pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: worship


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Immeasurably More

As we gather together in worship we get a glimpse of the community of faith in unity.  We come together in Word, in prayer, in song, in spirit, and in praise.  We come together on a regular basis to celebrate the Lord’s Supper and to find forgiveness as a people of faith.  In worship we are rooted together.

We are all equal before God and nowhere is that more evident than in worship.  In those seats in the sacred space young and old, rich and poor come together.  We unite as one regardless of social, economic, or ethnic background.  All come together to offer our praise and thanksgiving to God.  In world we are blended together.

It is in worship that we experience God’s power, authority, grace, love, forgiveness, and presence.  Out time in worship is a time when we are made new and refreshed to return to our lives in the world.  It is also a tie when we are equipped and empowered to go forth into the world to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others.

During worship we come to see through Word, prayer, sacrament, and song that our God is indeed great.  We come to see that He can and will do immeasurably more than we can ask for or imagine.  We come to feel His power within us and we are filled with His desire to share His glory with people through all the generations.  His is a presence experienced in community – community with each other and with God.  May all find Him in community with others this day.

Scripture reference: Ephesians 3: 20-21


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Dancing with Might

David knew God needed to be at the heart of Israel’s worship so he gathered up 30,000 men and went to retrieve the ark of the covenant.  David brought the ark “home” to reside with the people and it brought great joy.  David’s heart was so moved that he danced with all his might before the Lord.   The song “Undignified” speaks of this – one lines days, “nothing Lord is hindering this passion in my soul.”

Of if I could just live my life that way!  To be passionately sold out for God and to joyously allow my love for Him to fill all I do… that would be life!  The song also says, “lay my pride by my side.”. This is where I get stuck.  I think others do too.  We let ourselves get in the way of truly worshiping and living for God.  All I need to do is lay my pride aside and allow God’s lead to be my guide.

I worry about the Michals in my life.  Michal is David’s wife and Saul’s daughter.  When she saw David dancing unrestrained before the ark, she despised him.  She was old-school, raised in religion, not in faith.  Her heart was hard towards this open, exuberant show of love for God.  She was dignified and proper.

The song begins, “I will dance, I will sing, to be mad for my King.”. The verse ends with, “and I’ll become even more undignified than this”.  May I be like David – willing to live and dance with all my might for the Lord of my life and the salvation of all mankind.

Scripture reference: 2 Samuel 6: 1-5 and 12b-19


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Better and Better

In our daily walk of faith I think God is seeking effort not perfection.  There will be days when we struggle to focus in our daily prayer time.  Every now and then our lives are so harried we cannot even remember the scripture we just read, nevermind meditating and reflecting on it.  God does not expect perfect children.

God does expect effort though.  If it is our desire to know God, we must invest in the relationship.  In life we get to know someone by spending time with them, by observing them, by listening to their stories.  If it our desire to know God and to hear His voice, this will require time and effort on our part.

The Good Shepherd cares for each of us.  Jesus laid down His life for each and every one of us.  He wants to guide and protect us, to teach and give discernment, and to offer rest and peace.  Jesus knows each of us by name and He knows all of our needs.  His desire is that we would know Him intimately as well.  Jesus wants us to be so close to Him that hearing His voice becomes second nature to us.

It is through prayer, study of the Bible, meditation, worship, and reflection that we come to know Jesus.  In these, prayer is of particular importance.  It is within these moments of personal silence before our Savior that He can best speak to us.   We must provide time, space, and attention to hear His voice.  We can also hear His voice in the practice of these other disciplines as well.  For some this is especially true in worship.  As we consistently spend time with our Good Shepherd, we draw closer and closer.  This day and each day, may our hearing become better and better.

Scripture reference: John 10: 11-15ap


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His Presence

Have you ever had an experience or a moment where you felt God’s presence unexpectedly?  Most of our encounters tend to be either in worship during a song or sometimes during an intense time of prayer.  But have you ever had a visit from God outside of these cases?

At times maybe you have been moved by God from something in nature – a beautiful sunset or a powerful thunderstorm.  Maybe it was in a moment of tragedy or in an experience with an act of heroism where you could sense His presence.

In all of these cases where suddenly God is in our midst, how do we respond?  Are we like Peter, scrambling for something to do, or do we move on quickly, made uncomfortable by the unfamiliar?  Or is yours a different reaction?

When God is present in a song or time of prayer during worship, I hope the moment never ends, that the song or prayer just goes on forever.  I find the same desire to extend His presence during a storm or other event in nature, but that too always ends.  Although all of these experiences come to an end, there is no denying that God has been intimately present.

And what is our repsonse?  What do we do with this amazing divine encounter?  Immediately after the expereience, our common feeling is awe – sometimes we are hardly able to express what we feel in words and sometimes we feel as if we cannot believe what we just experienced.  As the feeling of awe passes we usually move to thanksgiving and often to praise.  It is the natural response of a grateful heart.  It is essential that we always offer our thanksgiving and praise, for we have been directly blessed by the living God.  Today, may you be blessed by our living God!

Scripture reference: Mark 9: 2-9


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Praise His Holy Name!

There are many ways to worship God.  It can be in song, lifting our voices in praise and adoration.  It can be found in reading and meditating on His Word.  It can be found in our prayers to our God.  It can be found in dance or a movement offered to God.

There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to worship our creator.  Music, for example, can vary widely.  It can be a pure and simple as a group of monks chanting a psalm.  It can be a wonderful hymn sung only with voices.  It can be a talented choir accompanied by a powerful organ.  It can be a praise team with guitars, drums, keyboards, and vocals.  It can be a single person walking along the beach humming a tune.

