Tag Archives: worship

Take Care Then How You Hear

December 19, 2009 By in Sunday Morning, Uncategorized Tags: , , Leave a comment

The Bible has a lot to say about how preachers are to preach (2 Tim. 3:16-4:4). It also has some things to say to those who listen. In Luke 18:8 Jesus bids His hearers to take care then how you hear.

Tim Challies has grappled with how to take care in listening to preaching in a blog post entitled Being a Diligent Listener. He writes:

We set high expectations for our pastors, and rightly so, I think. Ministers of the Word have a high calling before God to be his mouthpiece, to bring his Word to his people. We expect that every Sunday we will sit under the pastor’s teaching and learn sacred truths from his mouth. We expect that he will spend his week studying Scripture and digging deeply into God’s Word so that he can teach us something on Sunday that will change our lives. We expect him to be true to Scripture, to make a good presentation of it and to keep us engaged all the while. It is a difficult and often thankless task.

What we consider less often, I think, is that while a pastor bears great responsibility in preparing for and delivering the Word of God each Sunday, the listener shares in the responsibility. The church has no place for an audience. We are all to be involved in the preaching, even as listeners. We may drive home on Sunday muttering about the pastor’s lack of preparation after a less-than-engaging sermon, but how often do we drive away reflecting on our own lack of preparation? How often should we trace our lack of learning or our lack of engagement right back to our own lack of preparation?

You can read the rest of the post here.

As I give myself to preparation for tomorrow’s message in John 7:37-52, may you as well give yourself to the kind of preparation Challies commends. I will meet you somewhere in the middle tomorrow morning, Lord willing.

What Is a Silent Communion?

December 16, 2009 By in Church Year, prayer, Sunday Morning Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

This Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Advent, will see us engage in a silent communion  during the 9:30 hour in the SDA sanctuary. Some of you may never have participated in such an experience. A silent communion is a self-directed exercise in reflection, devotion, and worship centering on the Lord’s Table conducted in silence (only background instrumental music will be heard). Upon arriving in the sanctuary (please do all you can to be prompt as we make use of every minute of the hour) you will receive a guide describing the four movements of the communion.

The first movement from 9:30 to 9:45 AM concentrates on adoration and praise. Using Psalm 145 as our guide we will worship the Lord in the silence of our hearts for His various attributes and acts.

The second movement from 9:45 to 10:00 AM calls us to a focused time of confession of sin and repentance before God. We will utilize the Puritan prayer entitled Purification for this purpose. Here is how that prayer begins:

Lord Jesus, I sin. Grant that I may never cease grieving because of it, never be content with myself, never think I can reach a point of perfection. Kill my envy, command my tongue, trample down self. Give me grace to be holy, kind, gentle, pure, peaceable, to live for Thee and not for self, to copy Thy words, acts, spirit, to be transformed into Thy likeness, to be consecrated wholly to Thee, to live entirely to Thy glory.

The third movement from 10:00 to 10:15 AM brings us to the actual supper. After reflecting on three paragraphs of our confession of faith, we will approach the table and serve ourselves the bread and cup. Here are those paragraphs if you wish to do extra preparation in advance:

Paragraph One: The Lord’s supper was instituted by the Lord on the same night in which He was betrayed. It is to be observed in His churches to the world’s end, for a perpetual remembrance of Him and to show forth the sacrifice of Himself in His death. It was instituted also to confirm saints in the belief that all the benefits stemming from Christ’s sacrifice belong to them. Furthermore, it is meant to promote their spiritual nourishment and growth in Christ, and to strengthen the ties that bind them to all the duties they owe to Him. The Lord’s supper is also a bond and pledge of the fellowship which believers have with Christ and with one another. See 1 Corinthians 10:16, 17, 21; 1 Corinthians 11:23-36.

Paragraph Seven: Those who, as worthy participants, outwardly eat and drink the visible bread and wine in this ordinance, at the same time receive and feed upon Christ crucified, and receive all the benefits accruing from His death. This they do really and indeed, not as if feeding upon the actual flesh and blood of a person’s body, but inwardly and by faith. In the supper the body and blood of Christ are present to the faith of believers, not in any actual physical way, but in a way of spiritual apprehension, just as the bread and wine themselves are present to their outward physical senses. See 1 Corinthians 10:16; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

Paragraph Eight: All persons who participate at the Lord’s table unworthily sin against the body and blood of the Lord, and their eating and drinking brings them under divine judgment. It follows,therefore, that all ignorant and ungodly persons, being unfit to enjoy fellowship with Christ, are similarly unworthy to be communicants at the Lord’s table; and while they remain as they are they cannot rightly be admitted to partake of Christ’s holy ordinance, for thereby great sin against Christ would be committed. See Matthew 7:6; 1 Corinthians 11:29; 2 Corinthians 6:14-15.

