Well, how do I recharge my spiritual battery? Where is my spiritual energy refreshed in order for me to meet yet another week of temptations and trials? This was the topic on the table for Pastor John earlier in the year when he was ministering in Belfast, Northern Ireland. This is a tremendous clip and I wanted to make sure it was shared with you in the podcast.

There's a story to come shortly and for that you need to know two other people. You need to know Chuck Stedham, who is the longtime worship leader who served along Pastor John and you need to know Tom Steller, a longtime co-pastor with Pastor John. There will be a scene in a moment with Chuck on stage leading musical worship and Tom to Pastor John's side during musical worship.

Here now is Pastor John talking about how we recharge for the Christian life, which is really a celebration of corporate worship. Have a listen. The reasons that corporate worship, singing, praying, responsive readings, confessing our sins, preaching, is so uniquely powerful. I want to use a superlative here. That's risky because God shows up superlatively in one-on-one moments and you yourself alone with him moments and any one of those can be exquisite power.

But on the whole, I would say my sweetest communion with God happens with Chuck. I mean Chuck is a symbol when I say that. He was the leader in those moments and so what I mean is corporate worship. Why is it? I've tried to...it just is. I think it is because I was made for this and you were too.

You may be resisting it for all kinds of reasons, but you were made to see and savor God with his people in the manifold ways of corporate worship. That's what you were made for. And therefore, when you are experiencing it, you are experiencing something of the end for which you were made.

And that's deeply satisfying. That's one reason. Here's a second one that I've watched in myself. Corporate worship becomes not only an awakening of affections that I did not bring into the service. I'm coming there to feed on what God is doing in that moment, on the truth there and on the beauty of our songs.

I'm being awakened to be who I am, being awakened to know God, love God, delight in God, be satisfied in God by song and the truth of the songs and the beauty of the songs. There's something about profound biblical truth about God mingled with beautiful tunes that is uniquely effective in the soul of a human being.

It's unique. It just is. And so that happens. Here's a third thing. I can remember moments. Here's Tom Steller, who's with me for 33 years, to my left. And Tom was saved in the Jesus People Movement. He's been a hand lifter from day one. I had to be converted because I grew up in you know what.

And so I'm sitting there singing, going through the motions because that's what happens. You just lose, it doesn't always click, right? You're just going through the motions and my eyes glance over and Tom is like this. That very posture, knowing what I know about Tom was like an arrow repeatedly for my soul.

That's corporateness. That's corporateness. Me being near somebody who's engaged with God is convicting, right? If you're near somebody who's really authentically not putting on any show, they're just engaged, they're loving God in their relationship with God and you're not, that's good for you. You see? So that's another piece of it.

Here's the one that I probably remember most poignantly. I mean, everybody thinks, "Oh yeah, you've been married for 50 years, cool, got five kids, you're still married, must be wonderful." We've walked through such deep waters together, Noel and I, struggled with so many things. Kid problems and marital problems in and out of counseling maybe for 33 months total over our 50 years and tried to love each other better, not hurt each other with what we do or say.

And so I'm a pastor, right? We're talking about 33 years of sitting on the front pew with about five or six, 700 people behind me and I'm going to preach in a few minutes and I'm singing and this is the worst week of our marriage, right? What do you do?

How do you carry on? How do you not be a hypocrite? And I cannot tell you how many times some beautiful expression of the mercies of God broke over me with such conviction of my selfishness. I stayed married. I felt hope again. I think I can go home and say, "I'm sorry." I mean, where do you get the strength?

I'm talking to the guys right now, okay? Same issue with the ego with the women, but it's a little different with the guys. Where do you get the strength to just humble yourself and say, "I was wrong. I'm sorry." Or even if you don't think you were wrong, to say something sweetly conciliatory because that's your job.

I get it on the front pew in the middle of, I mean, we weren't singing His Mercy is More in those days, but it would do it today. It would do it today. So that's another piece. And maybe one last reason why I exist when I'm a pastor, I exist to create a God-loving people.

That's why I exist. My preaching is designed to build truth about God into the mind and affections for God into the heart. That's why I exist. That's my whole life in corporate worship. I can hear it happening. I mean, even now I know, I mean, hundreds of people have come to Bethlehem since I left in 2013.

Half the people downtown don't know me. I'm sitting there as the 33-year veteran and they don't know me. That's awesome. That's glorious. But I also know half of these people were under my ministry so that when I'm four pews up from the back on the left-hand side under the balcony with Noel in our little spot and 15 people around me that I can recognize and know have their hands in the air at some magnificent climax of a hymn to God's glory, I feel I didn't live in vain.

So those are a few reasons why those moments... One more, one more. I got cancer, I got pancreatic cancer and the biopsy was on our anniversary, December 21, 2005. The surgery to take out the prostate gland was on Valentine's Day. Between December 21 and February 14, those were the sweetest corporate worship experiences of my life because I didn't know I was going to live.

It's wonderful to get a cancer diagnosis and still live. Everybody should get that opportunity. Otherwise we take so much for granted. So standing at the front pew for those... What's that? About eight weeks or so? Every Sunday was more intense than ever and it was glorious. If that was to me a foretaste of what it would be like to get ready to die when the cancer is not going to be healed anymore, that's okay.

That will be okay. Incredible reminder of the eternal things happening in hearts on Sunday mornings in musical worship and just a great reminder of what Sunday morning represents for the people worshiping around us. There's a lot happening in hearts as God recharges, confronts, builds up, and prepares people for a week of news that's unforeseen.

It's really amazing what's happening in that room together. And thank you for listening along to the podcast. Be sure to subscribe to Ask Pastor John in your favorite podcast app or in YouTube for our archive of episodes or to send in your own question, go to desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn. And speaking of the power of the gathered church, how would Pastor John revitalize the church from the pulpit?

It's a question from an elder with ramifications for each and every one of us. That's next time. I'm your host Tony Reinke. We'll see you on Friday. Duration: 2 minutes and 37 seconds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10