apart for Years - Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nikki Lambeth, member of Faith Church and wife of Faith Deacon Jonathan Lambeth has been worshipping \u201calone\u201d for many years because of a physical condition. I invited her to share her encouraging story during this time of pandemic isolation.\u00a0 -Pastor Brent Aucoin\u00a0 A Guest Blog\u00a0By\u00a0Nikki Lambeth Over the past weeks\u00a0as I have interacted remotely with... read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/worshipping-together-apart-for-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-25T15:20:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200425111816\/Lambeths.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"653\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"653\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brent Aucoin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brent Aucoin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/worshipping-together-apart-for-years\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/worshipping-together-apart-for-years\/\",\"name\":\"Worshipping Together Apart for Years - Faith Church Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-25T15:20:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-25T15:20:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/05b28a5b78c722884ce2c38fdbc64ebf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/worshipping-together-apart-for-years\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/worshipping-together-apart-for-years\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/worshipping-together-apart-for-years\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Worshipping Together Apart for Years\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\",\"name\":\"Faith Church Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/05b28a5b78c722884ce2c38fdbc64ebf\",\"name\":\"Brent Aucoin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20210309150430\/AucoinBrent2020.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20210309150430\/AucoinBrent2020.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Brent Aucoin\"},\"description\":\"Pastor Brent Aucoin serves as the Pastor of Seminary and Counseling Ministries at Faith Church. He is the president of Faith Bible Seminary, and is a counselor and instructor for Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/author\/baucoin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Worshipping Together Apart for Years - Faith Church Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/worshipping-together-apart-for-years\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Worshipping Together Apart for Years - Faith Church Blog","og_description":"Nikki Lambeth, member of Faith Church and wife of Faith Deacon Jonathan Lambeth has been worshipping \u201calone\u201d for many years because of a physical condition. I invited her to share her encouraging story during this time of pandemic isolation.\u00a0 -Pastor Brent Aucoin\u00a0 A Guest Blog\u00a0By\u00a0Nikki Lambeth Over the past weeks\u00a0as I have interacted remotely with... read more","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/worshipping-together-apart-for-years\/","og_site_name":"Faith Church Blog","article_published_time":"2020-04-25T15:20:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":653,"height":653,"url":"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200425111816\/Lambeths.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Brent Aucoin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brent Aucoin","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/worshipping-together-apart-for-years\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/worshipping-together-apart-for-years\/","name":"Worshipping Together Apart for Years - Faith Church Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-04-25T15:20:22+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-25T15:20:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/05b28a5b78c722884ce2c38fdbc64ebf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/worshipping-together-apart-for-years\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/worshipping-together-apart-for-years\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/worshipping-together-apart-for-years\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Worshipping Together Apart for Years"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/","name":"Faith Church Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/05b28a5b78c722884ce2c38fdbc64ebf","name":"Brent Aucoin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20210309150430\/AucoinBrent2020.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20210309150430\/AucoinBrent2020.jpg","caption":"Brent Aucoin"},"description":"Pastor Brent Aucoin serves as the Pastor of Seminary and Counseling Ministries at Faith Church. He is the president of Faith Bible Seminary, and is a counselor and instructor for Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries.","url":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/author\/baucoin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8137"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8137"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8139,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8137\/revisions\/8139"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}