Did you know that the Bible actually says, "You shall not worship the Lord your God"? It's true... but only in part. Actually, the full sentence is "You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way." Moses wrote that twice in Deuteronomy 12 when God was telling Israel how to worship Him. In the beginning and the end of the chapter, He reminded them that they weren't supposed to simply imitate the ways that the people around them... God had something different in mind for Israel. But what? How does God want us to worship Him?
Without sounding too much like a teaser... come join us this month to find out! But here's a pretty cool tidbit in the middle of the chapter. In the midst of all the other regulations God set up for the Israelites, He reminded them in verse 7, "you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you."
What a great reminder that is for me as I get ready for Sunday morning: I am preparing to rejoice because God has blessed me! I don't have to look any further than Calvary as proof of that fact. “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” (Rom 4:7-8)
(btw- if you're still reading and can identify the source of the title, you can claim your prize on Sunday...)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
a living sacrifice
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:1-2)
Over the next 5 weeks, we're going to take time to look at what God says about worship... about why we worship Him and how we are to worship Him. We'll look at how the big call to worship God with everything we do every day applies in a concentrated way to specifically what we do at church on Sunday. I'm excited about the way this can fuel our faith to apply what we just learned in our series on faith from James "... no human being can tame the tongue... With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so." (James 3:8-10)
Let's look forward to the ways over this next month that God wants to transform both our everyday worship AND our Sunday worship together!
Over the next 5 weeks, we're going to take time to look at what God says about worship... about why we worship Him and how we are to worship Him. We'll look at how the big call to worship God with everything we do every day applies in a concentrated way to specifically what we do at church on Sunday. I'm excited about the way this can fuel our faith to apply what we just learned in our series on faith from James "... no human being can tame the tongue... With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so." (James 3:8-10)
Let's look forward to the ways over this next month that God wants to transform both our everyday worship AND our Sunday worship together!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The Redemptive Rescue...
"My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins." (James 5:19-20)
This Sunday, we'll be soaking in the wonderful rescue plan laid out for us in this text. It's one we're all called to and all covered by. It's one we're all ultimately amazed by- that God's grace can indeed cover over the vast sea of our sins. How good to experience what was sung in Psalm 32:1-2 "Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity..."
This Sunday, we'll be soaking in the wonderful rescue plan laid out for us in this text. It's one we're all called to and all covered by. It's one we're all ultimately amazed by- that God's grace can indeed cover over the vast sea of our sins. How good to experience what was sung in Psalm 32:1-2 "Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity..."
Friday, February 13, 2009
Praying in boldness...
This Sunday, we're going to be looking at James 5:13-17, a section your bibles may have titled as "The Prayer of Faith." Given our current burden to be in specific prayer over this month, I'm glad we're in this passage at this point. The other reason I'm glad is that it affords us the specific application of praying as a church for those who are sick.
All this is built on our confidence in the gospel. Consider this quote, taken from Milton Vincent's A Gospel Primer:
"If I want my life to bloom full and loom large for the glory of God, then I must have boldness- and nothing so nourishes boldness in my like the gospel! The gospel gives me boldness first by banishing my greatest fear, the fear of God's eternal wrath. Indeed, Christ bore God's wrath upon Himself... that I might be released from the daily fear of such wrath as I think ahead to judgment day... The more I comprehend what God has done for me through Christ, the more I find myself confidently coming before God in prayer (Heb 4:16), speaking to Him in situations in which I formerly would have shrunk from Him, and offering requests that I formerly would have been too timid to offer (due either to the largeness of the request or my own sinful unworthiness)."
It's easy for us to think that God's pleasure to hear our requests is based on us moving past our unworthiness to a place of maturity or obedience. But our confidence to offer large and audacious requests (for a place to meet or for healing from sickness) is always based on Christ's character and work for us. Additionally, our confidence is rewarded by the "increased enjoyment of God and the bounty that He gives, due simply to the fact that I was daring enough to ask for what was needed." (Vincent, pg 52).
So, are you daring enough to ask God in boldness, trusting that He can be enjoyed in the process?
