pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: worship


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“I Am the Lord”

Reading: Exodus 20:1-4

Exodus 20:3 – “You must have no other gods before me.”

Photo credit: Paul Pastourmatzis

For the first three days this week, we will work through the Ten Commandments. While very well-known, these commands are foundational to faithful living. In the story of God’s people, they arrive at Mount Sinai and set up camp. Up on the mountain there is thunder and lightning and a great cloud. God is present. Moses goes up the mountain to hear from God. In today’s verses we read the first two commandments.

Moses’ encounter with God begins with this declaration: “I am the Lord your God.” This statement is followed by two commands that focus on living into this declaration. The first is this: “You must have no other gods before me.” Command two is like an addendum: “Do not make an idol for yourselves.” In our day, when we think of “gods” as imaginary beings in the sky, these ideas seem almost silly. But for the Israelites, living in a time when all the other nations worshipped many different gods, these commands set Israel apart – radically and completely. But Israel would long struggle with the worship of false gods. Again and again they sought to be like those around them and to fit in rather than to stand out or be set apart for God.

This is precisely where these commands hit home today. While far from the gods of Moses’ day, we can treat status, beauty, wealth, popularity, and such like a god that we worship, love, and trust. And while not carved from stone or wood, we can place possessions and titles and other things of this world on the throne of our hearts. It is not difficult to find “gods” to chase after, to prioritize, to hoard, and even to worship. Yes, we too need to be frequently reminded: “I am the Lord your God.” O Lord, may it be so day by day.

Prayer: Lord God, we know the charge is to set our minds on Christ, to focus daily on imitating Christ with our lives. Yet we can turn from this time together, opening an app or turning on the television, and temptation is right there. The call of the world and the allure of its ways are ever before us. O Lord, strengthen and encourage us. Be present within us. Lead and guide us to walk faithfully with you. Amen.


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Seeking God – Regularly

Reading: Psalm 105:1-6 and 37-45

Psalm 105:4 – “Pursue the Lord and his strength; seek his face always!”

Photo credit: Rainier Ridao

Psalm 105 spans a vast swath of Israel’s history. The author recounts God’s acts on Israel’s behalf from the time of Abraham through their entry into the Promised Land. The Psalm, however, does not recount every act of God recorded in the scriptures. In this Psalm we find more of a highlight reel. Our remembrance of God’s activity in our life usually works the same way. We quickly recall the big blessings and the great rescues. But when we put in some effort, when we really reflect on our journey of faith, we realize that there are many more times when God became present to us – many more than on our highlight reel.

In the second half of our reading, the psalmist recounts the time just after the final plague through Joshua leading Israel through the Jordan River. The author also recalls the manna and quail and the water from a rock. These are but four of many times that God was present and active during their time in the wilderness. The psalmist does not include the golden calf and other rebellion, grumbling, and complaining. If we told our whole story of faith, we’d have stories like these too. The times of sin, of no faith, of struggle – all parts of our journey that shape and form us into who God created us to be.

Verses 1-6 are mostly about praising God for all that God has done for Israel. But tucked in these verses is a great encouragement: “Pursue the Lord and his strength; seek his face always!” In life, we naturally do this in the highs and lows. But life is mostly lived in between. So we need to be intentional about pursuing and seeking God regularly. We pursue God by creating times and places set apart for daily time with God. It can be a quiet time in the morning. It can be worship on Sunday. We seek God by being intentional about pausing at moments throughout our day to reflect on God’s presence in that day. Maybe it is a quick moment of thanksgiving before your meals. Maybe it is on the commute. May we all be intentional about pursuing and seeking the Lord our God.

Prayer: Lord God, we praise you for the many ways that you have been with your people through the ages. And we praise you and offer our thanksgiving for your involvement in our daily lives. Lead and guide us to see you often, bringing us to spontaneous moments of praise. Amen.


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Tremble, Praise, Rejoice!

Reading: Psalm 114:5-8

Psalm 114:7 – “Earth: Tremble before the Lord!”

Photo credit: Uta Scholl

As we continue in Psalm 114 today, the psalmist celebrates what was and leans into the present. Yesterday the author wrote of what God had done and of how Israel was now God’s people once again. The slavery of the past was no more and they were freed to be “God’s sanctuary.”

Verses 5 and 6 begin with a questioning of creation. These questions ask physical parts of creation – waters and hills and mountains – why they did things otherwise impossible. The answer, of course, is God. It was God who parted the waters. It was God who moved mountains. The psalmist mixes the literal and the figurative here. Over the course of our journey of faith, we too experience both.

