Worship as Shared Meals of God's Mercy

This is our Sunday teaching by our Senior Pastor, Tom Thompson. Recorded live at our Sunday Service in Harris Academy Purley, Croydon on Sunday 26th July, 2026. 

Talk Summary - Worship as Shared Meals of God’s Mercy

What happens when we worship?

Across the Old Testament, we are given several rich pictures. Abraham welcomes and hosts the presence of God. David brings music, creativity and reverential joy. Solomon gathers the people in surrender, acknowledging that God alone is King.

Then, through the prophet Isaiah, we are given another beautiful image: worship as a shared meal of God’s mercy.

“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink,” God says in Isaiah 55. “Come, take your choice of wine or milk. It’s all free.” This is not an invitation reserved for those who have everything together. It is offered to the thirsty, the empty-handed and the undeserving.

In the following chapter, God speaks directly to those who fear they do not belong: foreigners, outcasts and people who believe they have no future. He promises to welcome them, give them an everlasting name and fill them with joy in his house of prayer.

This is the extraordinary offer at the heart of worship. We come hungry and receive mercy. We bring our shame and discover grace. We confess where we have turned away and receive generous forgiveness. We arrive feeling ordinary, uncertain or alone, and are reminded that we are deeply loved and welcomed into God’s family.

But a banquet is not merely something we attend. We must come ready to eat. Isaiah’s invitation is active: come, listen, seek, turn. Worship involves shifting our attention away from ourselves and towards Jesus. It means allowing him to set the menu, choose the guests and take the place of honour.

And because God’s mercy is unlimited, we do not need to guard our portion. There is no scarcity at his table. Worship should make us people who move along the bench and say to others, “There is space here. Come and feast with us.”

As we grow into multiple congregations, may our worship hold all these pictures together: welcoming God’s presence, celebrating him with joy, surrendering to his kingship and sharing his mercy widely.

May our churches become banqueting tables where people from every background encounter Jesus, lay down shame and rejection, and discover that there has always been a place prepared for them.