Preparing For Worship: December 30th

So it's done. Christmas came and went. My wife wants me to put away the Christmas tree (the fake one). I think that the older I get, the less climactic Christmas becomes. When I was younger, Christmas morning brought the realization of desires I had harbored for many months. As I get older, I want less "stuff" but I still expect some sort of amazing Christmas experience. Unfortunately, I look back and see that no matter how much I was "aware" of the real joy of Christmas, I always relied on the physical stuff (the gifts, the big meals with family, etc.) for the actual fulfillment.

I came across a blog post from Desiring God ministries called "Hopeful Post-Christmas Melancholy." I think it was meant as a tool for teaching children, but I found it very helpful as I considered my own Christmas experience.

Anyways, as we now skyrocket towards a new year, I want us not so much to focus on all the things that we're gonna change, or do differently this next year, but I want us to focus on the things that will never change. God is unchanging. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. This world will pass away, but God's Word endures forever.

His Word tells us that it is good and pleasant for us to dwell together in unity, and to worship God together. So we're going to begin our service this week with "How Good And Pleasant." Then we have a few ministry and fellowship opportunities to let you know about before we continue in song with "Indescribable" "How Great Thou Art" and "Beautiful One." All of those songs talk about the majesty and glory of God, which never fades or tarnishes! They also talk about the glory that God that he displayed in sending Jesus to die for our sins, which hopefully is still fresh in our minds, having just celebrated his birth (talking to myself there!).

Pastor Todd will be giving us some new year's resolutions for the new year from 1 Corinthians. The apostle Paul gave these instructions to the church in Corinth around the year 55 AD, and they are just as timely and God honoring today.

We'll sing some songs that help us respond to God's truth, with "Breathe," which acknowledges that our very life and being are dependent on God, and in the same way, our spiritual lives should be dependent on his Words. We'll close with "I Stand In Awe" and take that mindset as we head out into the world.

See you Sunday!

Preparing For Worship: December 23rd

Merry Christmas everyone!

This Sunday is our Christmas service, and I'd encourage you to read my last post before reading this one if you haven't already, as it talks about how we as believers, and as Crossroads family, can be prepared for the possible influx of unbelievers and "fringe" Christians for Christmas.

This Sunday we'll continue singing the great carols that herald the birth of our Savior! We'll start the service with "Joy To The World" and then have a short time of welcome and greeting. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled for visitors, and greet them so they feel welcome! We'll keep on singing with "O Come All Ye Faithful," "Hark The Herald Angels Sing" and "O Holy Night."

At this point, Linda Gray will read us the biblical narrative of the Christmas story, found in Luke's gospel. She'll be reading from the New Living Translation, which is a very beautiful and readable translation, while retaining the accuracy of the original text.

A small ensemble will then sing "O Little Town Of Bethlehem" for us to meditate on the amazing event that happened in the sleepy little town.

Pastor Todd will then bring us a Christmas message entitled "Heaven's Greatest Gift." And then we'll respond by listening/singing "He Knows My Name" which is a great reminder that our God is not somewhere out in the heavens, detached and impersonal, but he is a close God, and one that is intimately involved in his creation. We'll finish the service with "Go Tell It On The Mountain," a song that expresses our uncontainable joy in the birth of our Savior, and our resolve to tell the great gospel of Christ "over the hills and everywhere!"

See you Sunday!

PS. I've linked the songs to search results from Amazon.com as there are so many recordings of these carols that you're bound to find one you might want to download :)

PPS. I found one sample that I had to give its own link: Click Here

Twice A Year

A Christmas service is usually one of two Sundays a year (the other being Easter) that non-Christians and "fringe" Christians will make the trek to church. They somehow feel obligated to "check-in" during these two holiest of holidays. Why do they feel this? Is it ingrained in them because of our culture? Is it because they just like the Christmas festivities that the Church has during this season? Or is there, buried somewhere deep within them, a tiny hint of conviction? Do they think that gracing the threshold of the church twice a year keeps them in some sort of "good standing" with God?

There are probably many different reasons, or combinations of reasons, that they would pop in at Christmas and Easter, but regardless of what those reasons are, they're still showing up. In a culture that is ever increasingly becoming secularized, we still see church attendance spike on these two days, and we need to be about God's work on those days.

We build our services on the principles that God gave us in his Word, and we believe that when the Church (in general, hence the capital "C") is faithful to the principles of God's Word, that true biblical worship will take place, and that the Scriptures will be taught faithfully and intensely. We believe that when we as God's people participate in these things with freedom and joy, that unbelievers in our midst will be convicted by the Spirit.

If I can again reference the book "Unceasing Worship: Biblical Perspectives On Worship And The Arts," author Harold Best talks about witnessing within the corporate gathering (church).

