Our newest episode unpacks the beauty of liturgy and how it can bring you closer to God. Discover the true meaning of worship beyond the walls of a church.

As the Lenten season unfolds, many of us are seeking ways to deepen our spiritual lives and draw closer to the divine. In a world that often feels rushed and disconnected, the ancient practice of liturgy offers a path back to the heart of worship and a more profound relationship with God. Our latest podcast episode dives into this very topic, exploring the rich tapestry of liturgical practices and their relevance in our modern lives.

Sarah and Karina engage in a heartfelt conversation about the significance of regular church attendance, not as an obligation, but as a cherished opportunity to commune with fellow believers and with God. They share personal experiences of how reciting the Lord’s Prayer in a chorus of different languages can create a sense of unity that transcends borders and cultural divides.

But liturgy goes beyond the walls of the church. It encompasses the way we live our daily lives, inviting us to slow down and focus on the divine. The episode touches on the transformative power of communion, not just as a ritual, but as a deeply personal act of remembrance and fellowship, even in the most ordinary of settings.

Tithing, too, is discussed, not as a mere financial transaction, but as a symbolic act of returning to God what is rightfully His. Our hosts explain how this act of giving enriches their spiritual journey and underscores their commitment to God’s work.

The conversation also delves into the beauty of the Sabbath, a time set apart for rest and reflection, and the joy of worship through music and prayer. Sarah shares how these practices have become not just habits but integral parts of their lives that they eagerly anticipate and cherish.

One of the most compelling aspects of the episode is the discussion on how these ancient practices prepare us for the eternal worship we will engage in heaven. It’s an invitation to view liturgy not as a chore, but as a rehearsal for the divine celebration that awaits us.

If you’ve ever felt that your spiritual life could use a breath of fresh air, or if you’re curious about how traditional practices can be woven into the fabric of a contemporary Christian life, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in to be inspired, challenged, and perhaps even transformed in your approach to worship and devotion.

Join us on this journey of discovery and reconnection with the sacred. Listen to the episode now and let the conversation guide you towards a more intentional and fulfilling spiritual practice.

Listen to the Podcast

Scroll down to read the full transcript.

This week we talk about liturgy during Lent

>> Sarah: Hey all, thank you for joining us again for Week Four of Lent. We are in the lent season, and so we’ve been talking about the practice of Lent and other things that surround that Christian practice. It’s not necessarily something that is, utilized very often outside of maybe the Catholic or Methodist faith, but it is coming back along with some other things. And so I wanted to talk this week about liturgy. Liturgy is kind of an old school word for devoted worship. And that doesn’t mean just singing songs, it doesn’t mean just listening to worship music. It means your practice of life, slowing your life down, to really hone in on how we are to create and maintain a strong relationship with God. And so, Karina, what are some things that you feel are a normal liturgy practice for you? What are some things you would categorize in that?

>> Karina: I think probably the first and biggest thing for most of us is attending church on a regular basis.

>> Sarah: that can be very liturgical in itself. I find it amazing to say the lord’s prayer, with other believers from other countries because even though it’s a different language, it unifies.

>> Karina: Yeah.

>> Sarah: And, it’s literally, Lord, you’re teaching us how to pray. so I probably do that one more than a lot of people actually do. one of my favorite part of the liturgical things is just to do communion, and to do it in a different way. I don’t always do it. Often churches and people will do it the same way every time. And, I don’t think that’s necessarily how God intended it. one of the most meaningful times that I’ve had doing that was we were literally sitting at a dinner, waiting on our food to come, and we broke bread as friends and how powerful that was. And you realize, oh, that was probably what the original communion was like. Or to do that by yourself, to put yourself in remembrance of, what Christ did for me and invite him into that situation and just take communion at.

> Karina: Yeah, yeah. I would have to agree with all those. I think people have a hard time (people that aren’t in a solid, I should say, a solid relationship with God) with the attendance of church because they feel like I don’t have to be in a building to have a relationship with God. And the phrase that gets them is the “have to”.