Sometimes God acts in our lives in ways that are like the parting of the sea. A “door” opens or an invitation comes from nowhere that helps us move forward when we felt stuck. A seemingly immovable or unresolvable circumstance is “moved,” freeing us to continue our journey of faith. God works in ways that bring us to awe, praise, and wonder. For the earth and the people who inhabit the earth, we too could proclaim, “Earth: Tremble before the Lord!”

After the desert journey, which also included other miracles, Israel understood that they were God’s people. As it was with Israel, these miracle moments in our lives transform our faith, empowering us to move forward with a deeper faith and a stronger connection to the Lord our God. We too rejoice that we are God’s people!

Prayer: Lord God, each time you part the waters or move a mountain, our faith grows, deepens, widens. We face the next obstacle or challenge with more trust, more assurance, more resolve. Continue to walk with us daily – leading, guiding, making a way. Amen.


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Present Always

Reading: Matthew 18:18-20

Matthew 18:20 – “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I’m there with them.”

Continuing in Matthew 18 today, Jesus emphasizes the power of his presence. We experience Christ’s presence when we gather in his name, working together to reconcile a broken relationship. We are extending Christ’s presence when we seek to rebuild connection and when we continue to pursue wholeness even when the other person is resistant. In today’s reading we learn that because Jesus is with us in the reconciliation process, our decisions and actions are guided by the Holy Spirit’s presence. There is divine support for our decisions made and for our actions taken under the guidance and direction of Christ’s Spirit.

Jesus assures us that these things decided upon and prayed over in his name will be done by God. God will do God’s will reflective of our thinking, speaking, acting, and praying according to God’s will. When our efforts at conflict resolution include holy conferencing, the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and a desire to restore and redeem what was broken, then God will work in and through us to bring healing and wholeness to our relationships and to our communities of faith. Unity is God’s plan.

Jesus reminds us of this unity in verse 20, saying, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I’m there with them.” As we undertake the holy work of reconciliation, Jesus is present in Spirit. And Jesus is present when we gather for worship, when we come together in fellowship, when we enter into a time of study or prayer as a small group, when we serve a meal to a school staff or to folks struggling with poverty… Yes, Jesus is always present to us when we gather in his name. Thanks be to God!

Prayer: Lord God, we are grateful for your Spirit that leads and guides us in all of life. We are especially grateful for the Spirit’s presence in our times of conflict and hurt. In these uncomfortable and often tense situations, lead and guide us to be people of love and grace, mercy and forgiveness, kindness and compassion. Thank you, Lord. Amen.


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Faithful, True, Steadfast, Loving

Reading: Psalm 124:6-8

Psalm 124:8 – “Our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”

Earlier this week we read the first part of Psalm 124. For a refresher, it began with “If the Lord hadn’t been for us…” On our walks of faith, this is something we too experience. If God was not with me, the grief would’ve overwhelmed me. If God was not with me, the temptation would’ve been too great. If God _____… We can all fill in the rest of that sentence again and again. We can do so because God is faithful and true and steadfast and loving. The natural outflow of this kind of remembering is to praise and worship God, to offer our thanksgiving to the Lord.

Turning to today’s verses, that is what the psalmist does! In verse 6 we read, “Bless the Lord because…” In the Psalm, Israel did escape the enemy. They slipped out of the trap. If God wasn’t there that day, how things would be so very different. The same idea is true for us. Pause for a moment and think of a few hard times when God was there for you. Where would you be if God wasn’t there for you?

The Psalm closes with a great statement of faith: “Our help is in the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Yes! God is our help. Without God, life would be unbearable – filled with sin, sorrow, and suffering. We do not have to live in these places, though. God is faithful and true and steadfast and loving. Thanks be to God!

Prayer: Lord God, we are so grateful for your abiding and constant presence. In life there is good and evil, health and illness, want and plenty… You are present in it all. We are especially thankful for your presence, love, and care in the hard moments, when we are most likely to become less than you intend us to be. O God, walk with us daily. Amen.


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Redeeming the Lost

Reading: Romans 11:1-2

Romans 11:1a – “So I ask you, has God rejected his people?”

