Name: Debra Black
Age: 22
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
I am a recent college graduate, who desires more than anything to make God’s name known and live my whole life for His Kingdom. God has given me a vision to carry out to encourage the Body of Christ to unite as ONE and adore Jesus’ name together through an event called "Worship on the Square." ONE Body for ONE Name!
 In John 17:20-23 as Jesus is pleading on our behalf to the Father, that “they might be one, Father just as you and I are one."

"20" My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

1. What does worship mean to you?
When I think of worship I think of an expression of love, to adore, thankfulness, gratitude, a shout of praise and complete surrender to that which one might worship. My prayers have been that worship would be part of every minute of my everyday; a life of worship to the One who gave me this life to live, Jesus Christ. It’s not just a spot to fill on Sunday morning, it’s not when we gather at an event that we worship, it is making Jesus, and worship to Him, a part of our entire life! It is a lifestyle!

2. What do you think happens when you worship?
I think I am saying “God I am so unworthy of you, yet you desire this worship from me more than I could ever imagine. You desire so much more than this ‘act,’ thus I must give you more than this moment, I must give you all of me to use for your glory.” I know God desires worship of Him, and I want people to see the God of the universe has made it possible for us to freely speak of His name. There are times when I stand in a corporate setting of worship, and say “God there is nothing that I could possibly do physically or emotionally right now to express to you the gratitude that I have for saving my soul; loving me more than anyone could; and allowing me to feel this love from you, when this is to you and for you!” Frankly it leaves me standing in awe…

3. What causes you to worship?
A heart full of gratitude, for His grace and mercy so freely extended to me. That He would call me His Saint! I have found myself throughout the day just saying “thank you Lord.” This is worship, I am saying “God I want you to know that you are more than worthy of all of my praise, and all of my life.” He makes Himself available to worship Him all the time, everywhere, and in everything. I want Him to know that I love Him, not just for an allotted time on Sunday morning.

4. How is worship displayed in your life?
 I know God is real, He is living, and if He is the same God yesterday, today and forever; I want to make this evident in the way I speak to people, in my expression of love towards others, and by giving Him credit for EVERYTHING in my life. This is what a life of worship is, expressing that God is alive, and He lives in us! If He is in me, than I’m not my own; I have to deny myself daily for Him. It is my life for His life.

5. What is your favorite song and why?
This is a very hard decision. Right now I love “Everything” by Tim Hughes. Some of the lyrics are “God in my living, there in my breathing, God in my waking, God in my sleeping, God in my resting, There in my working, God in my thinking, God in my speaking. Be my everything, Be my everything, Be my everything, Be my everything, God in my hoping. There in my dreaming, God in my watching, God in my waiting, God in my laughing, there in my weeping, God in my hurting, God in my healing, be my everything! Christ in me Christ in me Christ in me the hope of glory you are everything!”

 The cool part is being able to say, He wants to be in EVERYTHING and apart of EVERYTHING pertaining to us. It is hard to comprehend that even in the messes, and broken times; he wants to be our comforter our protector, and our strong tower! He wants to be the one who we turn to, to rescue us. It is pretty crazy to think that the Creator of the universe desires me, pursues me, and His thoughts of me outnumber the grains of sand!

Debra is the founder of an event called Worship on the Square and we asked her to share a little about her heart and vision for this...

 The vision for Worship on the Square came back about a year and half ago. God calls for unity all throughout His Word, and specifically in John 17:20-23. We as believers in Christ make up His Body. I started thinking about how many churches I see on every corner (living in the South, this isn’t very shocking). I started asking God “what do you see?” I know people make up the churches, but God began to show how we tend to stay segregated within our walls and that when He looks down from heaven He sees people, not buildings.

There is really never a time when churches mix congregations, and worship together. God revealed to me a vision in our city of creating an environment where people from any background and denomination can come together to praise the Lord for a night. I have really encouraged people/ churches to lay aside manmade interpretation and ideas of the Word; whether you dunk one time and I dunk three times doesn’t really matter in light of eternity. I really want this event to show our community and those around, whether followers of the Lord or not, to see a united church adoring the Lord loud and proud in our city.

The night of the event people gather on the square in our city and worship through music, prayer, and reading scripture. We also invite ministries in to set up tables and show what God is doing all around, whether it is on a local level or global level. I cannot explain to you the feeling you get being able to worship freely together outside with no walls and with people you have never met. It is awesome knowing that these people desire to make God known, and have the same heart beat. My prayer has been that others who come, who might not know the Lord, or are walking around in the city who see and hear us, united, praising the Lord, might desire to know Jesus through the love we are expressing outside of the walls of a church. We live in a society that has no desire to walk into a church building, we have to find ways to bring Jesus to them, and allow them to see the hope we have found that is better than anything this world has to offer.

Ultimately my prayer is that this won't be just another "worship event," where people come, feel like they experienced worship, got their fill and they are good till the next one. My prayer is that this will be life changing! That we will be encouraged as believers to be bold about the truth we know and hold dear; that we will act and live our lives in complete worship to our Abba Father. I want to encourage the body to be unified together for His cause, and know what is means to be "doers of the word, not just hearers. That all men will know that we are His disciples who serve a living, active, loving Lord who desires us!

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment