Faith

Praying the Psalms ~ Psalm 33:18-22

/ The Pastor

This prayer is titled, “Beautiful Eyes” and is from the Psalm that will be read in worship on Sunday, August 11. These closing verses captured my heart and I hope they lead you to deeper appreciation and worship of our awesome God. Let us pray…

Oh Lord my God,
what beautiful eyes You have,
to look upon me with grace and love,
to keep my soul and to give me peace.
Your eyes look off the advances of the Evil One;
keeping him at bay as a pitcher staring down a runner at first base.
With Your eyes lovingly gazing at me, I have nothing to fear.
Oh Lord my God,
Father and Creator, I give You thanks.
And now I wait on You, for I know that Your beautiful eyes are on me.
I know I am not forgotten.
I know I am not lost in the shuffle.
Your eyes are on me and thus my heart is glad.
My trust is in You for Your eyes will never depart from me.
You will never be distracted thus I can rest secure.
Your eyes won’t grow weary or tired.
Your eyes will not fail.
Because You are God almighty,
Sovereign,
Lord,
and Creator,
I will continue to place my hope in You, from this day forth and forevermore.
Amen.

Babble

/ The Pastor

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness,”
[2 Timothy 2:15‭-‬16 ESV]

There is a lot of babble out there; rhetoric that makes one shake their head and roll their eyes. For me, I am grieved when I hear some of the talk. It’s polluting young minds, transforming experienced minds, threatening those who resist, coercing those who speak otherwise. The babble insists on tolerance but the babblers don’t understand their own babble as they act contrary to their talk.

The babblers call God-fearing, Bible-believing, Jesus-following Christians out of touch, intolerant, bigoted and racist – all because they stand for the truth of God. The babblers pressure them into submission and guilt them into compliance with the babble. And in doing so, God-fearing people have been transformed into man-fearing people and into ungodiness. I just sit here and shake my head.

But as God-fearing, Bible-believing, Jesus-following Christians, you have nothing and no one to fear. Present yourself to this world as approved by God through Jesus Christ. Present yourself as someone who doesn’t need the approval of man. Present yourself as one steeped, not in the babble, but in the Word of God – but be sure you handle the Word in a way that glorifies God and not yourself. And lastly, never be ashamed to stand for the truth of God.

Avoid babbling and don’t be influenced or seduced by the babble. Stand approved by God and God willing, the babblers themselves will be transformed into God-approved, God-fearing witnesses to the Truth.

To God be the glory. Amen.

Our Father

/ The Pastor

Our Father who art in heaven,
and yet You reside close to me.
You are never ever distant,
that You guarantee.

You are my Bread winner;
Jesus Christ the Bread of Life.
You are my Defender;
willing to die to save my life.
You are my Creator;
the Breather of the breath of life.

You are all of this and more,
as my Father You never ignore.
But you are not just mine,
for I am just one fruit of the vine.
There are many that reside,
in Your family we all abide.
But I am never just another face,
for You’re the Father and we all have first place.

And so as You are in heaven,
through Jesus I will be too,
with my brothers and sisters,
all our praise will be for You.

Singing His Song

/ The Pastor

You are right and You are strong,
But they tell me I am wrong.
You are Life and You have won,
But they tell me I am done.

But…

Mighty You are in power,
And gentle as a flower.
A rock solid foundation,
The King of all creation.

There is no God quite like You,
And thus to You praise is due.
But they bow to other lords,
When in them there’s no rewards.

They’re striving after the wind,
And to death they are destined.
Oh, send me to preach thy Name,
So it is You they acclaim.

For…

Sinners we are that is true,
Death is due, that’s nothing new.
Falling short of Your glory,
But that’s not the whole story.

For Jesus was crucified,
And through faith I’m justified.
My sin is covered and gone,
Your wrath has now been withdrawn.

So send me with Your power,
That I may never cower.
They will tell me I am wrong,
But I’ll always sing Your song.

A Prayer for a Discerning Church

/ The Pastor

Oh God, raise up a prophet in this congregation; one who clearly hears Your voice, and command them to faithfully proclaim that word to Your church. May we then have ears to hear and the faith to obey and follow wherever You lead. May we boldly go when You call and may we not look back; keeping our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. This church does not belong to us. Oh God, to You be the glory in all that we do. In Jesus name, Amen.

