Prayer

O God of grace

/ The Pastor

O God of grace, we praise you for the boundless love you have shown us; for the amazing forgiveness you give to us.  We thank you for your presence; for your guiding spirit in our lives.  We worship you for you are holy and great and wonderful and majestic.  O God, in what sometimes feels like the same old thing we ask that we may have inspired eyes to see you at work; ears to hear of your mercies.  And as we see and hear may we be so bold to live out loud to your glory.  O God, thank you for this new day; may you receive all praise, honor, glory and worship; forever and ever, Amen.

My friends…you were wonderfully created…may God bless your day that you may be a blessing to others.

The pastor -|—

Praise in 2013

/ The Pastor

Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
[Psalm 150]

Loving and gracious God, we give you thanks and praise as we begin another new year together.  As I look back there have been ups and downs; joys and sorrows; happiness and sadness; but through it all you have been there.  There is much to be thankful for and much to praise you for.  As we begin this new year together may we not stray from your commandments and may we not forget who’s we are.  May we make the most of every moment to glorify your name and take advantage of every opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus. Loving God, all that we have is from you.  May we use what you have given us to bless one another in this new year and beyond.  May you receive all glory, honor, praise and worship.  In Jesus name I pray.  Amen!

Happy New Year everyone!

Praise be to God…always and forever!

The pastor -|—

Down and out but not done

/ The Pastor

The pastor has been down and out this week.

A 101.6 temperature on Monday night combined with massive head cold symptoms into Tuesday has made the beginning of Christmas week frustrating.  Today is Wednesday and I am feeling better (thank God).  But now I need to buckle down and write three sermons.

It is during times like this when I am most keenly aware of my dependence on and need for God.  It is during times like this when I am not so tempted to get full of myself as to think that I have everything taken care of.  Actually, right now, I am more full of mucus than anything else…but I am sure you didn’t want to hear that 🙂

I also have release time and confirmation this afternoon so today will be indeed interesting.  But right now I am sitting here on my living couch, still hacking up a lung, and excited to see what God is going to get done through me today.  It’s going to be a fun day and I can hardly wait.

But I still need to be careful…

I know the temptation with be there to get over-confident in my limited abilities once things start going well and things get done.

OR

I will get overwhelmed and worried if things aren’t getting done according to MY timing.

And we’ve all been there before ~ haven’t we?  We feel weak, down and out or oppressed and we run to God.  God lifts us out of the mire and off we go (often times without any word of thanks). Or we get frustrated and start blaming our rotten lot in life on God. Either we use God or it’s God’s fault.

But no matter our reaction and treatment of God, God’s will will be done.  Three sermons will get written this week.  The Good News will be proclaimed.  And Christmas will be celebrated.  Satan will not derail my (I mean “our”) preparations this week. God will be glorified.

So I am praying for the faith to see God in action and when I do…to actually say “thank you”; giving credit where credit is due.

Thank you God for the healing you have brought me.  Please increase my faith to see you in action that you may be glorified.  You have defeated Satan through Jesus Christ and I praise you for that.  May your will be done through me.
Amen.

The pastor -|—

We get to

/ The Pastor

I heard a statement yesterday that I hate to hear ~ but I also love it hear it:
“Eric has to preach tomorrow.”

“Has to”?  Really?

My response was immediate:
“I get to preach tomorrow.”

I hate to hear that phrase because it makes what I do sound laborious and tedious and that I really don’t enjoy it; that I would rather be doing something else.  But I love to hear that phrase because it gives me the opportunity to share my faith and the excitement I have in preaching and leading worship.

“Have to”?  Not even close.

Of course people smile and nudge me as soon as I correct them as if to say: “That is what I meant.” But part of me doesn’t believe them.  Even so…I had an opportunity yesterday and I am happy to say that I took it.

Don’t get me wrong though.  I am not trying to say that my job is any better than yours.  I am not trying to imply that my job is more honorable than yours.  I am certainly not saying that your job doesn’t matter as much as mine.  Sure…I get to stand in front of people and proclaim the Gospel in what I hope to be no uncertain terms.  But then again…so do you.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
[1 Peter 2:9-10]

We are ALL called to be ministers.
We are ALL called to proclaim Christ’s saving love.
We are ALL called to witness to the resurrection.

It’s just that my “job description” is a little different from yours.  We ALL have holy and important callings.  For God has placed each one of us in the vocation we are in for a particular purpose…so make the most of it.  Instead of saying (or thinking) “I have to go to work”, say instead “I get to go to work and share my faith with others.”  That is a holy and important work. Imagine the impact we could have on the world if we looked at our “jobs” as mission outposts for the sake of the Gospel.

God, please help me see myself as an instrument for your glory.  Help me to see my place in life as having a specific purpose.  May you be praise through my “work”. Amen.

edh -|—

Pray, pray, pray

/ The Pastor

God is in control!

Jesus IS King!

God WILL BE glorified!

So…

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
[1 Timothy 2:1-2]

Enough said 🙂

Praise be to God!

edh -|—

Romans 8 moment

/ The Pastor

This morning I found myself blown away (once again) by God’s mercy and faithfulness when I was at a loss for words.

I was speaking with an individual yesterday who is going through some very difficult stuff in their life.  They were in utter despair and didn’t know how they could possibly go on.  Throughout the course of the conversation my heart was breaking as this person struggled to speak through their tears.  I kept asking in my heart:

“God, please help them.  Please do something.”

I was pleading for them as I listened to them.  It was one of those times where words would have gotten in the way; they just needed someone to listen.

Finally…

…I offered to pray with them which they happily received.  I don’t remember what I said.  I think it was one of those times that Paul talks about in Romans 8:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

Following the prayer they thanked me and I promised to follow up with them tomorrow (which is today).  I then proceeded to the sanctuary and continued praying.  Once again…I do not remember what I said.

