As Psalm 34 illustrates, God comes to meet the broken. When our gatherings start and end with an acknowledgement of our needs, we begin to see God alive and active in the body of Christ. It is in our humility and vulnerability here that three requirements and characteristics of a worshiping Church emerge: we weep together, we wait together, and we work together.

God reveals who He is to His people, moving in word and deed to call them forward. Christian worship is a lifestyle of responding to God's revelation. It is our joy, our responsibility, and our testimony, and this is why it's so critical that we get it right. Letting God take the lead in worship sanctifies devotion, deepens expression, and enables unity in a fractured but hopeful body of believers.

Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4) reveals so much about God's design for His worshiping people. The true worshipers the Father seeks maintain a past/present/future perspective. They are students of history, formed by God, and witnesses of hope.