Plowing Forward

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” [Luke 9:62 ESV]

When Jesus calls you to follow, he is not looking for excuses.
When Jesus calls you to follow, he doesn’t mean finish your to-do-list first.
When Jesus calls you to follow, you are not to long for that which you left.
When Jesus calls you to follow, you are to follow with eyes wide open and focused on him.

For when Jesus calls you to follow, he is to be the priority above everything and everyone else. Yours eyes are to be firmly fixed on him; moving forward without hesitation. But why is this such a struggle for people? Why do people cling to what they have or look back at what they left? It is simple, really. They don’t truly trust that Jesus knows what he is talking about. When times got tough for the people of God that Moses was leading in the wilderness, what did they do? They started to long for their captivity in Egypt. This didn’t sit well with God (to put it mildly). God demanded trust and so does Jesus when he calls you to follow.

When you begin to follow Jesus but keeping looking back at what you left, you quickly veer off course. Jesus words about the hand on the plow and looking back are poignant. If you are plowing a field, your eyes need to be focused on a fixed object on the horizon, otherwise your row will be crocked – every single time. You WILL go off course.

Jesus is the fixed object on the horizon – AND – is the one who walks by your side. When He calls you to follow, trust the fixed destination and the one who walks with you. When your eyes are firmly fixed on Jesus you will never, ever go of course. The course may get bumpy and scary and troublesome. But come on, people, it’s Jesus. He’s got this.

When you put your hand on the plow and move forward with Jesus, keep going and do not look back. I promise you, you will not regret it and will never miss what you left.

Peace-Filled Sleep

/ The Pastor

As You stand watch over me,
I can rest in peace this night.
I can close my eyes and sleep,
And Know that I’ll be alright.

For Satan will not distress,
Nor demons ever annoy.
Evil will not disturb me,
Nor devils ever destroy.

So,

I rest secure,
And You ensure,
That my life is surely Thine.
I sleep in peace,
Your love won’t cease,
Thus Satan should just resign.

Oh Jesus died for my sins.
My life is most surely His.
I will not fret,
And won’t forget,
Through him I certainly win.

So if death comes near to me,
Looking for this life to take.
I still won’t fear,
For You are near,
And with You I’ll always be.

So yes I will close my eyes.
In peace I will surely sleep.
My life is claimed,
In Jesus’ name,
Thus my life has no demise.

The Name

/ The Pastor

The following is part of the Great Thanksgiving for Holy Communion today, Pentecost Sunday. It picks up on themes from the sermon for today…

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 through the name that is above all names, Jesus, You made a name for us through faith by the Holy Spirit. You have revealed the truth of who You are and have sealed our names in the Book of Life. You have given us peace and intimacy with You and have promised us a seat at Your table. Oh God, our Father, You are worthy of all worship, and so with the Church on earth and the hosts of heaven we join in singing Your unending praise…

To Follow God

/ The Pastor

The congregation that I serve has been renting space for 10 years but today we looked at a potential building to buy. There are a lot of questions to be answered yet, but hopes are running very high with people. Selfishly, I/we want this building, but God is in control, and so we need to pray; listening and obeying. The following poem was birthed out of this praying…

To follow God is never easy
To follow God can make you queasy
But to keep your eyes on Him alone
Is to have your vision fully honed.

So trust and trust and trust even more
And God will present an open door
So don’t create your own self-made path
For you won’t enjoy the aftermath

Bold Witnesses

/ The Pastor

Today is Ascension Sunday and thus I will be preaching on Luke 24:44-53. The following is the Great Thanksgiving liturgy I wrote for Holy Communion with this context in mind. Stand firm for the Truth and never, ever shrink back in fear…

It is indeed right and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, oh God. You have shown us Your glory through Your son Jesus Christ.
You have opened our eyes to the Truth.
You have cradled us in Your arms.
You have given us hope.
Oh God, Creator and Redeemer, through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection we rest secure. My we live as bold witnesses of that Truth that others may come to know You as their Lord and God. May we not shrink back but stand firm; ready to die if called to do so. And so, since we have such a sure and certain hope we join with the Church on earth and the hosts of heaven in singing Your unending praise…