Faith

Holy Trust ~ A Morning Prayer

/ The Pastor

Good morning all. I was out of town last week but I am now back; preparing to lead worship and preach God’s holy Word. May God be praised as we worship. Let’s pray…

Holy God,
You make the impossible possible.
You forgive sins.
You raise the dead.
You defeat Satan and death.
You give eternal life.

But yet,
when presented with this news,
too often we follow after Zechariah more than we do Mary.
Too often we want proof rather than to worship.
We want sensory satisfaction rather than rely on holy trust.

We see the impossible and blow it off.

But as Your children;
as Your servants,
may Your Word be to us as You have decreed.
May we not doubt but rather receive this life-changing Word.
May Jesus be our proof and life.

Send now You Holy Spirit,
oh God,
that this word here spoken may build and lift us up onto Your glory.
May we not seek to see with our eyes.
May we not seek to hear with our ears.
May we seek to believe in our hearts.
May we seek You.

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

The Pastor -|—

Oh God, You are…

/ The Pastor

Oh God,
You are the God of the past.
You are the God of the present.
You are the God of the future.
You are the God of my everything and for all time.

Oh God,
You hold me securely.
You hold me lovingly.
You hold me faithfully.
Therefore I shall never fear and tremble before this world.

Oh God,
You are present with me in the bad times.
You are present with me in the good times.
You are present with me in all times,
and therefore You are to be praised always and forever.

Oh God,
You reign over uncertainty.
You are faithful despite my anxiety.
You are calming in my anxiousness.
You are healing.

Oh God, You are many things,
and therefore,
all praise to You.

The Pastor -|—

Water Walker

/ The Pastor / 3 Comments

I sit in the boat,
safe,
secure and
content.

I sit in the boat,
looking out,
waiting and
hoping.

I sit in the boat,
seeing Jesus
beckoning me,
and I shudder.

But…

we were not created to be boat sitters,
sight seers or
vacationers
in this dangerous cruise of life.
We we were created to be water walkers,
Faith seekers;
trusting Jesus.

Peter cried out to Jesus to walk on the water
and I sit by watching.
Beckon me to come,
Lord Jesus,
beckon me.
And may I keep my eyes on you, lest I sink.

Make me a water walker and not a boat sitter.
Make me a Jesus follower and not a Jesus spectator.

Oh Lord, Jesus,
I want to walk on the water with you.

The Pastor -|—

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.

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 -|—

The Unknown is not Unknown

/ The Pastor

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” [Joshua 1:9]

A great nation (Israel) was encamped on the banks of the Jordan River. Their leader for over 40 years, Moses, is dead; the one who taught this nation God’s Law. Large and powerful armies are standing in the way of Israel. And now Joshua stands ready to succeed Moses. Large shoes to fill, to put it mildly. I think I would be nervous to take on such a calling, considering the unknowns that lie ahead. But God is encouraging and commanding Joshua to obey and to be courageous, for it is God that continues to go with them. None of what they have accomplished was due to their strength. None of their victories were due to their military might. None of the fear they put into other nations was due to their stature. Everything; all glory and honor, belongs to God. Therefore, God says, be strong and courageous. That alone was enough to encourage Joshua and make him a successful leader throughout his life. He feared and followed and obeyed God, and he encouraged and commanded the nation of Israel to do the same. God did his thing, Israel flourished and God was glorified.

Imagine what you can accomplish when you consider who is going before you. Imagine what you can do when you remember who has won victories on your behalf. Imagine what you can do when you remember who fights for you. When you are praying and living “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” then fear of the unknown is irrelevant.

But yet, when people are faced with the unknown, fear still creeps in and dictates their course of action. Human logic becomes their wisdom as they try to deal with the unknown and the fear that goes with it. But this is not the way of God. God alone deals with the unknowns for our unknown is not unknown to God. Think about that. Our unknown is not unknown to God. God sees the whole picture. By taking matters into your own hands or being paralyzed with fear is basically telling God that you don’t trust him. You are telling God that He does not know the unknown and therefore can’t handle things. This is an attack on God’s Sovereignty.

But God says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not fear, for I am with you and will always go with you.”

Think about that. Consider this promise and command. Imagine what you could accomplish if this verse were always in front of you, I mean, imagine what GOD can accomplish through you if you actually trusted that God knows your unknowns. So,

Do not fear
Be strong
Be courageous
Be bold
Trust
Take that leap of faith

and let God handle the rest.

Oh God, I am thankful that You know my unknowns and that You always go before me. Grant me the faith to trust You and place everything in Your hands. May my courage bring glory to You. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Eyes

/ The Pastor

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,  but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! [Matthew 6:22-23]

I wanted to share this devotion with you that I read today through my YouVersion Bible app. Check it out:

“The Lamp”

Our natural eyes are given to us to help us function and communicate in the natural world, but they have another purpose; to help us perceive the beauty and glory in the natural world that bear witness to the nature, character and purposes of God the Creator. We all know that natural eyes, if they are blinded or otherwise defective, can block or distort the light that is intended to guide us. This is true in the spiritual world as well.

One way this happens is when, as Romans 1 explains, we exchange divine glory for natural glory, and things such as female beauty, affection and sexuality take on an exaggerated importance to us because they have been separated from other things which are supposed to be part of the male-female relationship, such as genuine love and covenant. Romans 1 goes on to explain how we can even be “given over” (essentially, addicted) to increasingly wicked behavior, because our “bad eye” has distorted our perspective.

The way out is to reverse the exchange we have made through repentance, acknowledging God and making a conscious choice to value divine glory over natural glory. Only then will our “bad eyes” become “good eyes” again, allowing our bodies to be filled with light instead of darkness.

I read this and thought of the song lyric, “Be careful little eyes what you see”. The eyes are indeed the windows to the soul and ones that will pollute your soul in a big hurry. And when we are polluted, we exchange the glory of God for that which is not beautiful. It’s only a false beauty that will wear out and grow dim. Only the glory and beauty of God will never dim and never disappoint. Only the beauty of God will draw us in and hold our affections. Natural beauty begs us to return and through sin we are more than happy to acquiesce.

So…

Keep your eyes fixed on the beauty of God.
~ Running to His Word
~ Dwelling in His promises.
~ Gazing on the cross of Jesus.
~ Reflecting on your sin and God’s forgiveness of said sin.
~ Spending time with other believers in worship.
~ Studying God’s word.
~ Filling your thoughts about the glories of God.

Basically, keep yourself so busy with God that your eyes don’t have time to let in false beauty that is of this world. Look at everything through the lens of faith and give glory to God our Father; beholding His beauty.

Holy God, give me eyes so I can see Your beauty and not exchange Your beauty for that which will fade. And where I have failed; where I have exchanged Your beauty for natural beauty, grant me faith and strength to repent. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Jesus Is

/ The Pastor / 1 Comment

Jesus is my Lord and Life;
Jesus makes my dark as light.

Jesus is my Savior now;
He’s the one to whom I bow.

Jesus blots out all my sin;
He’s the one my faith is in.

Jesus loves my dreary soul;
Jesus makes me feel so whole.

Jesus, you’re my all in all;
even when I feel so small.

So…

Jesus, this rhyme is for you;
for all my praise, is your due.

May you lift your praise and worship to God our Father each and every day, through Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Pastor -|—