It’s the “get to”. You don’t have to be in a building, you get to be in a building. You get to spend time with other believers.

Like, really, me and you. I said this on one of the other episodes. I love talking God with you. It just is such a joy because I get to do that. Somebody who has a, like mind, who understands, Oh, my goodness, the woman issue, who understands the woman issue just blesses me so much because there has been so much misinterpretation just on that topic alone, that to have such a kindred spirit that understands how upsetting that is to the entire generation, or generation, the entire gender of females, it’s amazing to be able to talk to somebody who understands it. And so when you know that there’s others that are like you spiritually, you want to be in that space, because then you don’t feel like the little awkward duck in all these little crazy, environments where people don’t believe in God and they’re doing all these out in left field things. But here you’re with these other swans that get you.

It’s always about the get to, not the have to. So I get to go to church every week. I get to conduct church every week, which is awesome for me. And I get to tithe. That’s another one for me, that people are like, I give to this charity, I do this thing and I do that thing, and it’s like, yeah. And is it focused specifically on God’s storehouse? So, not to be ritualistic in my explanation, but I’m going to explain a little bit of that. the Bible talks about you add into your storehouse where you are. So if I am a member of ABC church, then my tithe is my storehouse. ABC church is my storehouse. My tithe goes into it. Anything above and beyond your tithe is an offering, like an extra sacrifice that you can go anywhere you want. And so I do that a lot with other things. your ministry actually is one of them, because I believe so much in what you do that it just is second nature to me. I didn’t even give it a second thought because the Holy spirit was, you know. And so to me, I get to tithe, I get to take a portion of my money that is identified specifically for furthering the kingdom of God whole purpose. I also like to do the Lord’s prayer. So the ladies of Pakistan say it in Urdu. That’s their language, and so they say it while I say it in English. I also like to sing. I can’t remember what it’s called, but it’s a song that most churches used to sing.

>>Sarah: Praise him from whom all blessings, The Doxology. Yes. Thank you. I’m like, what is it called? Yes, The Doxology. I like to sing that because it just sounds so heavenly when you hear somebody sing that. And, what else do I like to do? I love to worship in general, I just enjoy worship music. But more so, I like worshipping to worship music. Arms raised, singing as loud as possible, dancing around if I want to dance around, clapping my hands. I’ve praised laying flat on the ground, face to the floor, because that is where God needed me. And I have balled like a baby doing that. And I, think some of those things get overlooked because people oftentimes think they’re old school. Same with, like, praying and speaking in tongues.

Same with, another one that I do is a sabbath. We practice the sabbath at our house. It’s not as extensive as biblical, ah, version of a sabbath. But my family has to give up their phone. My teenagers, my kids have to give up their cell phones during that day. If we’re on electronics, it has to be as a family together, not separate people on their little tablets. We talk about the highlight of the week and the gratitude of the week, while also either doing a blessing over them or asking them how I can serve you best.

I’m just helping them identify this is a peaceful time to enjoy this peace. And so, to me, Sabbath is very important. I actually started refocusing on this a little over a year ago. There was some things that were going on in my, Church atmosphere, and I started doing. Practicing the way. I don’t know if you’ve heard about practicing the way.

>> Karina: Yeah.

>> Sarah: And each week that they teach it, they teach another part of liturgy and they do a great job. The lead person, his name is Mark, and I’m trying to think what his last name is. I can’t think of it, but he does an excellent job of teaching it. So, you can always Google practicing the way, but it’s a good reference…a frame of, you know, these little practices may somewhat seem ritualistic, but just like Lent, just like fasting, it’s the heart behind it. You get to do something that God has put in his word as something he believes is an important factor in your faith enough so that he wrote it down. And as a Christian, somebody who follows Christ, he’s saying, follow me. Do these things because you love me and you want to show that love towards me, right?

