Scriptures: Psalm 100, Acts 17:25

God wants a relationship with us that is up close and personal. This personal relationship means we can talk to God, know more about Him, begin to understand His ways and follow Him in obedience with our lives. As Christ-followers our daily connection to God must also contain a degree of respect for Who He is. When we approach God in worship, in service, in prayer and in ministry with the right heart and spirit, we will experience a life that is Up Close and Personal with Him. In this message, Dr. Merritt uses the example of Psalm 100 to explain how we can open the door to God's presence by having our heart and mind aligned with His Words and ways.

"You haven’t really worshiped God until you get involved in serving God. God is not interested in people just doing a job. He wants you to serve Him 'with gladness.' You know one of the ways you can tell how close you are to God? The closer you get to God, the more happy you are to serve and the more your service makes you happy. When you begin to see your service as an act of worship and when you begin to see what you do for God as an act of gratitude for what He has done for you, you will no longer see service as a duty, but it will be a delight. It won’t be a job; it will be a ministry. We are to serve God with gladness, because when we serve Him we are not bearing the burden of meeting His needs; we are rejoicing in a service where He meets our needs. God doesn’t need us serving Him to make Him happy. We need to serve God to make us happy." --Dr. Merritt

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