A Gospel Poem

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

This poem is something I wrote as I prepared a sermon on Romans 10:8-17 — thinking about “beautiful feet” carrying the Gospel. I want people to call on the name of Jesus, but first we need to constantly reacquaint ourselves with the Gospel. So the Spirit placed this on my heart. May you receive this Good News again and again. To God be the glory, Amen.

You are a sinner, that is true.
God’s wrath you’ve certainly accrued.
Condemned to die, yes, you deserve.
A judgment from which you can not swerve.

Salvation you can not obtain.
You can’t do it, i’ll say again.
You need help, you certainly do,
In order to be made brand new.

So, what’s our hope? Well, i’ll proclaim –
You’re saved by Jesus holy name.
God’s holy wrath, he took for us.
For His love is in great surplus.

Jesus took your sins to the cross.
So your life would not be a loss.
Jesus died but death did not win.
Jesus rose much to death’s chagrin.

Now look to him and see God’s grace.
For this gift is yours to embrace.
You are a sinner that is sure,
But Jesus lives so you’ll be pure.

So repent and run fast to him.
And know peace filled over the brim.
Confess your sins, Yes, every one.
You are forgiven through the Son.

Now, Jesus lives and so will you.
And it excites me to review.
You are precious – his beloved bride.
Forever with him, you’ll abide.

Alignment

/ The Pastor

Holy God,
You are Lord almighty.
You are my Shepherd and Guide.
You are my Rock and Refuge.
You are by my side.
You have redeemed me.
I am alive.
You have saved me.
Your love You don’t deprive
You’re worthy of all praise.
You’re worthy of all worship.
My soul has been renewed.
Your Spirit in me, please stir up.
You give Life.
You give peace.
You give hope.
Your love will never cease.
So You sent Jesus,
My Lord and King.
He is my Savior.
What a beautiful ring.
I am Yours.
And You are mine.
Fill my heart,
For with You I want to be aligned.

Open

/ The Pastor

Open the eyes of my heart that I may see and respond.
Open the eyes of my heart to see the hurts of others.
Open the eyes of my heart that I may join You in mission.
Open the eyes of my heart that I may bring You glory.
All that You want me to do is clear – if only I would see.
All that I am to say is clear – if only I would listen to Your Spirit.
Opportunities abound.
Hurts are all around.
People are lost.
People are searching.
Open my eyes that I may lead them to know they are found.
May I not stall.
May I not turn away.
May I not give excuses.
May I not seek my own way.
Open the eyes of my heart that I may see You and follow You –
Anywhere and everywhere.
Open, oh Lord, open.
Open the eyes of my heart.
Amen!

Jesus Is Worth It

/ The Pastor

I am in Omaha, NE at the LCMC (Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ) Annual Gathering. I look forward to this event every year to connect with friends and colleagues in fellowship, worship and networking. It is also a time when I am encouraged in my faith. Case in point, at our opening worship on Sunday, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart through the sermon on Romans 10:14 and thus the following poem flowed out. Praise be to God!

I am a sinner that is true.
God’s wrath is most certainly due.
I fall short through every action.
My deeds have no satisfaction.

But Jesus died that I may live.
And thus to God all glory give.
He is worthy of all my praise.
To Him I will direct my gaze.

But Satan wants me to just quit;
Saying Jesus is not worth it.
But Jesus holds me ever close,
So thus to Satan, “adios”.

And so I’ll live my life for Him.
And not let my light ever dim.
So may I keep on standing strong.
That I may ever sing Your song.

Life

/ The Pastor

Life is fragile and delicate.
Life is valuable and precious.
Only You, Lord, can be entrusted with it.
Only Your mighty and gentle hands can handle it.
But even though these fragile shells – shells that we call a body – will eventually crack, it doesn’t mean that You are careless.
These bodies are precious, from the moment we are conceived, but there is something even more precious, that which Jesus died to save –
my soul.
That’s what’s in Your hands forever.
I hate to see shells
crack,
die
and decay
but I praise You that which is inside is perfectly safe and sound in Your mighty and gentle hands.
My life is precious.
My life is saved.
All praise be to You through Christ Jesus my Lord.
Amen.

God Help Us

/ The Pastor

The political climate in the United States is embarrassing, scary, bang-my-head-on-a-wall frustrating, and a whole host of other metaphors. But I am not going to venture into the political arena here and offer my 2 cents, as there are many who would bury me. Instead, I plead with God to help us – here and now. We live in a messed up, sin-fallen, corrupt world. Our leaders need help. We need help.

