S.B.: Psalm 46: 1 – 11
It’s a bit hard to believe, but the busiest part of the year has just exploded on the scene. This past Thursday we gathered around the table with family and friends, gave thanks to God for the many blessings and lessons that he has given us this past year… the Bible does say to give thanks in all things… and then we enjoyed a sumptuous meal that was lovingly prepared and served… after the main course we enjoyed enough pumpkin pie to float the Mayflower… then we prepared the leftovers of this meal… turkey sandwiches… turkey salad… And just when the tryptophan was beginning to wear off… BAM! We are plunged headlong into the yearly commercial feeding frenzy that lasts until the first week of January.
If you want to get an idea of who is important in our lives, take a look at our Christmas lists. Here’s a “WHAT IF” for you… What if we were to put Jesus at the top of our Christmas list… not the end. After all, it is his birthday, and it is a month-long celebration. Could we spend even an hour a week with him?
It’s only 30 Days, 6 Hours, 10 minutes and 22 seconds worth of shopping until Christmas (but who’s counting…) Did you see the reports on Channel 10 News yesterday morning about the mob scenes during the early morning rush to get that latest electronic gadget, XYZBox, kitchen gizmo or football-watching accessory that your cousin Nell just has to have, or Christmas just won’t be the same? Some of the news footage showed people crammed against the front door of the mall, and a line stretching around the corner at quarter-of-six in the morning, waiting for the cattle call, and it’s a miracle that there were no people getting trampled in the stampede for stocking stuffers, yet people will drag their feet, and complain that 9:30 in the morning is too early to go to the house of God.
The Psalm of the Shopper
My soul follows hard after deep discounts…
Early in the morning will I rise up and go shopping…
And because thou hast been “buy-one-get-one”
Under the shadow of my credit card bill will I rejoice.
Yet, please hear the words of King David… I WAS GLAD WHEN THEY SAID TO ME “LET US GO TO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD…” This declaration from King David gives an interesting word picture… King David would often run to the temple to worship God with the same energy and religious fervor with which many people flocked to the malls this past Friday morning. “I WAS GLAD WHEN THEY SAID TO ME ‘LET US GO SHOPPING!!!”
My point for this morning is simply this: Christmas is a month away, and we are in the downhill run of our annual shopping mad-dash. Most of us have well-developed lists of gifts to buy, and will attack that list with military precision, you will leave the house extra early so you can swing by a store (or two or three) on your way to work, and will stop by the shopping mall on your way home to pick up an extra stocking stuffer or three… What would happen if we went to God’s house with the same religious zeal in which we check the malls for stocking stuffers? Could you imagine rising up extra early to worship God… Isaiah writes “my soul longs after thee, EARLY IN THE MORNING WILL I RISE UP AND SEEK THEE…”
Add God’s name to your Christmas list, and the gift that he wants from you is the same gift that the important people in our lives want from us… a little quality time with him.
I Bid You Peace...
Pastor Ken+
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Attitude Adjustment
S.B. Psalm 33: 1 – 11
What a wonderful promise we have from our text this morning… Verse 4 proclaims that “the word of the Lord is right and true, He is faithful in all he does!” We sing wonderful hymns of faith which declare how great is God’s faithfulness, and remind one another of the fact that the way that God provides for us is over and above anything that we can possibly imagine.
One fine day last year, Amanda came home from school and asked us if we wanted to hear a new song that she had just learned… (Of course we would…) And she started singing “The B-I-B-L-E… Yes, that’s the book for me… I stand alone on the word of God… the B-I-B-L-E… Bible!” That day she also learned a new Bible Memory Verse which she has used several times since then… Psalm 56:3 which says “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee…” I had to remind both of us this last week when I was standing on the side of Swanzey Lake in New Hampshire, talking to Amanda who was being taken to Children’s Hospital… and we said it together on the phone several times that afternoon “what time I am afraid, I will trust in thee…”
Change is inevitable… It is scary… change means facing the unknown and stepping out of familiar routines and comfort… it means risk… and it means potential failure… When all else fails you, you can trust in God’s word… and HE never breaks his promises. (He doesn’t… WE do, frequently.) And his promises are new every morning… and every morning He reminds us of his promises.
