Who's that standing in the doorway?

Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. (Exodus 33:7-11 ESV)

Tonight is Saturday night and tomorrow morning in churches across the world people will show up, sit in chairs, pews, etc.  They will drink coffee, exchange pleasantries, listen to music (may or may not sing or participate), and listen to the message for that particular day (may or may not truly listen).  There will be an entirely different group of people tomorrow that won't be going to church, as a matter of fact, they will likely just be getting out of bed by the time some churches are done for the day.  So why am I bringing this up?

Look at the above passage from Exodus and notice a few key things:
1. Not everyone was allowed in the tent.
2. When the right people went in the tent, God showed up.
3. God talked to Moses like a man, face to face.
4. God stood at the entrance to the tent...put another way, God blocked the exit of the tent while they were talking.

Imagine a worship service that starts with a personal invitation from God to come and spend time with Him.  In the invitation, it is clear that God will be making an appearance and that He has something to say to you and to those who He has put in your life.  In an effort to ensure that everyone hears the importance of what He has to say, and to ensure that people have His undivided attention and vice a versa, the doors will be blocked by God's very presence until the meeting concludes.  Can you get down with that kind of worship service?  I know that I am down with that!

So tomorrow, as we go to our churches (our tent of meeting), remember God Himself has called us to be there.  He wants to speak to us and hear from us also.  He wants the meeting to be personal.  Imagine during the service tomorrow, a pillar of cloud blocking all the exits once service begins.  The pillar of cloud isn't there to keep us from leaving, it's to keep us from missing out on a face to face meeting with the God of the universe.  It's to keep out all the distractions of our lives while we focus only on Him.  It's not just going to church, it's going to meet with God face to face and to worship Him along with other believers.  Let's have that kind of worship tomorrow!