Another Romans 8 moment.

I called this person today to follow up (as I promised).  As soon as I heard their voice I knew things were different.  They said they were having a much better day.  They seemed a little more optimistic even though they still have some trials  ahead of them.  Then this person said they thought maybe God was grooming them so they could help someone else out.  Wow!

After the phone call I returned to the sanctuary in utter amazement.  I didn’t know what to pray for yesterday but God was faithful; God was glorified.  In the end I guess all we need to do is just throw our hands up in the air and say…

edh -|—

Waiting and patience

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

imageWhen I need to get away and pray, one of my favorite spots is the sanctuary at Salem Lutheran Church (one of the congregations I serve).  Last week I found myself there; staring at these stained glass windows.  The room was dark but the sun light was pouring through these colorful windows.  Even through I was squinting my eyes I couldn’t seem to look away as I poured out my heart to God.  It may sound like a cliche but it seemed like God was pouring himself out upon me through those windows.  It felt comforting during a time of chaos and impatience in my life.

Impatience?

Yup…impatience.

My wife and I are in the adoption process and I am growing more and more impatient as I wait.  We are excited about growing our family…and we want to do it now.  We have filled out the adoption paper work and now are filling out grant applications.  We are doing what WE need to do.  The faith issue I keep having is that I expect God to follow though…NOW.

I need patience.

So I find myself in the sanctuary (a number of times); away from my phone and email, staring at those windows ~ praying.  I am asking God to:
~ Calm my heart
~ Strengthen my faith
~ Increase my trust that God has a child out there chosen for us

I know God’s timing is often not my timing (which is hard) but God knows what God is doing.  I keep thinking that God is molding and teaching Connie and me.  I just wish I knew what God was up to ~ but I guess that is where the praying comes in.

So the waiting continues…

and…

the prayers for patience continue…

God…continue to pour your light and love upon Connie and me as we wait.  We look forward to meeting the child you have chosen for us.  Strengthen our faith that you may be glorified in all we do.  In Jesus name, Amen!

edh -|—

Bad start but God reigns

/ The Pastor

I got off to a bad start this morning.  This is going to sound like a broken record to those of you that have followed this blog for a while but my stupid “smart clock” set itself back an hour this morning for daylight saving time.  I’ve had this clock for 8 years so one would think I would have learned my lesson…but no.

You see…after I got this clock the government thought it would be funny to change the date of daylight saving time.  The problem…my clock is still operating under the old date.

“Why don’t you get a new clock?”

That is a very good question…one that has a very good answer.  The clock was a wedding gift and hence my wife has an emotional attachment to it.  I love my wife dearly but I don’t understand the attachment to the clock.  So…we keep it, but one of these days my hammer is going to “accidently” fall on that clock 🙂

In any case…because of my unfortunate incident this morning I got off to a bad start.  My routine was totally disrupted and I stated my day irritated.  I don’t like starting my day that way.  So I got ready in a hurry; shoved breakfast down my throat and ran off to my office.

It wasn’t until I made it to the sanctuary that I realized that I hadn’t greeted God yet this morning 😦

So I stopped my hurrying.
Calmed down.
And prayed.

Amazing what difference it makes when one realizes that GOD is in control not some stupid “smart clock”.  Satan took his best shot at me this morning but God got the upper hand.  Satan tried to disrupt my worship and sermon prep but God will be glorified.

Nice try Satan…you lost 🙂

Praise God always and forever!!!

edh -|—

My whole self – a prayer

/ The Pastor

Loving God, today is about you…actually, everyday; every moment, is about you, but today is different… 

Today we gather for corporate worship.
Today we gather to sing our praises and offer our thanks to you.
Today we will hear your Word read and proclaimed.
Today we will confess our sins and hear about your forgiveness.

And what makes all of this even more special is that we get to do this with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ…and maybe some others who do not happen to know you but still find themselves at worship.

So much going on.
So much to think about.
But so many distractions.

Loving God…you are worthy of my whole self.  Please do not let Satan take a part of me away; for I want to give every part to you. I want to worship you with my whole being.  I want to focus my entire attention on your love.

Calm my heart, energize my spirit, tune my hears and sharpen my eyes that you are all I see, hear and think about.  

O Lord my God, you are worthy and awesome.

May my life be an act of worship to you…in Jesus name I pray.

AMEN!

edh -|—

Wait…

/ The Pastor

I don’t know about you but I hate waiting…

…but I think the worst part of waiting is knowing God is sovereign.

God knows what is best.
God sees the whole picture.
God has a divine plan.

I get all of that and I am extremely thankful for all of that.  I praise God that He is sovereign.  I worship God because He is…well…God.  But I still hate waiting.  So I think the worst part of this is my selfishness/sinfulness doing battle with my belief in a sovereign God.  They run around in my heart fighting all the while I get torn on how to react when I find myself getting impatient. I want my way but I also want God’s way.

But the thing is…

…I can’t rush God.  I can’t force God’s hand through bargaining or threats. God is going to do what God is going to do in God’s own time.  So I need to get over myself and trust.  I need to wait and see what God is going to do in my life.  I need to understand that God’s plan is a perfect plan.  I need to pray and ask for patience…

Loving God, you are in control.  You have a plan and I am excited about that.  But sometimes I can hardly wait to see what that plan is.  I get impatient and try to bring about what I think is the plan.  And when things don’t work out I get upset and angry.  Almighty God, grant me patience to trust you.  Grant me faith to wait on you.  Grant me wisdom to teach others.  God…you are mighty and I look forward to you displaying your glory.  In the mean time I will wait.  In Jesus name, Amen 🙂

edh -|—