What happens in the corporate gathering as to witness should be no different from what happens as to worship. That is, if worship and witness are seamlessly knit, then the corporate gathering should proceed in its fullest prophetic condition, irrespective of the ratio between saints and sinners...The secret is not in talking baby talk to the unredeemed and adult talk to the converted, nor in seeking a happy medium between the two so as to conform to eased-up protocols of certain kinds of seeker sensitivity. The secret lies in the authority, the conviction, the unswerving bluntness of all truth preached, sung and written......
while the redeemed teach and edify each other, the unredeemed (in that same moment and under the authority of the same content) will fall down Godward in redeemed outpouring, newly washed.

The apostle Paul also talked about how the church should appear to unbelievers who come through the doors:

If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. -1 Corinthians 14:23-25

The Corinthian church had been misusing the spiritual gift of tongues as a way to make themselves seem superior to others within their church, and the apostle has to scold them back onto the right track. The word "prophesy" means proclaiming or speaking forth (not always predicting the future, like we think of when we think of the OT prophets), and Paul is basically saying that the Corinthians are creating chaos in the way they're trying to be "spiritual." If they were to proclaim the truth, and preach the gospel instead, an unbeliever visiting the church would encounter the power of the living Word of God, which cuts to the dividing of soul and spirit, and not some cultic chaos created by Christians all trying to outdo each other with their "gifts."

So as we think about the influx of unbelievers/fringers that we may encounter this Sunday, remember that they will not be changed by any programs or methods that we can make up, and that it is not our job to tailor our corporate worship of almighty God around them! It is our job to be faithful worshipers; to sing authentically and earnestly; to give joyfully and abundantly; to pray unceasingly and confidently; to seek God through his Word fervently and passionately; and to love and edify each other sacrificially and faithfully. It is these things that will be the most powerful evidence of the presence of the Spirit of God among his people!

Busy-ness

This week has been a blur, and I haven't had much time to post anything to the blog. Which is ironic, because I was thinking about how important it is for us to take that proverbial step back from the crazyness of the Christmas season, and remember that we are celebrating the birth of our Savior to live a perfect, sinless life, and to die on a cross to take the full severity of God's wrath, which, since Adam's sin in the garden, had been destined for us!

Like I said last Sunday, we hear so many Christmas carols that talk about the birth of a baby. Too often though, we only hear the first verses of those carols, that make it seem like that little baby was just a cute bundle of joy, and that the world was, for some sentimental reason, supposed to be happy he was born. But if that little baby had only been born to be a "good teacher" as many call him, or to "bring joy to so many" by doing miracles, and loving people, then he wouldn't have been able to ransom our souls from the grasp of sin!

The reality is that we cannot separate the cradle from the cross. We aren't celebrating the birth of Jesus because he was really cute, or simply because he was a "good guy." We are celebrating God making a way to maintain his perfect righteousness and justice, while showing his great mercy in reconciling us to be in right standing with Him!

So amid all the focus on the birth of that precious baby, turn your eyes forward to the cross, and to the resurrection. It will make your Christmas celebration all the more meaningful.

Preparing For Worship: December 16th

I can't wait until Sunday to worship together with you all! This Sunday we break out the Christmas carols! As we count down to the big day, it's so easy to start getting caught up in the craziness of the season, and it seems like every year it gets more and more intense.

God's provided a lot of subbing work for me over at Village Christian this past week, and you can just see the kids checking out for Christmas vacation as they get closer and closer to their last day of class. Jess has had to constantly fight to keep her classes focused and under control, and she's hanging on by a thread, so keep her in your prayers!

Hopefully as we sing songs that celebrate Christ's birth, we'll be able to center ourselves again on the reality of Christmas: The birth of the little baby that would grow up to live a perfect sinless life, and who would sacrificially die on a cross for the sins of mankind.

We'll start with "Angels We Have Heard On High" as a call to worship. There's a few announcements, including final details about our Christmas care package we're sending to our missionaries, the Lovingfosses. This Sunday is the last day, so if you've got something to include, don't forget to bring it THIS SUNDAY!

We'll continue worshiping in song as we sing "The First Noel" and "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear." Right before the sermon, we'll have a more responsive song: "You Alone" that will give us the chance to savor the goodness and graciousness of God in giving us his son. It will also help to remind and solidify the idea we explored last Sunday of pursuing God alone, and not a godliness or righteousness of works.

Pastor Todd will preach to us from 1 Timothy 4:6-10, which explains the proper place of godliness in our lives. We learn and build our convictions in doctrine, and that doctrine plays out into the way that we live.