The fourth movement from 10:15 to 10:30 AM puts the church directory before us and calls us to a time of petition and intercession for one another’s needs as God brings them to mind.

I urge all of us to  make this additional observance of Communion in the month of December as a means of grace that brings even more blessing into our lives during this Advent season.

More on Making the Most of Advent

December 5, 2009 By in Church Year Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Here are some final thoughts on navigating the Christmas holiday to the glory of God:

First, determine to bring Advent worship into the fabric of your home. Heads of households – let us function as believer priests on behalf of our families and lead in Advent devotions that serve to focus our spouses and our children upon things that truly matter this Christmas. Let us watch less in the way of endless Christmas specials devoted to the inane and trivial and read more of the Word that extols the Christ of God and listen more to the music that declares His praises and fellowship more with the people that embrace His Lordship and witness more to the lost who languish without His hope.

Second, say No more and Yes less so that the obligations of the season do not run away with you. Stay in control of your calendar. Prioritize ruthlessly as best you understand given God’s priorities for you. If you struggle to do that on your own, ask someone else to hold you accountable and give you counsel about what you should and should not commit to during this last month of the year.

Third, arm yourself with Paul’s promise in Phil. 4:13 that in Christ you can do all things – including making the most of Advent. This may prove especially true for you if you have experienced some significant loss this year or if you are battling some form of depression for whatever reason. Navigating the demands of the holiday season cannot be accomplished in one’s own strength. It takes the power and all-sufficient grace of Christ (2 Cor. 12:9). 

May He grant us ever-increasing amounts of grace to sing these words of the hymn writer and mean it: 

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded, for with blessing in his hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth, our full homage to demand.

More on Making the Most of Advent 2009

December 3, 2009 By in Church Year Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Here are two more thoughts on navigating the Christmas season this year.

First, zealously call to mind the words of Jesus as quoted by Paul in Acts 20:35 – It is more blessed to give than to receive. Consider creative ways to practice giving that go beyond the material. Bless someone with the gift of words of encouragement, time spent in fellowship, ministering to a need. Alter your Christmas budget this year in terms of what you normally spend on yourself, family, and friends and give toward a worthy global missionary enterprise or some charitable cause.

Second, make corporate worship a non-negotiable priority, even if you travel. David spoke of the sanctuary as the place where He saw God uniquely in His power and glory (Psalm 63:2). Ask the Lord to reveal hidden sins in you that grieve His Spirit and hinder your fellowship. Every time you see a purple Advent candle pray for a spirit of insight into the depths of your depravity and give yourself to confession and repentance. But don’t stop there! Ask God to fill you with a spirit of rejoicing and celebration. Every time you see a rose candle offer up praise and thanksgiving for some treasured aspect of Christ in His incarnation and all He has won for you in regeneration, justification, adoption, sanctification, glorification, etc.

Fight the good fight of a sanctified Advent in 2009!

Making the Most of Advent 2009

December 1, 2009 By in Church Year Tags: , , , Leave a comment

adventLast Sunday, November 29, marked the beginning of Advent, traditionally the beginning of the church calendar year. The word advent comes from the Latin adventus meaning coming. Advent focuses our worship for the four weeks which precede Christmas on the significance of Christ’s incarnation. Christians began to organize worship around various seasons of the year as early as the second century. In more liturgical churches the entire calendar often revolves around these seasons of the year.

At OGC we celebrate a tradition in Advent worship involving the lighting of an Advent wreath. Each Sunday before Advent, as well as on Christmas Eve, different individuals/families lead us in the lighting ceremony with appropriate readings from Scripture. An Advent wreath communicates many powerful things. Its circular form stands for the eternity of God. The burning candles represent Christ, the light of the world (John 8:12). The evergreens in the wreath speak to eternal life. The use of colored candles originated in Eastern Germany prior to the Reformation. Traditionally, the three purple candles symbolize the penitence due from sinners at the prospect of Christ’s coming. The single pink or rose candle calls for joy at the idea of the Son of God incarnate. And the white candle in the center, of course, points to Jesus Christ in all His purity and power.

