To Trust You

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

To trust You, oh God,
is to follow even though it looks like we’re heading for a cliff.

To trust You, oh God,
is to patiently wait for your timing and for me to let go of mine.

To trust You, oh God,
is to acknowledge that Your ways and thoughts are way above mine.

To trust You, oh God,
is to stop praying for what I want so I can seek Your will.

To trust You, oh God,
is to be fearless of this world.

May I always follow You.
May I always wait on You.
May I always trust You.
May I always listen to You.
May I always be courageous.

Come, Holy Spirit, Come

Amen

Sometimes ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Holy God,

Sometimes I wish I had a crystal ball and
sometimes I wish I had an email that laid everything out.

Sometimes I wish you would mail out a memo and
sometimes I wish you would shout from a mountain top.

Sometimes I wish you would hire a plane to fly a banner across the sky and
sometimes I wish you would even send me Morris code for me to decipher.

But You don’t do those things,
for You do things in a better way;
for You are far more
intimate and
close and
personal.

You, oh God, do things in a way that I need to trust You.
But,
sometimes I get impatient.
Sometimes I become irritable.
Sometimes I do not trust you.

Send Your Holy Spirit and speak to me.
Send Your Holy Spirit and convict me.
Send Your Holy Spirit and draw me closer.

And may my sometimes be taken away that I may always,
love you,
trust you,
and
follow you.

So…

speak to me, Lord,
I’m listening…

Amen.

Open my eyes ~ A Prayer before Preaching

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord;
open the eyes of my heart.
I want to see You.
I want to know You.
I want to be obedient to You.

There is so much in this world that vies for our attention;
drawing us away from you.
But we too often unwilling to fight this battle.
We would much rather acquiesce than to make a stand.
We would much rather worship the creature than worship You;
our Creator.

Oh Lord, lover of our souls,
may we not be so selfish.
Open the eyes of our heart that we may worship You wholly;
with everything we are.
Open the eyes of our heart that we may follow wherever You lead.
Open the eyes of our heart that we may know Jesus,
the author and perfecter of our faith;
through whom we have salvation.

All praise
glory,
honor
and worship
be to You, holy Father, through Christ Jesus our Lord,

Amen.

To Know God ~ An Opening Prayer

/ The Pastor / 4 Comments

To know You, Oh God,
is to know a peace that surpassing all understanding;
for You are the sovereign ruler of all creation.

To know You, Oh God,
is to know contentment;
for Your will, will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

To know You, Oh God,
is to have a heart that can not help but burst forth in worship;
for how can one conceal a joy like this.

And so we gather in this place to sing Your praises,
to lift our songs,
to shout our “Amens” and
to offer ourselves to You,
holy God.

May You be praised and worshiped;
not just now but always and forever.
May You be praised and worshiped;
not just here but in everyplace.
May You be praised and worshiped,
always and forever;
with every ounce of our being and
with every breath that flows from our mouth,

Amen.

A Pleasing Aroma ~ An Opening Prayer

/ The Pastor

Let us prepare our hearts to worship our awesome God…

Holy God, loving Father,
we come before You, this morning, to worship.
But we come with baggage filled with sinful desires.
We come distracted over worldly cares.
We come weighed down with burdens.
Some come with open hands,
longing to be filled.
Some come with closed hearts;
only making an appearance for selfish gain.
Some come with jubilant hearts,
thankful for Your abundant grace and mercy.

However we come and with whatever intentions,
may Your Spirit fill our hearts,
so much so,
that we are lead in authentic worship
that brings glory to Your most precious name.
And through our worship,
may we be sent out to continue living lives of worship
that glorifies your name among others.

May hearts be focused on You
and
may heart-filled words leave our lips as a pleasing aroma to Your ears.
In Jesus name we pray,
Amen.

As always, may God be glorified in your worship this morning.
Praise be God!

The Pastor -|—

In the Eve of the Day ~ An Evening Prayer

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

Father God,

In the eve of the day, as I think on You,
I remember the many mercies You showered on me.

In the eve of the day, as I think on You,
I remember the many memories You blessed me with.

In the eve of the day, as I think on You,
I remember the many moments with my wonderful family and friends.

In the eve of the day, as I think on You,
I remember the many times Your grace captivated me.

In the eve of the day, as I think on You; remembering, I worship and give you thanks.

And then,

in the eve of the day, as I think on You, I close my eyes and rest in Your peace.

Amen

Worship ~ A Prayer

/ The Pastor

Father God,
worship is at the heart of our being;
for to know You
is to burst forth into joyous praise.
To know You is to sing of Your glory.
To know You is to shout of Your faithfulness.
To know You is to fall at Your feet in humble submission.

