Light and Life

We end the year by celebrating the coming of the King.  And at the beginning of a new year, we remember that the kings were guided by a light to the King of Kings for worship well after His birth.  May we also realize that as we have celebrated His coming at Christmas that as the kings, we are now guided by His light to a place of worship coming to know that He not only is the light, but He is our life.  If we come to understand fully the meaning of these things, it will change the way we worship both privately and with the gathered body in this new year.

The light of Jesus in us not only is a testimony of the power of the gospel to change lives, but is also a light to guide those around us to Him.  May we choose in His power to be that light, because then, others will come also to worship Him.  Even the way we worship leads others to worship Him.  

This is the season that the light of Christ and life in the Spirit becomes so important in illuminating and guiding us in our walk and worship.  And, if our walk and our worship are not intertwined we have missed authentic worship.

As we begin a new, may we emphasize the reality of Christ in our lives and His centrality in our worship.  Let's pray, anticipate, and expect Him to move in our lives individually and as the church during these days to accomplish His kingdom purpose in us.  Then, it will truly be a Happy New Year!  mjm

Christmas Joy and Worship

One of the most beloved Christmas Carols is "Joy to the World".  Joy is an important part of Christmas celebration and it is an important part of our worship according to scripture.  The word "joy" appears some 200 times in scripture and the verb "rejoice" another 200 times.  As early as Numbers 11, we see that joy is a result of redemption or salvation.  Joy is not something we create on our own.  It is the fruit of a right relationship with God.  

Happiness versus joy is an interesting study.  Happiness usually comes according to what is "happening" in our lives.  If our happenings are what we want, then we experience some form of happiness.  Happiness is self-indulgent pleasure, which doesn't lead to a true happiness or joy and fulfillment because it is always dependent on what is happening at any given moment in our lives.  

Joy, however emanates from our right relationship to God through the incarnate Word, Jesus.  Jesus spoke of His own joy as well as the full joy He came to bring to us in John 15 & 17.  Joy runs much deeper than happiness.  Joy depends not on our happenings or circumstances.  Our joy is not self created in our own attempt at controlling our circumstances.  Our joy is complete in the fullness of Christ and is not dependent on our surroundings or circumstances. 

The focus in our worship should always be on Jesus Christ.  Therefore, our worship should always be full of joy, because He is joy.  The joy of God came to focus in human history in the person of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, a note of joy runs through the entire accounts of the coming of Christ into the world.    Many of those references to joy in scripture have to do with shouting for joy, and singing for joy in our worship.  

Chuck Swindoll said, "When His joy invades our lives, it spills over into everything we do and onto everything we touch."  May we be reminded at this Christmas time that this should be so in our joy and worship.  When we spend time with Him in our private worship, then the natural result of His joy invasion is for it to spill out into everything we do and onto everything and every person we touch. Then we can really say and sing - Joy to the World!  mjm

Threefold Cord of Christmas Worship

Because of our Christmas Musical this year, I was reminded of not only the words of the Shepherds, but the words of Anna and Simeon as it impacts worship from then on.

First the Shepherds.  In Luke 2:20 we see them returning to their sheep "glorifying and praising God for all the things they had seen and heard."  As they went they were telling their story.  They literally became the first evangelists of the gospel age.  Their response to seeing the fulfillment  of the coming of the Messiah and therefore redemption, was glory and praise.  Should or would it be any different today as we tell the story of His coming?

Simeon had been given the assurance by God's Spirit that he would not die without seeing the Messiah come.  The Old Testament Jews revered the Scriptures; nevertheless, the Old Testament was full of unattainable precepts, unfulfilled promises, and unexplained procedures.

Old Simeon understood that these seeming deficiencies could be resolved only in the person of Christ (Dan. 9:24-26). Christ was the answer to his incomplete Bible. The Spirit of God made clear to him that he would see Him when He came.  Simeon gazed into the face of a Babe and and at the same time saw the face of God manifest in the flesh.  Simeon knew that Israel would reject the heaven-sent Savior when he told Mary that a sword would pierce her heart, a reference to Calvary - His purpose for coming.

When Anna saw Simeon holding the Babe and the light of glory in his face, she knew He had come. She knew Simeon's quest had come to an end and her ministry was to begin.  She immediately began her new ministry of thanksgiving to God, taking up her post in the temple and telling everyone the good news that the Messiah had come.  

The threefold cord of worship had been woven starting with the Shepherds, Old Simeon and finally Anna.  It is interesting that in Ecclesiastes 4:12 it states, "A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer.  Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." And then it is of interest that Paul states in 2 Corinthians 13:1, "This is the third time I am coming to visit you and as the Scriptures say, 'The facts of every case must be established by the testimony of  two or three witnesses.'"  This threefold cord of worship and testimony of redemption lays the foundation for worship until He returns.  mjm

God's Love Personified

The coming into the world of God's Son was the personification of God's love.  His love is beyond anything we can possibly describe or even fully understand as He sent His only Son for the specific purpose of eventual "Holy scars" that we might have life and life abundant.