All this is built on our confidence in the gospel. Consider this quote, taken from Milton Vincent's A Gospel Primer:
"If I want my life to bloom full and loom large for the glory of God, then I must have boldness- and nothing so nourishes boldness in my like the gospel! The gospel gives me boldness first by banishing my greatest fear, the fear of God's eternal wrath. Indeed, Christ bore God's wrath upon Himself... that I might be released from the daily fear of such wrath as I think ahead to judgment day... The more I comprehend what God has done for me through Christ, the more I find myself confidently coming before God in prayer (Heb 4:16), speaking to Him in situations in which I formerly would have shrunk from Him, and offering requests that I formerly would have been too timid to offer (due either to the largeness of the request or my own sinful unworthiness)."
It's easy for us to think that God's pleasure to hear our requests is based on us moving past our unworthiness to a place of maturity or obedience. But our confidence to offer large and audacious requests (for a place to meet or for healing from sickness) is always based on Christ's character and work for us. Additionally, our confidence is rewarded by the "increased enjoyment of God and the bounty that He gives, due simply to the fact that I was daring enough to ask for what was needed." (Vincent, pg 52).
So, are you daring enough to ask God in boldness, trusting that He can be enjoyed in the process?
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
A Fruitful $42...
Sovereign Grace Ministries is offering a pretty steep discount on their books and other materials. You can purchase books for $7 (shipping's free), so I wanted to let you know of six small books that are easy to read and challenging to apply. (All of these books are written by CJ and Josh.)
- Living the Cross-Centered Life: This is a great book on growing deeper in your functional application of what Jesus accomplished for you.
- Humility: This will help you to relate rightly to God and others through restoring an accurate view of God and of the Cross in your life.
- Stop Dating the Church: This will assist you in becoming dependent on and invested in God’s grace through a local body.
- Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God: For married folks, this book can rekindle your view of caring for your spouse through the lens of the Song of Songs.
- Sex is Not the Problem (Lust Is): This is a great book for married and single folks on how to fight lust. (Bob Donahue referenced this on Saturday in Copley.)
- Worldliness: This will help you to resist the culture's increasingly attractive love-affair with the world.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Waiting well...
This past Sunday, Jonathan Putnam preached an outstanding message on James 5:7-11. His main point was that, though we can easily be discouraged by the details of life, focusing on Christ's return fuels faith for the believer... or, as he said it, focusing on our future enables patience in the present.
One of the main application points came from James 5:9, "Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door." Jonathan pointed out that we often grumble because we have forgotten the good news of the gospel. At his first coming, Jesus' finished work powerfully defeated sin's hold on our lives... releasing us from the fear that Jesus will come to judge us for our sins. Only then can we anticipate his second coming. How this releases us from complaining and grumbling like those without hope! We're not trying to scramble after our rights... we're not acting like we're entitled to anything good. Instead, we remember that God has shown us grace, and so our future is good in light of Jesus' upcoming arrival. As Jonathan said, "focusing on our future enables patience in the present."
Perhaps you found during the sermon that God was bringing conviction for you. You might have seen that you've been "waiting for the wrong bus" as Jonathan said. Maybe you've found yourself grumbling about your situation, blaming others. Acting as the "armchair quarterback" as Eric mentioned a few weeks ago. It's easy to put our hopes in something other than Jesus' arrival... maybe something that seemed good. If so, why not use your care groups this week as a way of confessing this wrong focus and encouraging each other as we're told in Hebrews 10:23-25... "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."
One of the main application points came from James 5:9, "Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door." Jonathan pointed out that we often grumble because we have forgotten the good news of the gospel. At his first coming, Jesus' finished work powerfully defeated sin's hold on our lives... releasing us from the fear that Jesus will come to judge us for our sins. Only then can we anticipate his second coming. How this releases us from complaining and grumbling like those without hope! We're not trying to scramble after our rights... we're not acting like we're entitled to anything good. Instead, we remember that God has shown us grace, and so our future is good in light of Jesus' upcoming arrival. As Jonathan said, "focusing on our future enables patience in the present."
Perhaps you found during the sermon that God was bringing conviction for you. You might have seen that you've been "waiting for the wrong bus" as Jonathan said. Maybe you've found yourself grumbling about your situation, blaming others. Acting as the "armchair quarterback" as Eric mentioned a few weeks ago. It's easy to put our hopes in something other than Jesus' arrival... maybe something that seemed good. If so, why not use your care groups this week as a way of confessing this wrong focus and encouraging each other as we're told in Hebrews 10:23-25... "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."
