Everything should begin with worship. Sunday morning should begin with worship. And worship is the beginning of every time of prayer. Do you remember being taught how prayer should be organized? Using the word ‘ACTS’ with each letter standing for a part of our prayer, our worship is complete.

The first letter stands for Adoration…worship of our God! The other words are Contrition, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. Do you see how everything begins with praise and worship? Doesn’t it make perfect sense that we should praise God first, before we ask for forgiveness, before thanking Him for his blessings, and before we ask for more blessings? Everything must begin with worship.

Our Sunday morning experience is the ultimate of worship and in the Episcopal tradition, we follow the command of Jesus Himself: “Do this in remembrance of me,” when we celebrate Holy Communion. The main liturgical setting in our church centers around the Sacrament and that’s why we come to worship. Surely, we come for a time of peace that we didn’t get during the week, and we might be lucky enough to see our friends. We also come to ask for help and guidance. But first and foremost, we come to worship. It’s a good practice, I think, because scripture says that heaven is a place where we will worship God, day and night. So, let’s prepare for eternity: Come and worship with us this Sunday…and every Sunday!

About the author: Previously the priest at St. Francis of Assisi in Lake Placid for 21 years, Rev. Elizabeth L. Nelson is now the Priest at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in LaBelle.