Our world is full of fragile and even fickle loves - love that fades, love that abandons, love that divorces, love that is self-seeking.  All the more reason we as worshippers should have an inextinguishable love for Him within our amazed hearts, in seeing God's perfect love and wonders.  That kind of love and worship survives any circumstance or situation in our lives.  Our love and worship response will not allow itself to be quenched no matter what happens to us in the living of life.  The Bible is full of characters who loved Him in that way, who become examples for us.

Even non-Biblical characters give us hints.  Fanny Crosby was only eight years old when she penned the following words: "O what a happy soul am I!  Although I cannot see, I am resolved that in this world contented I will be.  How many blessings I enjoy, that other people don't.  To weep and sigh because I'm blind, I cannot, and I won't."  

This contented worshipper went on to write some 8,000 hymns of praise.  Those thousands of songs were the result of a heart that burned for Jesus and could not be put out.  She once told someone,  "The good thing about being blind is that the very first face I'll see will be the face of Jesus."  Some would have chosen a path of bitterness as their response to God; she chose love and worship. 

I love the Psalms.  The Psalms have been described as  both "praise in the presence and in the absence of God."  Our worship should survive every situation or circumstance in our lives.  Whatever trials await us, we should always have a song of undying, unquenchable worship on our lips. mjm 

Love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as

the grave.  It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty

flame.  Many waters cannot quench love; rivers can-

not wash it away.  (Song of Songs 8:6,7).

Worship in the Midst of Tragedy

Words matter in worship.  Whether they are the words of a sermon, scripture readings, hymns, Christmas carols or spiritual songs, the words matter.  I shared a couple of weeks ago about how many times we see the "peace" word used in Christmas carols and readings.  

In light of the horrific tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, I want to share about other words we see at Christmas.  The words or comfort, joy, hope, and peace.  It is interesting that "tidings of comfort and joy" are used in the same sentence in some of our carols with which we worship.  When we look at our world today we tend to think things are so much worse today than back in the day when the Son of God entered our world as Emmanuel, God with us.  We see the manger scene in our minds and forget that He burst forth onto the scene in a world that did not really receive Him well.  It also was a world of evil, hate, persecution, bigotry, and a sick society.  His coming was described as "tidings of comfort and joy" - seemingly opposite ends of the spectrum, and yet, into a world of fear and distrust enters comfort, joy, hope and yes, the Prince of Peace.  

In a very real sense, comfort in the midst of that kind of world leads us to joy, and hope leads us to peace.  That comfort, joy, hope, and peace is embodied in the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, King of Kings, Lord of Lords and Prince of Peace. 

We grieve for those who have lost so tragically, but we don't grieve without hope...because of Him.  We need to pray for comfort that eventually will lead these loved ones to joy again in Him.  We need to pray that He will bring people around these folks to minister in the power of God's Spirit this comfort, hope, peace, and joy found only in the babe of Bethlehem.  Emmanuel - God with us - His presence among us even in tragedy and trials is a promise we must hold to in times like these, knowing that God in His providence will "work this to a greater good" in His time.  Parents and Grandparents, take time to love on and worship with your children this blessed Christmas Season.  mjm

Advent Worship

Since around the 4th century the church has observed advent in many different ways.  For some it is a family tradition done with their children.  Some churches observe it very strictly every year.  Our church has observed it in the past in a very organized fashion and many years in a less organized fashion.  In the past few years it has become much more of an observance among evangelicals, including Baptists.  

Theologically it has its foundation in Christian hope.  The basis of our hope being the coming among us of Jesus Christ. We are not saved and redeemed because we successfully came to Him,  but because He came to us.  

For centuries the people of Israel awaited their Anointed One, the Messiah.  They anxiously anticipated release from bondage and being displaced, and the hope of what the Messiah would bring to them.  

Honestly, for the church, the coming of Christ the Messiah means even more.  In the actual coming of Christ as "the Word made flesh," our hope is not diminished but actually intensified.  We don't become unengaged because of His presence, but instead we experience a holy joy, and a peace-filled excitement about God's presence in our lives and in our world.  Our lives are shaped by Advent hope.  Christ has come into our world; Christ comes into our lives as we invite Him in; Christ will come again in all His glory and in the meantime He continually comes into our lives confronting us with the challenge to follow Him completely.  

He came, He comes, He will come again!  We rejoice in this season of advent leading to Christmas, rejoicing for "our redemption draweth nigh"!  Hallelujah! mjm

And on Earth, Peace . . .