Thursday, February 5, 2009
In you the orphan finds mercy...
That's a reference from Hosea 14:3. After living out a picture of God's mercy to the unfaithful, Hosea instructed Israel to return to God... the God who extends mercy. The view we have of God must be informed by this portrait of his mercy: mercy to those who need both kindness and forgiveness.
I received an e-mail update from Covenant Mercies, an organization that desires to show God's character by their attempt to demonstrate God's mercy. (Led by Doug Hayes, a pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, Covenant Mercies seeks to care for the widows and orphans who are living in Uganda, Zambia, and Ethiopia. It's estimated that there will be 42 million orphans by 2010 in the sub-Saharan Africa alone.) I wanted to make you aware of this ministry. In a small way, it's one of many organizations that provide us with the opportunity to support those who are fulfilling James 1:27, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction..."
What a privilege we have to partner with groups like this as pictures of our God in whom orphans like us have found mercy.
I received an e-mail update from Covenant Mercies, an organization that desires to show God's character by their attempt to demonstrate God's mercy. (Led by Doug Hayes, a pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, Covenant Mercies seeks to care for the widows and orphans who are living in Uganda, Zambia, and Ethiopia. It's estimated that there will be 42 million orphans by 2010 in the sub-Saharan Africa alone.) I wanted to make you aware of this ministry. In a small way, it's one of many organizations that provide us with the opportunity to support those who are fulfilling James 1:27, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction..."
What a privilege we have to partner with groups like this as pictures of our God in whom orphans like us have found mercy.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Applying the gospel in community
I've heard blogging described with the phrase: "Never before have so many people with so little to say said so much to so few." In light of this truth, we don't simply want to add our voice to the chaos. Instead, the main aim of these entries will be to help us live out James 1:22-25 "...be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."
It's easy to think that listening to a sermon or participating in a discussion is life-changing. That's a deceptive train of thought. The blessing of change comes through the faith required for application, so we must be committed to applying the truth of the gospel to the details of life. Living out the good news that we're set free from sin requires us to trust God. We trust Him that His Word is true, trust Him that His plan is perfect, trust Him that His grace is sufficient... and we look to the Cross, where we see all this most clearly. So each week, these blog posts will be geared around a follow-up to our Sunday meeting... and from time to time, we'll try to apply other messages as well.
Let's get started: On Sunday we looked at James 5:1-6, where we saw that the way we view wealth reveals the way we view God. Hoarding our treasure and indulging ourselves only reveals that we don't think God's glory is worth enjoying or that His kingdom is worth investing in. But living with the view that God is greater than the treasure of this world and that God will rightly deal with the injustice of life frees me. In particular, it frees me from wanting to be rich in the world and frees me for the desire to be rich towards God. In light of that, I'm planning on accompanying the Liberatores on their next trip to hand out clothing to those in need. What's one thing you plan on doing to keep pursuing a life of investment in God's kingdom?
It's easy to think that listening to a sermon or participating in a discussion is life-changing. That's a deceptive train of thought. The blessing of change comes through the faith required for application, so we must be committed to applying the truth of the gospel to the details of life. Living out the good news that we're set free from sin requires us to trust God. We trust Him that His Word is true, trust Him that His plan is perfect, trust Him that His grace is sufficient... and we look to the Cross, where we see all this most clearly. So each week, these blog posts will be geared around a follow-up to our Sunday meeting... and from time to time, we'll try to apply other messages as well.
Let's get started: On Sunday we looked at James 5:1-6, where we saw that the way we view wealth reveals the way we view God. Hoarding our treasure and indulging ourselves only reveals that we don't think God's glory is worth enjoying or that His kingdom is worth investing in. But living with the view that God is greater than the treasure of this world and that God will rightly deal with the injustice of life frees me. In particular, it frees me from wanting to be rich in the world and frees me for the desire to be rich towards God. In light of that, I'm planning on accompanying the Liberatores on their next trip to hand out clothing to those in need. What's one thing you plan on doing to keep pursuing a life of investment in God's kingdom?
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