Sunday Morning Live Services

Feb 1, 2026    Pastor Walt Sheppard

What does it truly mean to worship God when everything in our lives is falling apart? Genesis 22 gives us the first mention of the word 'worship' in Scripture, and it emerges not during a celebration, but during Abraham's darkest trial. We encounter a father commanded to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac—the child of promise, the miracle baby, the carrier of all future blessings. For two days and two nights, Abraham journeys toward Mount Moriah, carrying the wood that will burn his son, wrestling with questions that would paralyze most of us. Yet he tells his servants, 'I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you.' This is painful worship—worship that costs everything, worship that makes no sense to human reasoning, worship that trusts God's goodness even when circumstances scream otherwise. We learn that genuine worship isn't reserved for mountaintop experiences when bills are paid and everyone is healthy. True worship emerges when we respond to God's commands with 'Here am I'—not informing God where we are, but declaring we know where He is. It's the widow worshiping in an empty house, the parent watching a child make destructive choices, the believer facing a terminal diagnosis. Abraham's obedience didn't just bless him; it blessed generations to come. What we do with God now directly affects those who follow us. When we worship through pain, when we trust His character over our circumstances, we're not just surviving our trials—we're leaving a legacy of faith that echoes through eternity.