Sometimes You Need a Joilt!

This coming Sunday we will begin a new sermon series titled "Things of Life." The five sermons are based on the 12Th chapter of Hebrews. The series will look at some of the expectations of the Christian Life and some of the entanglements we encounter along the way.

The first message is "Adrenaline Into Your Souls!" It is based on the idea that we all get weary in our everyday life. The question arises, how do we run this race called life to a fitting conclusion? How do we endure to the very end without running out of "gas" so to speak? When we take a hit in life, how do we stay steadfast?

The Message Bible says it this way: "When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story," (the story of Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection from the dead), "again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!" (Hebrews 12:3, Message)

You know how it is. . . something goes wrong or some bad health comes our way or there is troubles at the job or with the spouse or children and all of the sudden you begin to wonder if you can continue to hold it all together. In despair we cry out for help. "O God where are You while my life goes all to bits?" The Psalmist wrote: "But to You I have cried out, O Lord, and in the morning my prayer comes before You. Lord, why do You cast off my soul: Why do You hide Your face from me?" ( Psalm 88:13-14 NKJV)

Hebrews then reminds us to STOP and count what trauma Jesus endured on the cross and how we ultimately have the victory over sin and the human travail. That as you say will give us a needed jolt. A jolt of reason that says, "Am I as bad off?" The old Gathier song: Because He Lives, speaks volumes to our sick hearts and lives. "God sent His son, they called Him Jesus, He came to love, heal, and forgive; He lived and died to buy my pardon, an empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives. . ." It states that the price has been paid, Jesus death has accomplished much and we CAN carry on to the finish. Our faith is not based on sight but on the risen Christ.

May be we just need to have a jolt of reality to get us back to the life of a faith filled Disciple.

Just a thought, steve
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Worship You Can Experience!

Actually it is said that we may not know how to define worship but we know it when we see it. A better way to look at this important aspect of our existence is that really in order to define worship we must experience it. In the experience we find the different facets or elements of genuine worship. For our discussion today I will once again refer to the work "Christian Worship" by Franklin M. Segler. When I have heard from time to time, someone usually a yong person say that worship is boring I wonder if it is because of the mystery involved. After all, when you and I as adults look at a video game or some generational television show we also may use the word boring. It could be that we just don't have a clue as to its purpose or point in the game or show. Maybe also someone that feels that way about worship just hasn't gotten basic understanding or the content and purpose of the experience. Here is a little help:
"Celebration" Worship is essentially celebration of the acts of God in history. God's creation; God's providence; God's convenant of redemption; God's redemptive revelation through Jesus Christ in the incarnation, the cross and the resurrection." "Worshippers worship in appreciation for what God has done." "Martin Luther said, 'To have a God is to worship him.'"
"Life, Worship is not limited to acts of devotion, rites, and ceremonies. For the Christian worship is synonymous with life." Evelyn Underhill in her work "Worship" suggests that we think of the "whole life of the universe, seen and unseen, as an act of worship, glorifying God as its Creator, Sustainer, and End." "Acts of worship are more meaningful if the whole of life is devoted to God."
"Dialogue, God is revealed to the worshippers spirit through the Bible, through persons in the fellowship of believers, through music, through symbols, through human actions, and through God's Spirit. Humankind responds to God through words and music and acts of celebration and dedication." It is really a give and take dialogue between God and we his people. In some ways it is actually involving even the rest of creation in the experience. Segler goes on to say it is more than conversation it is encounter where God confronts and makes demands upon the worshipper. Meaningful worship leads to decisive expeiences with God."
"Offering, The purpose of worship is not primarily to receive blessings from God but to make offerings to God. Ancient peoples presented offerings in the form of sacrifices." The Old Testament was full of admonitions to bring offerings for sacrifice. The New Testament also emphasized giving as a part of worship. "Worship is primarily the offering of our total selves to God, our intellects, our feelings, our attitudes, and our possessions. Our outward gifts are the result of our inward dedication. . . What God wants is ourselves."
"Eschatological fulfillment, according to Gerhard Delling, in "Worship" in the New Testament, "It is, in its very essence, the cointinuing decisive working out of our salvation in history, which ends in the eternal adoration of God." "In worship we anticipate the coming time when we shall be gathered together around God's throne in heaven." A lot of words but maybe this will help us know about WORSHIP! steve

Why Worship?

You have heard it said around here (and I'm sure elsewhere), "It's Not about You/Me." That little saying is indicative of a humbling attitude that speaks volumes. Now speaking volumes in a world of mass communication is somewhat of a mountainous endeavor. sometimes we feel like we aren't being heard because there are too many voices shouting at us from all sides. so with that in mind what is worship?
William Temple in his book The Hope of a New World wrote, "To worship is:
To quicken the conscience by the holiness of God
To feed the mind with the truth of God
To purge the imagination by the beauty of God
To open the heart to the love of God
To devote the will to the purpose of God
To worship is to recognize that God alone is worthy of reverence and honor. Franklin M. Segler in his book Christian Worship wrote, "The biblical term glory is often attributed to God as God is worshipped. the Hebrew term kabod, translated "glory," means the "honor" or "weight" of God. when Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, he declared, "The whole earth is full of his glory" (Isa. 6:3). the New Testament term doxa, translated, "glory," expresses that God is worthy of praise and honor. At the birth of Jesus, the angels sang, "Glory to God in highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!" (Luke 2:14)
The principle of Old Testament term translated worship is shachah, which means to bow down or to prostrate oneself. When the people of Israel heard that God had spoken to Moses, they believed and "bowed down and worshipped" (Exod. 4:31) The Greek term most often indicating worship in the New Testament is proskuneo meaning literally to "kiss the hand towards one" or to "prostrate oneself" before another in reverence.
What part of this is about you/me? what part of this is about our wants and needs? What part of this is about our likes or dislikes? None of it is! It is about the God that we love and adore. it is about the one that is and was and always shall be. It is about our living Lord. Just a thought!