So with all of this in mind, I wrote the following poem.

God help us here and now.
Your blessing please avow.
Their actions disallow.
Before You may they bow.

God help us here and now.
Your wisdom please endow.
Without You they know not how,
To please You here and now.

God help us here and now.
Unity where art thou?
So many broken vows
Oh God, save us anyhow

Blowing

/ The Pastor

You wave and sway.
You bend and bow.
Your movement is not choreographed by you.
Nothing planned.
Nothing thought out.
You just move.
You don’t resist.
You don’t try to prevent.
You don’t complain.
You just move.
Sometimes you’re still.
Sometimes you’re active.
Sometimes you’re shaped anew.
But not of your own doing.
You simply submit.

And you put me to shame.

The wind blows as it wills and you respond in kind.
The Holy Spirit does the same, but I often resist.
You don’t think because you can’t think, yet it is almost as if you really do know.
For as the wind blows you become stronger and stronger; able to grow larger and larger.
Reaching higher
Higher
Higher
And it’s not you reaching but God reaching for you.
It’s as if you know.
You do know, don’t you?
Oh to be a tree and submit to the wind of the Spirit.
Becoming stronger and reaching higher
Higher
Higher
Oh to be a tree

Morning Glory

/ The Pastor

I wrote the last stanza of this poem yesterday morning as a short prayer as I prepared for worship. This morning, I share it with you – with a couple more stanzas. To God be the glory!

Hold me with Your grace.
Bring me from disgrace.
My sins please erase.
For Your glory!
For Your glory!

Hear me when I pray.
Each and every day.
With You I want to stay.
In Your glory!
In Your glory!

Jesus is my King.
What an awesome ring.
My heart will loudly sing.
Your great glory!
Your great glory!

Bless me as I preach.
Guide me as I teach.
Many souls may I reach.
To Your glory!
To Your glory!

Doer

/ The Pastor

The preaching text for today is James 1:19-27 as I continue working through the Epistle of James. The following is the Holy Communion liturgy I wrote with this James text in mind and heart. To God be the glory.

It is indeed right and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, oh God, for You and You alone are worthy. But words are not enough to fully express our worship, and so may we not get caught up in only spouting off words of doctrine – falling into complacency – but may we also be doers of the Word. May we control our tongues, care for the vulnerable and be holy as you are holy. Oh Lord our God, Creator and Redeemer, Shepherd and Fortress, our hope and salvation. You call us to action and thus grant us Your Spirit that we may respond and so glorify You. And so with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven we join in singing Your unending praise.

Be A Preacher

/ The Pastor

“Grant me, Lord, to know and understand which is first, to call on Thee or to praise Thee? and, again, to know Thee or to call on Thee? for who can call on Thee, not knowing Thee? for he that knoweth Thee not, may call on Thee as other than Thou art. Or, is it rather, that we call on Thee that we may know Thee? but how shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? or how shall they believe without a preacher? and they that seek the Lord shall praise Him: for they that seek shall find Him, and they that find shall praise Him. I will seek Thee, Lord, by calling on Thee; and will call on Thee, believing in Thee; for to us hast Thou been preached. My faith, Lord, shall call on Thee, which Thou hast given me, wherewith Thou hast inspired me, through the Incarnation of Thy Son, through the ministry of the Preacher.“
[Augustine, S., Bishop of Hippo. (1996). The Confessions of St. Augustine. (E. B. Pusey, Trans.). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.]

I read this in The Confessions of St. Augustine and was inspired to write the following poem. May God lead me to be a preacher for someone who does not know Him so that they, too, may call on Him who saves – praising His name through Christ Jesus my Lord.

Why do people not call on You?
Why are they so silent?
Why do people call on other gods?
Why is Your praise so absent?

You are higher than the gods.
Your power is by far greater.
Your love is infinitely more awesome.
Through Jesus You are my vindicator.

Why do people not call on You?
Why are they so silent?
Why do people call on other gods?
They seem to be so ambivalent.

People just coast through life.
With nothing but their own power.
They just have no idea, Lord.
How close is their final hour.

And so I sit and wonder, “why is this so?”
“Why are people such lost creatures?”
But God convicted me and said,
“But I have made you to be their preacher.”