You were never meant to be alone

photo by Kelly Sekkema 

I was blessed to be able to preach about the truth that God has always wanted to be with you.  Thanks for listening.

Live worship piano postlude 07-28-13

Be silent before The Lord and wait expectantly for Him

Psalm 37 (HCSB)
1 Do not be agitated by evildoers; do not envy those who do wrong.  2 For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender green plants.  3 Trust in the Lord and do what is good; dwell in the land and live securely.  4 Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.  5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act, 6  making your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like the noonday.
7 Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him; do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way, by the man who carries out evil plans.  8  Refrain from anger and give up your rage; do not be agitated—it can only bring harm.  9 For evildoers will be destroyed, but those who put their hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him;

One of the things that we do as we come together to pray and focus ourselves for  service to God is to wait on God.  Waiting on God is active, it is participatory.  Waiting on God is a stance of readiness to serve, to receive, to proclaim His worth, and to celebrate the hope of eternity.  Waiting on God is actively surrendering my desires for His.  My desires to be honored, to be in control, to be noticed all must be put down for us to actively and fully wait upon God.

Waiting on God is a lot like the act of concentration.  Consider that we are never more than a thought away from God, and that concentration is a continual returning to a point of thought - again and again and again from every imaginable angle.  Today we actively wait (concentrate) on God, we concentrate on the source and object of our love.  We wait on God the Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth - we wait expectantly for Him.

What can you hear when you’re dead?

art by nathan michael

I’ve been singing the hymn “I Am Thine, O Lord” during my times of private worship throughout the season of Lent this year. This song has struck me in new ways as I read the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.   An occurrence like Lazarus’ funeral will be recurring many times a day all around the world. A sorrowful family assembles, friends, coworkers, classmates and acquaintances come and pay their last respects.   The specifics of our moment of death will differ for each of us, but the progression from life to death will be universal.   Just this past week I participated in the funeral of my Great Aunt Ginny who was like an additional grandma to me. I stood by her casket and by her grave and once again looked into the six foot deep event that we all will take part in, death is universal.

What can you hear when you’re dead?   In the story of Lazarus it is ironic that we don’t read what was said by Lazarus.   How did Lazarus reacted to being raised from the dead (John 11:17-44)?   Even after days in the tomb, with the dark heavy blanket of death hanging between Lazarus and Jesus, Lazarus still reacts to the voice of Jesus.   Jesus, the Good Shepherd called his name and even through death Lazarus heard, and came out of the tomb.  As I have been worshiping with this hymn, “I Am Thine, O Lord” and considering the story of Lazarus I’ve been working through this question; When I die, do I fully believe and expect that my next experience will be hearing the voice of Jesus calling me by name?

I am Thine, O Lord,
I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith
And be closer drawn to Thee.

Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.

There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee. [Refrain] - (Fanny J. Crosby 1926)

Resolve - live piano worship response 03-10-13

Live piano worship postlude 02-24-13

God is Faithful

art by matt gruber

God is Faithful The attributes of God are not singular, isolated traits of His perfect character, but rather they are the many parts of His Holy Almighty being. We can think of God’s attributes separately but must not think of God only in the confines of a singular description of what we know of God. God is indeed faithful but we must remember that this attribute of faithfulness is only part of the Perfect entirety of God. When we praise God for one attribute, for example His faithfulness, we must consider that none of God’s attributes conflict with another. In fact, they all support each other, each harmonizing with another providing us a glimpse of the complete perfection of the Trinity. We must examine how we think of God. We all risk elevating a preferred attribute over another and when we do we cease to describe the One True God. For example we cannot diminish the love of God to the point where we deny He is just. We also cannot force our own sense of human justice into a description of God’s sense and understanding of justice. This reduction of an attribute of God, in this case justice, down to the levels of human reason and understanding are what produces distorted ideas such as, God is angry. I think the enemy of our soul loves for us to think about God in ways that are distorted and false. If we think God is angry, then He is a God to watch out for, appease, or avoid. But if we dare to believe everything God said about Himself, then we know a God who is just, and a God who is just is a God we can trust. As we think about God, it impacts how we react to life. Dare to believe what God said about Himself, you will find Him to be unchanging, faithful, all purity, all power, all just, complete love and all holiness. Spend some time praising God this week, He is faithful and good, and worthy of our praise. Pastor Eric

Live piano worship response 01-20-13