We'll respond in song with "Give Us Clean Hands" which is a petition to God to let us be a people that seek God's face above all else. And we'll finish with another carol "Angels From The Realms Of Glory" so we can end the morning with thoughts of the Savior given for our sins!

See you Sunday!

The "Uncertain" Emergent Movement

Here's a great article on the mindset of the Emergent Movement.

The main purpose in Emergent thought is to question everything, while offering no definitive answer (they might word it a little differently, but that's the gist). Sometimes their questions are really good questions! Questions that the church needs to think long and hard about. But too often, Emergent leaders make a job only out of questioning and doubting long-held evangelical beliefs and such.

This article talks about how they have "canonized" uncertainty, and it is helpful in understanding where the movement is coming from, and where it is going (which according to the article is: nowhere).

Preparing For Worship: December 9th

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. -1 Timothy 4:1-5

This sort of prophecy from the Spirit makes me so sad. That some will actually depart from the faith because they're pursuing their own righteousness through obeying a law of their own invention! Rules do not lead to righteousness, only Christ does that. Obviously, we need guidelines to help us to live in a way that's pleasing to God, but those rules should never be more than the means to an end, and not the end in itself!

I've decided to put off breaking out the Christmas carols until next week, because I think that the lesson from this passage that Pastor Todd will bring to us is so important to how we respond to God through our worship singing, that we need to devote our songs to reinforcing this idea in our minds and hearts.

All of our songs this week speak of our devotion and our pursuit of God, not godliness; our focus on Christ, not on righteousness. We'll start the service with "Come, Now Is The Time To Worship" which reminds us that one day ALL will bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, but that the greatest treasure is for us to embrace that truth NOW, and embrace all that it means to us as God's children.

John Book will keep us informed of what's going on in the Crossroads family with some announcements/opportunities for service, and we'll continue to explore the theme of pursuing God, and not godliness. I want to introduce a song I wrote last year called "No Other Name." It is a song that I wrote that proclaims the exclusivity of the name of Christ for salvation. It also talks about how it is our responsibility as believers to take that one name to the nations that they may know and believe on Christ for salvation. We are not the ones who save them, God has chosen those he'll bring to himself, but he uses us to accomplish his perfect and sovereign purpose, and this song rejoices in that.

Next we'll sing "In Christ Alone" which as the title clearly suggests, is a beautiful reminder of the gospel of grace, through which we are saved from the wrath of God for sin. We'll end this set with "Draw Me Close" which is a heartfelt response to the character of God, saying that he is indeed ALL that we want, and ALL that we've ever needed, and it asks for his reassuring peace in our lives as we are faithful to pursue him alone.

Pastor Todd will then preach God's living and active Word to us, that the Spirit might accomplish his work in each of our lives, wherever we are in our spiritual walk. We'll respond with two more songs that commit us to seeking God alone. "I Fix My Eyes" is a song by Tommy Walker from Psalm 27, that speaks of our desire to be in the presence of the Lord all of our days, that we might gaze upon his beauty. We'll end with "You Alone" which is such a simple, yet powerful reminder that God alone is Father, he alone is good, he alone (by Christ) is Savior, and he alone is God!

Hope that this is helpful for you in preparing to come worship together. If you ever have any suggestions, questions, or comments, feel free to leave a comment, and I'll get back to you!

See you Sunday!

New Song: No Other Name

For all peoples, and all tongues
For all nations, under the sun
For every heartache, and each tear
For every trial, and every fear

There is no other name by which we can be saved
From the sin to which we were born enslaved
But the blood of the Lamb covers our sin and shame
And we joyfully praise his holy name!

Let us go forth, into the earth
Till there’s nowhere we’re not heard!
God is faithful, to save his own
Through his people, through his word

For though man is so weak, and cannot change the soul
But with God, yes, all things are possible
When we faithfully go where he’s called us to go
They will hear, and his own will heed his voice!

I give my life, for the sake of your name
For the sake of your Glory!

-By Paul Hoover, Copyright 2006

It's Good To Have A Few Things Settled With God...

The following is an excerpt and link to a blog post from John Piper over at Desiring God Ministries. I love how Piper communicates these things, and in the case of this article, how he makes it deeply personal by sharing how he's teaching them to his daughter.

When huge pain comes into your life—like divorce, or the loss of a precious family member, or the dream of wholeness shattered—it is good to have a few things settled with God ahead of time. The reason for this is not because it makes grieving easy, but because it gives focus and boundaries for the pain.

Read the rest of the post here.

The Golden Compass

I'd be surprised if you haven't heard some pretty intense hype about this book series/movie, and if you want an even assessment of what they're about, and what a well balanced Christian response should be, check out Al Mohler's post here. He's brilliant.