pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: worship


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All in for You

Reading: Amos 8: 7-12

The time of action and judgment has come for the people of Israel.  These people who wanted to focus on money and crops instead of worship will get what they want.  They had endured worship and the Sabbath like it was a chore.  So God has chosen to grant their desire – He will step away from His people.  He will allow His petulant children to live without Him for a while.  A time is drawing near when a foreign king will conquer and destroy.  God will be a silent, non-involved observer.  Public worship will not occur in captivity and there is no Bible yet.  It will be a difficult time for Israel.

It is hard for us to imagine what it would be like to have all of our churches shut down.  It is even harder to imagine that our access to the Word of God could be removed.  We have easy access to physical Bibles and constant access to a myriad of virtual Bibles.  So imagine for a moment if all access to the Word were removed and we could not gather for worship.  It would be very hard to remain connected to God and our faith.

Although this idea of no access to God or His Word seems so foreign to us who have easy access to these things, our attitudes at times are not so far removed from those of the people of Amos’s time.  We have all been reluctant worshippers.  We have all looked at our watches or cell phones as we creep past the time church was supposed to end.  We have all drug our feet or scowled all the way to church and part way through it.  This is not the worship God desires.

Lord, make our hearts like Your heart.  Help us to love you with all we are.  Lead our spirit to seek Your Spirit.  Draw us into You.  Move us to offer all of ourselves in grateful response to Your love and mercy that never fail.  May we be all in for You, O Lord.


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Fully and Wholly

Reading: Amos 8: 1-6

God proclaims to Amos that “the time is ripe for my people”.  God is fed up with their preoccupation with money.  Worship is no longer worship.  They want to rush through their one hour of worship so that they can get back to turning a profit.  To make matters worse, during their one hour ‘given’ to God their mind is filled with thoughts of how to get richer.  The fact that they do not hear God’s message and call upon their hearts is revealed in the ways they exploit the poor and needy.

God’s desire is the same for us.  When we sit down to spend time with God, He expects all of our being to be present.  Our call is not to read the devotional or accompanying scripture as quickly as possible so that we can continue on with our day.  God desires for us to linger a while, to allow His Word and message for us that day to soak in and to percolate deep within us.  Our time with God should draw us in and transform and renew us.

The same is true on a Sunday morning or whenever we gather for worship.  We are called to enter His house with thanksgiving in our hearts and praise on our lips.  We are to be fully in His presence and to welcome the Spirit to move in us and around us.  God hopes to touch our souls with the music, the words, the prayers.  If our focus is elsewhere, we are not being authentic in our worship and we are not being honest in our relationship with God.

Each time we enter into His presence, whether in private or with our community of faith, may we be fully focused and wholly in His presence.


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Ever Present

Reading: Psalm 30

Psalm 30 is an excellent representation of our journey of faith.  It begins with praise to God for the protection and healing that He gave.  At times in our lives we definitely sense a hedge about us that God is providing.  Our “foes” rise up against us and we feel as if we may fall, yet we do not quite topple or give in.  In the midst of it we can sense God’s hand upon us.  Or perhaps, looking back, we can see where God came to our rescue.

At times in life, though, we can also question where God is.  We cannot sense His presence and He seems absent in our struggles.  As the psalmist writes, “You his your face, I was dismayed”.  We can all recall such times in our lives.  The writer’s solution?  Cry out and pray to God anyway.  Earnestly seek to be in God’s presence even when He feels far away.  Even in our seasons or ‘dark nights of the soul’ God is still present.

Midway through, in verse five, we are reminded that God’s favor is for a lifetime.  Once we enter into that saving relationship, we are forever His.  In this verse we are reminded that joy will come in the morning.  The writer returns to this theme in verse 11.  Because of God’s unfailing love, He turns our mourning into joy and dancing.  The response is praise and thanksgiving to God.  This response is the same as when it feels He is absent: seek Him through prayer and worship.

Faith is a journey.  These times of feeling that God is absent can lead to doubt, which is a normal part of our faith journey.  These times reveal our human limitations.  God is omnipresent.  In our struggles, it is we who question the fact of an omnipresent God.  Like the psalmist, may we too pray through the silence and may we ever offer our thanksgiving and worship for the grace, love, and favor that never ends.


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As God Loves

Reading: Psalm 146

The psalmist advises us to put our trust in God alone.  God alone is worthy of our praise and adoration.  He alone will the psalmist worship all the days of his or her life.  We are invited to join in with our praise all the days of our lives as well.