May I encourage you this year, as in previous years, to form an intentional strategy for making the most of this coming Advent season? Without a plan we can easily fall prey to a worldly tis-the-season-to-be-frantic kind of December that leaves us at best exhausted and at worst resentful.

For the next several days I will post some thoughts for how to make the most of the Advent season now upon us. The first of those is this:

Refuse to abandon time for reflection, worship, and contemplative disciplines. Mary, the mother of our Lord, excelled as one who kept all these things and pondered them in her heart (Luke 2:19). Determine to hold a tenacious line against the tyranny of the urgent and give yourself to the priority of seeing the unseen and eternal (2 Cor. 4:18).

May the Lord help us to treasure in our hearts the deep things of God that accompany this joyous season where we celebrate Immanuel, God with us.

Advent Preparation with Handel's "Messiah"

November 28, 2009 By in Sunday Morning Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

handel7Tomorrow marks the first Sunday of Advent, 2009. The Advent season in the church year covers the four Sundays before Christmas, as well as Christmas Eve. Throughout the season we prepare our hearts for the worship of Christ for the gift of His incarnation.

We begin this journey of faith tomorrow morning at 9:30 with what I am calling a partial journey through Handel’s Messiah. Our families are invited to gather in the SDA sanctuary at 9:30 AM (please be prompt; we will begin on time) for a worship event including the telling of the story of the writing of Handel’s masterpiece, music from selected portions of the score, media, prayer, and congregational sharing.

There will be two opportunities to share in groups. First, we will talk about ways we have seen Jesus this year be our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace. This will follow a time of singing along with For Unto Us a Child Is Born.

Then we will have an opportunity to hear from some about how they came to know Christ as their Savior. This will follow a media presentation of the piece Glory to God.

Don’t worry, we won’t leave the beloved Hallelujah Chorus  out of the mix. Some of your other favorites might be missing, but I trust that this different initiation to the Advent season might prove to prepare all our hearts in such a way that our worship of Christ this Christmas will be in spirit and in truth.

See you tomorrow at 9:30!

How Shall We Give Thanks This Sunday?

November 17, 2009 By in Sunday Morning Tags: , , Leave a comment

This coming Sunday brings us to our annual Thanksgiving service. I will not preach. Rather we will give the sermon time to congregational sharing. We will give thanks for God’s goodness and kindness to us in manifold ways.

The Psalmist expressed his determination to do that very thing in the temple in places like Psalm 111:1. Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

The question remains. Give thanks for what? Some things come quickly to mind. Health, provision, relationships, family, etc. These are all gifts of God and worthy of His praise.

But when we examine the disciplines of thanksgiving modeled by the apostle Paul we find other reasons for thanks on his agenda.

Consider Romans 1:8. I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.

Or how about 1 Cor. 1:4-7? I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given in Christ Jesus . . . so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift.

Then there is 2 Cor. 1:3-4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Hmmm. No thanksgiving at the beginning of Galatians. He was too hopping mad over their defection from the gospel into legalism.

Oh, good, back on track in Eph. 1:3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (see vv. 4-14).

He gives yet more thanks in Phil. 1:3-5. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

Pouring it on in Col. 1:3-5. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.

Overflowing in 1 Thess. 1:2-3. We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Seeing a pattern developing with 2 Thess. 1:3-4. We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

For a specific individual, Timothy, in 1 Tim. 1:3-5. I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

Finally, another particular person in view, Philemon, in Philemon 4. I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and all the saints.

My, the sheer volume of thanks coming from Paul’s lips in the New Testament takes the breath away! Surely he would echo the resolve of the Psalmist to let his praise and thanksgiving be heard amidst the congregation of the upright.

Along with the normal things we thank God for, let’s take our cue from the apostle and reflect more broadly in scope for causes of thanksgiving – Christian faith around the globe, spiritual gifts working in the church, comfort in affliction from Christ and toward others, unspeakable mercies in every spiritual blessing from above, partners in the gospel, faith in Christ, love among the saints, hope of eternal life, steadfastness in suffering, tears of joyful remembering, and faith transmitted by godly parents.

In light of this survey, prayerfully consider what God might have you share with a whole heart in the company of the upright this Sunday morning. And may our praise redound to His glory and add to the overflow of our joy!