"And on Earth, Peace" is the title of the Christmas Musical we will be presenting next Sunday night.  The title led me to some thoughts for this worship blog having to do with peace.  I have noticed in Luke 2 where we find the Christmas story that we find some important "worship" words:  glory, joy, praising, and of course peace.  Another word I add is implied throughout this chapter . . . hope.  Hope runs through individuals and groups of people throughout chapter 2 of Luke.  When we gather as the body for worship, we find all of those words involved in our worship.  Every worship experience reminds us and others of the hope we have in Christ.  We are always interested in the glory of God and joy is a natural expression of what we know in Him.  That all leads us to praise, and as we are reminded of all He is and all we have in Him the final result is peace.  He is our peace.  Emmanuel, God with us, is peace because He lives in us.

There are several Christmas carols we sing as we gather together that remind us of that peace. Some of those lines are - "fill the whole world with heaven's peace",  "and peace on earth to men", "peace on earth and mercy mild",  "sleep in heavenly peace", "the words repeat of peace on earth, good will to men", "Everlasting Prince of Peace", "grant to us Thy heavenly peace", "our peace eternal making". And there are more.  

I remember struggling all my life with the theme of "peace on earth" at Christmas.  All my life I have seen a lack of peace in politics, a lack of peace among people groups, a lack of peace in families, a lack of peace between countries.  I have asked myself many times, "Where in our world is this peace?"  But when Jesus invaded the world He brought peace, because He is peace.  We who have accepted Him as Lord and Savior can experience complete peace because He lives in us.  So in the midst of a chaotic, peace-deprived world, we know perfect peace in Him.  When we gather reminding one another that he was "born to save", we are reminding one another and remembering in our own walk with Him that He IS our peace.  It is the kind of peace that passes all human understanding as expressed in Philippians and literally guards our hearts so we can experience joy and peace.  May we remember in the midst of chaos the wonderful gift of peace that has been given to us in Christ.  And on earth, peace . . . because He came.  mjm

Come and Worship . . .

In a very real sense when "the Word became flesh and dwelled among us" the invitation to the Shepherds, the wise men and yes, to all was to  . . . Come and Worship!  God sent His Son into the world to be worshipped.  As the carol says, "Come and worship the newborn King!"   

Hebrews 7:19 says, "For the law never made anything perfect.  But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God."  Our dilemma was how do we draw near to God.  God's answer to that question was first of all . . . the glorious arrival of His Son among us.  Then, the Bible makes it clear that in and through Him our own body is God's temple or dwelling place.  Our spirit needs, desires, and wants closeness to God.  We want to know Him personally, not as an idea, concept, principle or as some distant monarch or king.  

We are shown in scripture that we can draw near through prayer, worship, and reading and meditating on God's word.  We don't have to live like monks, but all of us could use more prayer in our lives.  In our culture even in Christian circles, the practice and habit of worship has become a convenience to be wedged between sports, the busyness of life and other recreations.  God calls us and challenges us, by His Spirit, to make worship our top priority.  That is . . . both our daily personal worship and the gathering of the Body on a regular basis worshipping together.  Bible meditation can include verse memory, songs, and personal reading in a quiet time.  The Bible is God's Word . . . Him speaking to us. 

 If we are faithful to have God's word dwelling in our lives every day we will draw nearer to Him.  So, as we begin the celebration of the coming of the King, let's . . . Come and Worship!   mjm

The Missionary Message - Joy to the World!

John's missionary message is found in 1 John 1:3: "that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ."  Our first responsibility as a missionary, and all of us are missionaries, is to maintain an intimate relationship with Jesus that is so authentic and real in our lives that our Joy spills out in our living and our giving.  This intimate and abiding fellowship in Christ is foundational to missions whether at home or our involvement in praying, going and giving all around the world.

Paul's missionary message is found in Col. 4:2-4: "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.  At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison - that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak."  Paul sees the substance of what he preaches as being the indwelling Christ.  He spoke of joy and the riches of the glory of the mystery of Christ in us.  And yet, he emphasizes our very important part in praying that mystery be proclaimed in clarity.  Paul calls for the church to pray enabling the mission.  We are also called to pray and share in the blessing that "Christ is in you and He is your hope of glory".

Our missionary message is found in I Thessalonians 2:10: "You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers.  Our missionary message is practicing what we preach and remembering that 'Christ . . . is your life.'"  Our mission is to allow Him to impart His life of joy, hope, and peace in such a way that it impacts the world in our sphere of influence.  He is our life, joy, peace, and hope.  Together, as we have been singing at the end of our worship, "I want to be Your hands and feet, I want to be Your voice every time I speak.  I want to run to the ones in need, in the name of Jesus.  I want to give my life away all for Your Kingdom's sake. Shine a light in the darkest place in the name of Jesus." 

That is why our church gave over $ 557,000.00 in one Sunday morning, today.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!