The psalmist also warns us about trusting in earthly kings and rulers.  It is pointed out that they cannot save and that they too will one day die and return to the ground.  It is a bit grim but knowing the context of the Psalm helps.  The recent kings were not worshippers of God and led the people astray.  The result has been the very recent destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.  Those of worth were hauled off to exile in Babylon.  Our reality today is that here and all around the world there are good rulers and there are not so good rulers.  There are a few Christian rulers, but in general are the exception.

Perhaps the destruction and exile has something to do with the focus on the hungry, oppressed, imprisoned, blind, orphaned, and widowed.  All who had value were hauled off to exile.  Those left behind certainly needed God’s care and attention.  It was a tough, fend for yourself kind of time.

Today we have a population in all of our communities who in essence have been left behind or left out.  Our culture of me-first individualism and too busy lives have left many on the margins.  Many think the government or someone else should deal with those who are struggling, but here in the Psalm we are reminded that God really loves those on the edges.  If we truly love the Lord, we too will love those He loves.  In the opportunities He places before us today, may we love all as God loves all.


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Offering a Witness

Reading: Psalm 96: 1-9

Psalm 96 calls us to sing praises to God and to declare His gift of salvation day after day.  It reminds us that God is great and majestic and strong.  It urges us to bring an offering to Him and to worship God in the splendor of His holiness.  In these opening verses of the Psalm we get a clear picture of who God is and what our response should be.  The overarching theme of this Psalm is the call to declare our unfaltering allegiance to the one true God.  This is both a corporate and a personal call.

As the church, no matter what the denomination, we are called to proclaim the good news, to worship God alone, and to bring relief to the oppressed and the needy.  As the church this is what God clearly expects of us.  The two greatest commandments – to love God and to live neighbor – are lived out by doing these three things.  Ask a non-believer what a church should do and odds are they will name at least two of these three.  In an ideal world, all churches would be growing in their love of God and changing the world for the better each day.  All churches should be known for their compassion, love, witness, forgiveness, and service.  And all of God’s people said, “Amen”!

But in order for the church to be known for these characteristics, as members of these churches we must first be known individually for these traits.  No one comes to the faith because of a church.  They come to faith by first experiencing what faith lived out looks like.  They experience this vicariously when one loves or serves them in a radical or unexpected way.  It draws them in and opens their hearts so that the Holy Spirit can begin to work in them.  This day and each day, may our lives be the offering we bring to God and may our lives be a living witness to the splendor of His holiness.


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Wisdom

Reading: Psalm 8: 1-4 and 22-31

God’s wisdom calls out to us, seeking to fill us with an understanding and awe of God.  Wisdom calls out from many places to all of mankind.  There are many worthy things she wants to share with humanity.

Wisdom has existed since the beginning – she was there before the formation of the earth and before time began.  Before there were oceans and land, mountains and sky, wisdom was there.  She saw the creation of all things, therefore she understands God’s power and might.  This is part of what wisdom desires to share with us.

Wisdom also wants us to be filled as she is, day by day delighting in God’s presence and power.  Day by day wisdom rejoices in His presence and marvels at His creation.  Day by day she delights in mankind, made in God’s image.  Wisdom recognizes the power and might of God and offers her praise and worship.

This day may we also draw upon wisdom, seeing the power and might of God in the creation and in each other.  Through this, may we too offer our praise and worship.


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Welcoming God

Reading: Acts 11: 11-18

Peter at first was hesitant to see how God’s love and grace could extend outside the Israelites.  Centuries of being “God’s chosen people” and many laws and practices that kept the Israelites separate from all other people were all that Peter knew.  History had shown that times of intermarriage and forming alliances always Drew the Israelites away from God.

Yet when he felt led by the Holy Spirit, Peter listened to something new.  He chose to follow where he felt God was leading him.  Peter’s powerful experience at Pentecost had changed him.  Through the subsequent indwelling of the Spirit, Peter was being transformed from the inside out.  The old was being removed as God was at work within Peter to help him more fully understand the vast scope and reach of God’s love.

Change was hard for Peter.  It went against what he knew and was comfortable with.  Each of us do not like change either.  But often change is for the good.  In the end, Peter comes to see that God loves all people, not just the Israelites.  He set aside what he knew to welcome in what God knew.

Today in church we will ask people to do just this.  Two services that sing hymns will be asked to sing praise songs.  Three services that rarely see dramas will be asked to wrestle with a skit that challenges with a difficult message.  People that are used to adults preaching will be asked to hear the Word proclaimed by two high school Seniors.  It will be something new, something different.  But moved by God’s presence and the power of the Holy Spirit, we will worship together and will each meet God in a powerful way.  For this I say, thanks be to God!