Under the Hood

I don't know anything about what makes a car run. . . now days. As time has gone by it has become more and more difficult to work on a car under a "shade tree" so to speak. Days were when you could find any man worth his salt working on his car in the back yard. With the advent of computers and diods and unibody construction under the hood became full of stuff that no one can work on without the help of an electronic gizmo that "reads" what is wrong.

As time has gone by life has become more complex as well. Without getting into the nuts and bolts of relationships, consider just the matter of the church. When I first began serving in a church there were some certainties associated with the church.

Among those certainties were: 1) "EVERYONE" went to church! 2) "Everyone" was part of a church and at least sent their children to Sunday School. 3) "Nobody" worked on Sunday unless they were in the helping field like hospital or police or firefighter. 4) When you moved into another community, you always joined or at least found another church to call your own. 5) Pastors were looked up to as being well educated and honorable people. 6) By in large there was among main stream denominational churchs, what was called the "right way" to do church.

Well as you can see there have been some changes in the last almost 35 years. Now we live in what is called a diversified society. Is it any wonder that church is rather diversified now as well. There really is NO "EVERYONE" in any context of the church. Probably wasn't back then either. As society has changed though we, the church, hasn't kept up with that change. Especially in the hinter lands we find life is really slow and change is too.

We, the church, need a PIT CREW to look under the hood and see what makes the church run or tick or function, whatever. We have created just such a crew fromt he leadership team of the Hamilton United Methodist Church. We will meet this coming Saturday morning at 9 a.m. at the SE corner of the 4 way stop light in downtown Hamilton. This gathering will be totally about prayer and dedication to looking deep under the hood of HUMC. Pray for us or at least with us.

later steve

REAL EXPERIENCE!

An interesting concept is found in the book mentioned in the last post. . . "The Word Became Flesh." E. Stanley Jones attests to a desire to know God first hand. The opposite of such an idea is where we rely only on another person's experience.

It would be like having someone else describe what a prime rib was like but never actually taking a bite for yourself. Ya, you hear about the texture and the flavor and the smell but you miss the taste all together. Jones put it this way. . . "Regarding God, I shall be not a second hander but a first hander."

The Apostle Paul put it this way: "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." (I Cor. 2:2 NKJ) First hand experience is so important. When we live by the experience of others we are cheated. Cheated by not having all the facts, all the emotions all the support and knowledge offered by one's own experience. It is like playing the game where we share a secret to a person in the circle until it comes back to us. By that time the secret is blown out of proportion. It may not even resemble the facts at all.

I would, like Paul, want to know Jesus to the very fullest extent. Wonder if he is saying that to know Christ and Him Crucified is to know Him the most intimate way possible. To see him on the cross, to hear his words and groans. To shudder at his feeling of desertion. He alone faced this death on the cross. For me, to know Jesus first hand is to associate my sins with his suffering.

Maybe the problem today is that too many have disassociated themselves from the cross. They have not found a relation between their sins and Jesus' experience on the cross. First hand ought to be the cry today.

Lord Bless

The Word Became Flesh

In my stack of books, I found a book I didn't realize was there. It is The Word Became Flesh by E. Stanley Jones. This is a modern reprint of a 1963 book. Jones was in his day was considered a great evangelist to the world having spent time in India, Japan and many other countries.

I first came across him when part of a Christian book club. The book I bought was The Divine Yes. In this volune Jones wrote that the answer to all the questions we might have in life. . . is
Jesus. He quoted 2 Cor. 1:20 "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God." Thus Jesus is the answer we need to all the matters of life. That message and book made a BIG impression on me personally and as I have worked with those in need of answers for life situations.

E. Stanley Jones said that "the Word became flesh. . .," (John 1:14) was the most significant verse in the Bible. In the introduction he writes: "In all other religions it is Word became word--a philosophy, a moralism, a system, a technique, but for all time and all people everywhere, "the Word became flesh"--the Idea became Fact."

I look forward to sharing in the next few weeks some of the insights that come from the pen of such a man as E. Stanley Jones. "Affirmation for the day: If the word is the expression of the hidden thought, I shall be, in some real way, the expression of the hidden God."

steve

Generations

I have found the generational differences interesting. These are the general views that folks of different generations have on subjects associated with the church. Maybe I need to refresh our minds with the different generation groupings.

Richard L. Hamm in his book "Recreating the Church, Leadership for the Postmodern Age," lists these different generations:
The World War II generation born 1915-1930. Their generation was shaped by their war experience. Known for "saving the world."
The Silent generation born 1931-1944 was a smaller group and less influential than the WWII folks. Their war was the Korean War.
The Baby Boomer generation, born 1945-1965. These folks, I am one, "was born and raised during a time of unparalleled economic expansion and optimism. They were told they could do and be anything they wanted, and many of them believed it." The Vietnam War was OUR war.
The Baby Busters were born from 1965 to 1982. They grew up in the midst of a world that experienced some shortages and lines at the gas pump. "Parented as much or more by peers as by their parents." Also known as the Generation X folks.
The Millennials were born 1982 to today.

As I read different authors, I am finding that there are characteristics that are associated with a certain age group. These then have tendencies that must be considered in the life of the church.

Where are you? What is your generation and characteristic?

Gary L. McIntosh in his book: "One Church Four Generations, Understanding and Reaching All Ages in Your Church," actually lumps together the generations. In doing so he has recognized that the generations take and share with each other. The grouping allows for some interesting reading and helps one in my position to consider some generalities.