Photo credit: Mitchel Lensink

As we begin two days in Romans 11, we begin with the first two verses. These verses continue Paul’s argument against salvation through the Law. Instead, Paul sees grace as the saving agent. In our two verses today, Paul touches on when God’s people (or us) are not faithful to God. Verse 1 begins, “So I ask you, has God rejected his people?” When I first read this verse, to be honest, my mind said, “Maybe.” I thought of the policies and things done today by those claiming to be Christian, and thought, surely God is at least deeply grieved by this. But upon more reflection, I realized that this has been going on since the actual time of Jesus. In his day it was the Pharisees who used the Law for their own purposes. Later it was those who led and funded the Crusades. There have always been folks who have used “faith” as a weapon.

Paul’s response to his opening question is this: “Absolutely not!” God always remains faithful. Paul offers himself as proof. He is an Israelite through and through – and he loves and follows Jesus. Paul invites us to remember Elijah. He felt like he was the only faithful person left. But the faithful were actually down to a small fragment – 7,000 who had not turned to idols. Through the faithful, God redeemed the lost. God continues to do so today. You and I – we are living examples. Through our sin and failures, God has not rejected us once. Through grace we are redeemed again and again. Like the story of Elijah and God’s faithfulness, our story of grace and redemption has power. Our story can change lives. Who do you know that needs to hear the story of how Jesus changed your life?

Prayer: Lord God, today many worship idols. They aren’t carved of stone or wood but are found in the mirror, parked in driveways, stashed in bank accounts, put forth in social media. These folks are as lost as most in Elijah’s day. So, Lord, use us to turn people to you – some back to you, many encountering you for the first time. Fill our stories with a Holy Spirit power – with the power to change lives. Amen.


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Songs of Praise

Reading: Psalm 105:1-6 and 16-22

Psalm 105:5 – “Remember the wondrous works he [God] has done, all his marvelous works, and the justice he declared.”

Our Psalm for this week remembers God’s mighty acts on behalf of Israel from the time of Abraham and the covenant through the time when the Israelites resettled in Canaan (or the Promised Land.) Verses 1-6 are a call to praise and worship God for these mighty acts of God. The psalmist invites us to give thanks and to praise God, to pursue God’s presence, and to “Remember the wondrous works he [God] has done, all his marvelous works, and the justice he declared.” In the frequent remembering, one builds up faith, trust, and hope in the Lord. We’re also reminded that we too are “the offspring of Abraham… God’s chosen ones.” So these stories are our stories too.

Verses 16-22 focus in on the story of Joseph. These verses begin with God calling for a famine. In order to ready God’s people, God “sent a man ahead of them.” The sending was difficult. Betrayed by his brothers, Joseph was sent off in shackles. Yet God remained at work, through each twist and turn, until “the King made Joseph master of his house and ruler over everything he owned.” It was then, driven by the famine, that his brothers bowed before him, bringing Joseph’s long-ago dream into reality. As Israel would later read these words again and again, they would be led over and over to praise God for these wondrous and marvelous acts of justice and love.

We too can read these words and offer our praise to God. And there are many other stories in the Bible that we can read that lead us to offer our praise and thanksgiving to God. But we also have stories within us – stories of God’s rescue and redemption, of God’s forgiveness and grace, of God’s love and peace, of God’s healing and comfort… Sometimes these are the songs of praise that others need to hear. Sometimes they are the songs we need to remember in our difficult moments. So each day may we sing our songs of God’s mighty and marvelous acts in our lives!

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for the many ways that you touch our lives. Some are the headliners – the wondrous and mighty acts that we cannot miss. But most are the small and regular touches, ones that could go unnoticed if we’re not looking for them. Open our eyes and hearts to these acts too, O God. These are the fuel for our daily, faithful walk with you. Thank you. Amen.


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Thanksgiving and Praise

Reading: Psalm 105:1-6

Psalm 105:1 – “Give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make his deeds known to all people!”

Photo credit: Pablo Heimplatz

Psalm 105 is a call to worship. Yes, it was a call to worship long ago for the Israelites. And it is a call to us today to worship God in the ways that we live out our faith in the Lord our God. The Psalm begins with this invitation: “Give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make his deeds known to all people!” There are three parts to this invitation. First, give thanks. Whether through prayer, a journal, or both, daily thank God for your blessings, large and small. This practice of gratitude is good for our soul. Second, call on God’s name. This could be calling on God’s name in prayers and petitions. And it could be seeking God’s guidance and direction in our lives. And third, witness to your faith. Share the story of what God has done and is doing so that others might be drawn to our Lord and Savior.