The Pilgrims faced an uneasy future as they embarked on their journey to the new world…
Verse six declares “by the word of the Lord, were the heavens made… their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”
The Hebrew word that the psalmist is using in this text is the word “ruach” which translates roughly as “breath” or “wind.” The word “ruach” can also be translated as “spirit.” The implication of this verse is that the Breath of God is the activity of the Holy Spirit. When we sing “Breathe on Me, Breath of God” we are asking “Breathe on me… move on me… or move through me… Holy Spirit.
Agreement is powerful… The union of two people is a powerful force… The union of a man with a woman in marriage has the potential of creating a new family unit… it is powerful enough to create a legacy… it has the potential to create children to fulfill that legacy. The union of one man plus one woman united in marriage releases God’s creative power.
In like fashion, the union of God’s word plus the Holy Spirit always releases God’s creative power. What can the power of God’s word, united with the power of the Holy Spirit do when we stand on faith?
Let’s take a look at John 1… The word was in the beginning… the word was with God… the word IS God… He made everything… life and light were in him… In Genesis 1 we also see that the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the water… If I were to put this into a mathematical equation, it might be expressed in the following manner:
The word of God + the Spirit of God = Creation
Verse 11 reminds us “But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.”
Every day we make plans… every day we consult our dayrunners and palm pilots to see where we need to be, and what we are going to do when we get there.
God’s plan was for the glory of the Lord to be restored to the church, the Body of Christ. God’s plan was for the intimate relationship that God had with us in the Garden of Eden to be restored… That is why:
He raised up Moses and Joshua (Yeshua) to lead his people out of captivity…
He sent Noah to rescue his people from the flood…
He sent Gideon to demonstrate the need for us to depend on him and follow his direction…
He sent his son, Jesus (Yeshua ha’Meshiach) to lead his people out of darkness and into his marvelous light… to restore HIS glory to the church.
The glory that is in the church is not in the church suppers of the past, but in eager anticipation of the marriage supper of the Lamb!
The attitudes that are prevalent in the church today need to fade away as we focus on what is important… as we focus on the cross instead of the things of the world… I would offer you four thoughts…
A.) There are things which are really important…
B.) There are things which we think are really important, but which in reality are not.
C.) There are things which we think are really not important, but which in reality are very important.
D.) There are things which are NOT important.
The Pilgrim fathers had to make a decision. Was it
more important for them to live in an oppressive society which was imposing very strict laws upon the way the people worshipped God, or was it more important for them to worship God the Father in Spirit and in truth? They made their choice… they stepped out on faith into an unknown future, but a future which was redolent with the powerful combination of the Word of God combined with the Holy Spirit and gave birth to a promise… and a nation.
This morning, after church, we are going to be gathering together to partake of a sumptuous thanksgiving dinner. The Women’s Fellowship and many other volunteers have worked diligently to put this feast together, and it will take its place among the memorable feasts that we have enjoyed here, and will continue to enjoy here for many years until Christ’s return… We will be enjoying turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce (my favorite…) a plethora of pies, and I am getting hungry just thinking about what is in store for us… perhaps you can smell some of the aromas wafting up here into the sanctuary… And yet there is one thing which is being served up even as we speak, which is more savory than the turkey and ham, more delicious than the mashed potatoes and cranberry… and sweeter by far than the sweetest desert… the fellowship which we have with each other under the banner of the Love of God in Christ Jesus. Dinner’s on the table… Taste and see how sweet in the Lord.
P.S. Prayer:
Our Father in Heaven, we honor all nations and their peoples. This is the season of togetherness, to live side by side in peace and harmony with our brothers and sisters… your children. Show us the wisdom of your ways so we can lead others in faith. We are forever your children and look to you for guidance. We pray to you in the name of your holy son, Jesus Christ…
Amen
I Bid You Peace,
Pastor Ken+
What a wonderful promise we have from our text this morning… Verse 4 proclaims that “the word of the Lord is right and true, He is faithful in all he does!” We sing wonderful hymns of faith which declare how great is God’s faithfulness, and remind one another of the fact that the way that God provides for us is over and above anything that we can possibly imagine.