Yet…
our hearts seek other gods and give them our devotion.
We seek other gods and give them our praise.
We forgo worshipping You to please ourselves and to please other’s expectations.

But You are worthy of so much more.
Forgive us, oh God.

Convict hearts that they may turn to You.
Show people Your faithfulness.
Draw us to You, oh God.

May the gods of this world be deposed from our hearts and may You reign supreme in our hearts.

All glory, praise and worship be to You, oh God, through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen

The Pastor -|—

On Vacation

/ The Pastor

The Pastor is on vacation this week; and even though I love preaching and leading worship, I am looking forward to sitting with and worshipping with my family this Sabbath day. I am also looking forward to worshipping with our friends; listening to my friend, Phil, preach the Word.

So there won’t be any worship prayers posted this week, but I’ll be back at it next week. May God be glorified in your worship and may God’s Word powerfully work in your heart.

See ya later.

The (vacationing) Pastor -|—

Your “Confirmation” Journey

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

The following is my article for our October newsletter:

As I write this newsletter article, I am also in the midst of preparing for another year of confirmation. First up is 6th grade orientation. And so I am working on putting together the confirmation packets for these new students and their parents. These packets have everything they need to know about the 3 year confirmation experience at Salem.

Part of the confirmation experience is completing requirements. There are 10 Bible verses the kids need to memorize. They need to know their Catechism (Lord’s Prayer, Apostles’ Creed, 10 Commandments, Baptism and Holy Communion). They need to do Bible reading. They need to serve as acolytes and prepare worship notes. They also need to perform service projects. And, of course, they need to attend weekly classes. A lot of things and I am sure many of you have your own confirmations stories (and in some cases, horror stories). The students have three years to complete these requirements.

After I present the requirements to the students and parents, I ask if these are reasonable. Every time, people say “yes”. And why wouldn’t they be reasonable? The requirements that are laid out for the students are the same things I encourage any Christian (adult/youth) to do. I mean, think about it; all these requirements are things that any and every Christian should find joy in doing because of what God has done for them in Jesus. It should be a joy for the Christian to worship, participate in worship and listen intently to the Word. It should be a joy for the Christian to memorize scripture and read their Bible. It should be a joy for the Christian to perform service projects. It should be a joy for a Christian to attend classes and Bible studies. So really, part of confirmation is about teaching kids how to live as Christians; not to impose a set a requirements in order for them to achieve the title, “Confirmed”.

As a Christian, each and every one of you should be considered a “confirmation student”; for the journey of faith is something that should never end. It’s the reason I don’t have confirmands wear white robes when they get confirmed. To me it looks too much like graduation and I don’t want them to think they are done with church; done with their relationship with God. Confirmation is simply a public affirmation of faith and a public commitment to continue to draw closer to God. So therefore, no robes. No graduation.

And you, too, those taking the time to read this article to the end, your journey of faith is never a completed set of requirements but rather should be a joyful journey with your Savior. The difference now is that there is no one checking off when you complete a “requirement”. God definitely isn’t, but don’t let that lead you to become complacent. So as we begin another year of confirmation I encourage you to consider your “requirements” and evaluate how you are doing. Do you need some guidance? Do you need some accountability? Give me call, I’ll sign you up 🙂

The Pastor -|—

Your Holy Word ~ A Prayer before Preaching

/ The Pastor

It never ceases to amaze me that I get to preach God’s Word in this way each and every week. It also never ceases to amaze me that these fingers manage to pound out words through this keyboard, that when put together are something that proclaims Christ to people. And so my prayer each and every week (and day), as I approach God’s Word, is that I may be faithful with God’s Word and approach God’s Word with an open heart; one ready to receive.

May God be glorified in this sermon this morning and may the Holy Spirit do it’s thing in this place and wherever you are at. Let’s pray..

To approach Your holy Word faithfully
is to do so with fear and trembling;
not only because of how it convicts us of sin
but also because
of it’s awesome power through the Holy Spirit.
For Your Word kills and gives life.
It convicts and redeems.
It’s alive.
It’s does something.

And so may we approach Your Word here this morning with great expectation;
leaning on Your promises
and joyfully basking in Your faithfulness.
May we toss off all that would hinder our hearing of Your Word
and fix our eyes on
You.
May we receive this Word with all joy
but not just receive it,
but also put it into faithful action that proclaims Your glory.
May we embrace its transformative power
that gives courage in a fear-filled world.

All glory,
honor,
worship
and praise
be onto
You,
holy Father,
through Christ Jesus our Lord,
Amen.

The Pastor -|—