These basic invitations are echoed in verses two and three: Sing, give praise, rejoice in the Lord! In verse four we’re invited to pursue or seek God’s presence and strength. While God is ever present and ever willing to be a part of our lives, God will not barge in or force the issue. God waits for us to “open the door,” and then God enters in. Invite God in!

Verses five and six invite us into acts of remembering. These are both personal and corporate. Remember God’s wonderful and marvelous works in your life and in the world around you. Remember through thanksgiving and praise. Recall God’s acts of justice – in your life and in our world. Offer thanks and sing! And remember who and whose you are: “children of Jacob… chosen.” For our place in the family of God, may we lift a celebratory and joyous word of prayer or a song of praise to the Lord our God!

Prayer: Lord God, we pause and offer our thanks for all you do in our lives to lead and guide us, to strengthen and encourage us, to forgive and redeem us, to restore and save us. You are an amazing, awesome, wonderful God! Thank you for choosing us and for being our God. Amen.


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Gather the Weeds

Reading: Matthew 13:24-30

Matthew 13:30b – “First gather the weeds and tie them together in bundles to be burned.”

Today we turn to the “Parable of the Weeds.” Tomorrow we read Jesus’ explanation. Today we’ll focus on a personal application level that deviates slightly from standard interpretation. Tomorrow we’ll expand out to the more traditional understanding and out to the communal level.

Each morning – or most mornings! – we get up and pray and read our Bibles and ponder a devotional or two. Maybe we practice our faith in the evenings or midday instead. Once or twice a week we go to church for worship or to participate in a small group class. In each of these ways we are planting good seeds in our hearts. On occasion we help a neighbor in need or volunteer somewhere or visit a friend who is sick. Although these acts are other-centered, these practices also plant good seeds in our hearts.

And then an unwanted change comes our way. Or maybe it is an unexpected diagnosis. Perhaps someone speaks an unkind word or a stinging criticism. Each of these things and many more have the potential to derail our walk of faith. They can create stress or worry or doubt or anger or mistrust or… and can cause division and hurt and possibly even put an end to a relationship. These are the weeds that we suddenly find growing in our hearts. We don’t intentionally plant them there, but they do take root. In these cases, Jesus gives us an important reminder: “First gather the weeds and tie them together in bundles to be burned.” Daily tending to these “weeds” prevents them from becoming enmeshed in our hearts. May it be so for you and for me.

Prayer: Lord God, all sorts of unwanted things can grow in our hearts if not tended daily. While not all are “evil,” they can still distract us from tending to our relationships with you and with one another. When still a really small shoot, anger and other “weeds” can more easily be cared for. So help us, O God, to be diligent daily, paying close attention to these “small” matters. Before roots become enmeshed in our hearts, guide us deal with temptation and sin. Amen.


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If So… If not…

Readings: Psalm 119:108 and Matthew 13:18-23

Psalm 119:108 – “Please, Lord, accept my spontaneous gifts of praise. Teach me your rules!”

Today’s verse from Psalm 119 expresses gratitude and a desire to know God more. The psalmist offers praise as an expression of thanksgiving and worship, which leads to a request for God to respond by revealing more of God to his or her heart. This is a great example of what it means to love the Lord with all of one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength. To love this way – it always seeks to deepen that love. With this example in mind, we turn to Matthew 13.

In verses 18-23 Jesus explains the parable that we read yesterday. Each soil type relates to both a person’s readiness to accept Jesus and to the outcomes of each type of “soil.” Considering the psalmist – at least in today’s verse – he or she would be “good soil.” They are grateful for their relationship with God and are eager to grow that connection deeper and stronger. Knowing God more, in turn, leads to making God more known. This is the bearing of fruit that Jesus refers to.

Are you like the psalmist? Do you thank God each day for all that God has done? Do you daily seek to know God more? if so, alleluia and amen! If not, what is the condition of your soil? And, even more important than honest assessment, how are you going to work the soil of your heart to better love God with all that you are? Maybe it begins with some spontaneous praise and thanksgiving. Maybe it includes a little more study, meditation, and prayer. Decide and act. It’s your soul!

Prayer: Lord God, each kindness, each blessing, each brush with the divine – all potential fertilizer for our faith. Lord, help us to realize this potential: slow us down, help us to pause and reflect on your presence in our lives. Lead us to rejoicing and thanksgiving, to awe and to praise. Ready our hearts to receive more and more of you. Amen.