One fine day last year, Amanda came home from school and asked us if we wanted to hear a new song that she had just learned… (Of course we would…) And she started singing “The B-I-B-L-E… Yes, that’s the book for me… I stand alone on the word of God… the B-I-B-L-E… Bible!” That day she also learned a new Bible Memory Verse which she has used several times since then… Psalm 56:3 which says “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee…” I had to remind both of us this last week when I was standing on the side of Swanzey Lake in New Hampshire, talking to Amanda who was being taken to Children’s Hospital… and we said it together on the phone several times that afternoon “what time I am afraid, I will trust in thee…”
Change is inevitable… It is scary… change means facing the unknown and stepping out of familiar routines and comfort… it means risk… and it means potential failure… When all else fails you, you can trust in God’s word… and HE never breaks his promises. (He doesn’t… WE do, frequently.) And his promises are new every morning… and every morning He reminds us of his promises.
The Pilgrims faced an uneasy future as they embarked on their journey to the new world…
Verse six declares “by the word of the Lord, were the heavens made… their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”
The Hebrew word that the psalmist is using in this text is the word “ruach” which translates roughly as “breath” or “wind.” The word “ruach” can also be translated as “spirit.” The implication of this verse is that the Breath of God is the activity of the Holy Spirit. When we sing “Breathe on Me, Breath of God” we are asking “Breathe on me… move on me… or move through me… Holy Spirit.
Agreement is powerful… The union of two people is a powerful force… The union of a man with a woman in marriage has the potential of creating a new family unit… it is powerful enough to create a legacy… it has the potential to create children to fulfill that legacy. The union of one man plus one woman united in marriage releases God’s creative power.
In like fashion, the union of God’s word plus the Holy Spirit always releases God’s creative power. What can the power of God’s word, united with the power of the Holy Spirit do when we stand on faith?
Let’s take a look at John 1… The word was in the beginning… the word was with God… the word IS God… He made everything… life and light were in him… In Genesis 1 we also see that the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the water… If I were to put this into a mathematical equation, it might be expressed in the following manner:
The word of God + the Spirit of God = Creation
Verse 11 reminds us “But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.”
Every day we make plans… every day we consult our dayrunners and palm pilots to see where we need to be, and what we are going to do when we get there.
God’s plan was for the glory of the Lord to be restored to the church, the Body of Christ. God’s plan was for the intimate relationship that God had with us in the Garden of Eden to be restored… That is why:
He raised up Moses and Joshua (Yeshua) to lead his people out of captivity…
He sent Noah to rescue his people from the flood…
He sent Gideon to demonstrate the need for us to depend on him and follow his direction…
He sent his son, Jesus (Yeshua ha’Meshiach) to lead his people out of darkness and into his marvelous light… to restore HIS glory to the church.
The glory that is in the church is not in the church suppers of the past, but in eager anticipation of the marriage supper of the Lamb!
The attitudes that are prevalent in the church today need to fade away as we focus on what is important… as we focus on the cross instead of the things of the world… I would offer you four thoughts…
A.) There are things which are really important…
B.) There are things which we think are really important, but which in reality are not.
C.) There are things which we think are really not important, but which in reality are very important.
D.) There are things which are NOT important.
The Pilgrim fathers had to make a decision. Was it
more important for them to live in an oppressive society which was imposing very strict laws upon the way the people worshipped God, or was it more important for them to worship God the Father in Spirit and in truth? They made their choice… they stepped out on faith into an unknown future, but a future which was redolent with the powerful combination of the Word of God combined with the Holy Spirit and gave birth to a promise… and a nation.
This morning, after church, we are going to be gathering together to partake of a sumptuous thanksgiving dinner. The Women’s Fellowship and many other volunteers have worked diligently to put this feast together, and it will take its place among the memorable feasts that we have enjoyed here, and will continue to enjoy here for many years until Christ’s return… We will be enjoying turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce (my favorite…) a plethora of pies, and I am getting hungry just thinking about what is in store for us… perhaps you can smell some of the aromas wafting up here into the sanctuary… And yet there is one thing which is being served up even as we speak, which is more savory than the turkey and ham, more delicious than the mashed potatoes and cranberry… and sweeter by far than the sweetest desert… the fellowship which we have with each other under the banner of the Love of God in Christ Jesus. Dinner’s on the table… Taste and see how sweet in the Lord.
P.S. Prayer:
Our Father in Heaven, we honor all nations and their peoples. This is the season of togetherness, to live side by side in peace and harmony with our brothers and sisters… your children. Show us the wisdom of your ways so we can lead others in faith. We are forever your children and look to you for guidance. We pray to you in the name of your holy son, Jesus Christ…
Amen
I Bid You Peace,
Pastor Ken+
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