The story is told of a country boy who learned that a circus was coming to town. For many weeks he saved what coins he could, until he had the required fifty cents to pay for admission. On the appointed day he mounted the family mule and rode into town. As he arrived, the parade was just getting under way from the railway station to the circus grounds. The boy stood at the curbside and watched it all go by - the clowns, the animals, and all the rest. As the last of it passed, he suddenly realized that he still had his half-dollar clutched in his hand. He dashed out to a dancing clown and said, "Who do I pay?" The clown said, "I'll take your money." So the boy gave his money to the clown, remounted the mule and rode back home, believing he had seen the circus when all he had seen was just the parade.

Why do I tell this story? Because some folks, sadly, suppose they have gotten all there is from church simply because they have been there. There is more to worship than physical presence. As things are happening during the worship hour, one after another in scheduled order, there is another stream of happening which moves beneath it all. There is a deeper level to this Sunday morning event, a deeper current moving.

At the same time that hymns are being sung, and prayers are being prayed, and sermons are being preached, hearts are reaching out to God and God is moving into life. It is on this personal and deeper level that the experience of worship really takes place. May this be your experience today as we tarry in worship here.