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Worship

Reading: Revelation 5: 11-14

Reading of the worship around the throne in heaven makes me think of times of worship that have been powerful and amazing.  The first that comes to mind was the choir and orchestra that led worship at a big conference I attended in a Kansas City suburb.  There were hundreds on the platform and thousands in the congregation who joined together to praise our God.  Next my mind went to any number of Promise Keepers events where almost twenty thousand men would lift our voices as one and fill the stadium or arena.  The power and majesty and presence of God was real.

Of course both of these events pale in comparison to John’s description of the thousands upon thousands – literally millions – of voices gathered to praise the Lamb who was slain.  John goes on to include every being born since the creation story.  It will be quite the choir!  If we expand our ‘grandest’ worship experience hundreds on hundreds of times over, it may get us close to what John saw in his vision.

The thousands or even millions lifted in one voice, bringing praise and glory to God, surely pleases Him. There is an undeniable power felt when a large number gather for worship.  This experience occurs at large events throughout the year and at churches across the world on days like Christmas Eve.

Yet I believe God is also greatly pleased with the worship of one.  We all experience times of worship where we are the only ones there and we definitely feel the presence of God.  Maybe it is during a walk along the beach or maybe it happens sitting alone on the deck at sunrise.  Maybe it occurs during a hymn when you too have felt tears streaming down your cheeks.  In our times of worship, whether alone or with a handful or with hundreds, He is every bit as pleased as with millions upon millions in worship.  Praise be to the Lamb!  Praise to our God who is pleased when we bow and worship His Holy name!  All honor and glory is His, both now and forever!


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Our Witness

In today’s passage Jesus warns us about making a show of our faith.  When we practice our faith out in the world, it must not be showy or draw attention to us.  In times of worship, it is another matter.  To proclaim the Word, to pray out loud, to lift voice in song – these are public displays of faith practiced in a closed setting.  It is the purpose for gathering.  No one who comes to church is offended when these actions occur.  We are gathered to worship as a community.

As Christians, our worship and love of God should extend outside the walls of the church and beyond the security of our homes.  In extending our faith, we must always be genuine and sincere.  If we are praying before a meal out in public, it should not be loud and showy.  It should be just as it is at home.  Reverence and respectful are words that come to mind.  Bowing heads and saying a quiet prayer may draw attention from those around you.  It is a witness to our faith that exposes others to faith without being offensive or rude.

At times we may notice someone who is struggling or having a bad day.  To take the time to notice, to offer understanding and empathy, and to offer to pray for them are great witnesses to our God.  Simply asking if you could pray for them is a great witness to God’s love and to your love for all of humanity.

These are good examples of how we to practice our faith in the world.  But the greatest and most impactful way that we witness to our faith is by how we live our lives day in and day out.  In the ways we treat others, in the ways we conduct ourselves, in the choices we make, and in the words we use – this is our truest witness to who Jesus Christ is in our lives.  May we honor Him in all we do, bringing glory to His name.

Scripture reference: Matthew 6: 1-6


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Our Worship

What kind of worship do you think God likes best?  Yes, I did ask that.  I think God most likes the worship that brings all the glory and honor to Him.  That may happen in a lot of different styles and settings and experiences.

Ezra read from the scriptures and the people listened attentively.  They raised their hands up toward heaven, seeking to connect to God.  They bowed their heads low, seeking to demonstrate their obedience and submission to God, to His holy Word.  In prayer they laid low to the ground.  All of these gestures were done to bring honor and glory to God alone and to indicate the conditions of their hearts – hearts fully committed to God.  But this is not the only way on can worship God.  David danced in the streets as he worshiped God.  Jesus went alone up on the mountain to worship God.

In our churches, our worship can vary greatly too.  It amazes me how many ways we can worship God and bring our praises to glorify God.  Musically it can be a stirring organ or a rocking praise band or a beautiful piano gently playing a song.  Vocally it can be a moving choir or a single voice lifted beautifully in praise or it can be a whole congregation raising the roof.  Prayer can be vocal with hands lifted high or it can be kneeling at the rail with head bowed low in reverent silence.  The Word can be read together or it may just be the liturgist.  The variances in tone, gesture, inflection, pace, and so on can be great even within one sermon.

God desires our worship to reflect the condition of our heart.  Does our individual worship on a Sunday in church reveal a faith fully committed to God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength?  Does our worship fill us so completely full of God that we have to go through the week ahead pouring Him out to all we meet?  This is the worship God desires.

Scripture reference: Nehemiah 8: 5-6