>> Karina: And I mean, that’s what it’s all about. Literally, the verb that is used to bring your tithe into the storehouse that we often hear is you’re bringing back something that belongs to somebody. I have your Tupperware bowl. It belongs to you. I’m just bringing it back to you right now. Giving is a whole nother thing, but it’s that whole practice of God has given us all these amazing things. And to be able to bring something back to him, what an honor and a blessing that is. Whether that’s your worship, whether that’s your time, whether that’s whatever it is, is to bring that back to him. And the only time that we will ever be able to bring these things to God and to do these things is while we’re here on earth. We can’t give that sacrifice a praise when we’re in heaven. That’s something that happens here specifically on the earth. And so I think we need to take advantage of that while the time that we are able to do that.

>> Sarah: Yeah, I also think. Think about how it’s going to be in heaven. I mean, if any practice of liturgy is like, it’s been ten minutes, if anything feels like that to you, you have to think of it as this is preparation. Because we’re going to be doing some serious worshipping and focusing on the Lord when we get to heaven. It’s not going to be, a five minute situation or a five hour situation. It is going to be eternity of liturgy. And so this is a moment to practice. This is a moment to hone your skills. Everything we do in life, whether you learn how to ride a bike, learn how to read, or even learn how to put on makeup, you have to practice to get perfect. And until the day that we are in heaven, we are in practice for worshipping the Lord in a relationship that he would like. Right.

>> Karina: And it’s building those spiritual muscles up. So if it’s spending 1 minute in prayer, and if you’ve never prayed before, that might be the place to start. It’s not trying to do 5 hours all at once, because you have to grow and you have to condition yourself that way. But you also have to grow. The more and more you get to know somebody, the more and more you want to spend time with them, the more and more you want to hang out with them, the more and more you want to do for them.

>> Sarah: Yeah, you crave it.

>> Karina: Yeah, absolutely. So it doesn’t become a chore. It’s not something that has to be done, it’s something that you want and you desire to do.

>> Sarah: Yeah, sorry, go ahead.

>> Karina: I was going to say at first, it may start out where it takes a lot more effort to do it at first than it does later on, but it’s always worth to start that effort.

>> Sarah: Yeah, I was just about to say that, too, because in reality, anything you start, if it’s not something you’re used to doing, is going to be a little tough. but the more you do it, the more it becomes a habit. And really, when you create a habit, it actually becomes a desire and a passion and a love. Now, you could go one way and be like a habit of a smoker, habit of a drinker. you’ll still love it. You’ll still have that passion for it. It’s just not good for you. But the same could be said for how you walk with Christ. You start off, and it feels awkward getting up early to read, or feels awkward to have to pray in front of people, or it feels awkward to raise your hands in church while you sing.

I mean, I remember that moment. I used to not be a hand raiser because I was raised in a strict church where your hands were down by your side. And when I finally got the guts to, raise my hand, it was so, awkward. Now it’s like, you can’t stop me. My hands are going up. That’s where I’m praising him. I’m worshipping, and it’s a passion and a desire and a love now to be that person for him. So when you get to that place, God will ask you to do things that seem so awkward and uncomfortable because it’s not a normal thing. But you will be in such desire for that relationship with him that you will just do it because you’re like, but this is God. I trust him. that’s happened quite a lot with me in the last few months, and so I’m glad that I had the relationship with God that I have because I was able to walk through some very tough things and be asked to do some things by God. That, to me, were just awkward and uncomfortable, but it’s what was best. So, I want to thank you, Karina, for your time and just our friendship, because I love you so much. Thank you.

>> Karina: And I enjoy your friendship.

>> Sarah: Yes. So do I. Hopefully we’ll get to have you on again for a different topic. but I appreciate the four times for discussing Lent in this season, and, just your dedication to following the Lord.

>> Karina: It’s my privilege and my honor, and to you as well. I mean, that’s how we show God we believe is through obedience. And you’re going after it, full force. And being obedient to what he’s called you to do.

>> Sarah: Thank you, Karina.

>> Karina: Thank you.

>> Sarah: I will talk to you soon. I love you.

> Karina: I love you, too.

Thank you for joining us over the last few week of talking about Lent.

Have a beautiful Easter, and we will be on the podcast again next week!

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