All of our worship is pleasing to the Almighty.  In tune or out of tune, in rhythm or not – when we connect with God and offer Him our praise and adoration, He is pleased.

Worship also lifts us up.  There are physical and emotional benefits to singing.  We are made stronger physically, mentally, and spiritually when we worship our heavenly Father.  So, today sing a song.  Hum a tune.  Draw close to our Lord and He will draw close to you.

Scripture reference: Psalm 29: 1-2 and 11


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Daily Pursuit

One of my devotionals today spoke of a man who for almost forty years has made a 10″ by 20″ sketch of the sun’s surface each day.  Scientists use his sketches to predict solar flares.  The artist had this quote: “The value… is in the daily record.”

God began his recording with these word: “In the beginning…”  Genesis 1 tells the story of God’s creation of the earth and all that lives on the earth.  Ever since that day, God has been in the creation business.  There is a real constancy to God.  Our God was and is and always will be the same.

This idea may lead some to think you only need to read the Bible once or only need to pray or worship once in a while.  But one must also remember how big our God is.  There is so much to learn from Him and to know about Him that it must be a daily pursuit.

Many people say they love their spouse more than they did when they first got married, yet when they first fell in love they couldn’t imagine how they could ever be more in love.  As we spend time each day reading His Word, being in prayer, and worshipping our Lord, we too fall more and more in love with Him.  Like the sun sketcher, there is much value in the daily pursuit.

Scripture reference: Genesis 1: 1-5


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God Is…

God is like… a king!  No – no king has ever loved their people as much as God loves us.  God is like… a president!  No, God is absolute and forever – leaders come and go on a pretty regular basis.  God is like… a dictator!  No, God overflows with mercy and compassion and kindness.  God is like… God!

In many ways we fail to understand God and His ways.  But this is mostly when we try to “figure God out”.  Too grapple with why this happens or why that doesn’t happen is next to impossible.  Yet in very tangible and real ways we can feel God’s presence, sense His love, feel truly forgiven and cleansed of our sins, and so on.  God is certainly a God we can experience.  Our worship and praise is our outpouring of love back to the God who reigns over all.

In Christ we come to know God in the flesh and we see how we are to live out God’s love, mercy, forgiveness.. with our fellow man.  With our holy Lord, we stand for justice, we meet the needs of our brothers and sisters, and we share our faith with each other and with the lost.  God is a God we can share.

Scripture reference: Psalm 99


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Open and Willing

Ah, Monday morning.  Welcome to the new week!  Some people face Monday full of expectation, hope, and wonder at what God has in store for them in the week ahead.  The rest of the people… well, they should wish for the same thing.

For most of us, our week ahead will be much like last week in the sense that our ‘job’ is probably the same.  The structure of our week and the tasks ahead remain mostly the same, but the details and the interactions will be a little different.  For most of us, it is in the small things that we encounter God and the possibilities He lays before us in the coming week.

In Psalm 106 we read, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His love endures forever.”  We worship and know a mighty God.  He has big plans for us this week.  Who in your day today or in the week ahead can you share this wonderful truth with?  May our eyes be open and our hearts willing to meet God when and where He provides those opportunities in the day and days ahead.

Scripture reference: Psalm 106: 1-6

 


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Defining Jesus

In Matthew 21, the religious leaders want to know where Jesus gets his authority.  He hasn’t been through the hoops, He isn’t one of them.  But is important to know why they are asking the question.

Just the day before Jesus came into Jerusalem to shouts of “Hosanna!” and the city was full of excitement.  He proceeded to the temple and drove out all the sellers and money changers.  Then the blind and the lame came to Him and He healed them.  Normally to be healed or cleansed of sins – commonly thought to be the reason one was blind, lame and so on – one had to buy sacrifices and bring them to the priests so that they could perform the rituals.  But Jesus had driven out the sellers.  His touch was free.  Not only was Jesus not one of them, He was operating counter to their rules and was disrupting their economic system.  They wanted to trap Him and be rid of Him.

Sometimes we too struggles with these issues.  We question whether or not Jesus leads, for often we want to be the ones in control.  We question whether of not we (or sometimes it is another) are worthy of Jesus’ love or forgiveness or… but we are all worthy because it is a free gift.  We do nothing to earn grace, mercy, love, forgiveness.  Sometimes we try to trap Jesus too, seeking to have our will done instead of His.

May we come to see what the religious leaders could not – that Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth.  And may we come to do what they could not – to truly worship Him as Lord and King.

Scripture reference: Matthew 21: 23-27


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Sing a Song!

As the sea closed in and the waters settles back down, the Israelites sang a song of thanks to God.  As a community, they worshipped God.  Song has a way of uniting us too. At a gathering, there are certain songs we all know and these songs draw us together.

Song also carries along our history or common story.  Songs are sung over and over as a way to remember.  Songs can also bring us back to another time or place – this song reminds you of your wedding or that song reminds you of Christmas or Easter.  Music is a reminder of who we are and brings us back into community.

Songs are also connectors.  Songs connect us to God as we lift our praises to Him.  One can just get lost in a song and find oneself in God’s presence.  Song also connects us to the people we are physically present with in worship.  It binds us young and old, rich and poor, into a people gathered as one.  When we worship and sing together, God is present.

Scripture reference: Exodus 15: 1-11b and 20-21