Chris Tomlin - Glory in the Highest

Glory in the Highest from Dustin Bankord on Vimeo.

worship starts with seeing God - Anna

We can't manufacture worship - it's a natural response to seeing God. Read part 1 of this series here.







Anna (Luke 2:36-38) - After seeing Jesus, she gave thanks to God and spoke about Him to others. She was already worshiping God day and night in the temple, but there was still more to come for her. You never reach the end of God, there's always more of Him to see. It's easy for apathy to set in when we have been a Christian for a while, and we think we're happy where we are. Instead, we need to be constantly asking God to show us more of who He is and what He's done.

next event...

jesus and santa

Jesus and Santa from Igniter Media on Vimeo.

worship starts with seeing God - shepherds

We can't manufacture worship - it's a natural response to seeing God. Do you turn up at church and find it hard to get into it? Do you wonder why you sometimes find it hard to get motivated to pray in the week? It's not that you just need to try harder, it's that you need to see more of God. We only get glimpses of God, and we need continual, regular, daily glimpses of Him to continue worshiping Him.We need to be asking Him to give us a glimpse of where He is at work, a glimpse of where He is in our families etc.





The Shepherds (Luke 2:8-20) - v20 says that (after they had seen Jesus) they went away glorifying and praising God. It was a natural response to seeing Jesus. Before their encounter with the angels, the shepherds weren't particularly seeking God, they were at work. After seeing Him they go back to work, but their work is now transformed into worship because they have met Jesus. Are there areas of your life where you are not worshipping God? Work, school, home, with firends, with family? Where do you need to ask Him to come in and reveal Himself to you?

Chris Tomlin - Jesus Messiah

Jesus Messiah (Chris Tomlin) from Bryan on Vimeo.

the wrong way round

We get the 10 commandments the wrong way round if we think they are there to either please God or to ensure His blessingand giving us a more successful life. Instead, they show us what our response to His grace looks like.

• We think: "If i don't covet, God (and other people) will be happy with me and it will help me to be satisfied with what I've got". It should be: "I recognise what God has done forme and given me.As a response to his grace, I don't covet."
• We think: "If I don't lie, I'll be an honest person and God (and others) respect me, and I'll get into less problems in relationships". It should be:" The truth is that I am dishonest sinful but God has forgiven me and, as a response, I don't need to lie to protect my reputation before God or others"
  
• We think: "If I don't steal I'll be a respectable person and wont go to jail". It should be: "I deserve nothing and God gives me everything, as a response to that grace I don't want to take what isn't mine"
  
• We think: "If I don't commit adultery, my marraige will work out a lot better". It should be: "God has given my the amazing gift of a wife and, as a response, I want to be faithful to her".
  
• We think: "If I don't murder, I'll function better as a member of society". It should be: "Jesus was mudered in my place, as a response to that, I show people mercy"
  
• We think: "If I honour father and mother, my family life will go a lot smoother". It should be: "God has given me my family and as a response I want to put everything I can into that family rather than thinkning about what I can get out of it".
  
• We think: "God has commanded that I don't do any work on the sabbath, so I'll work out exactly what is and isn't work so that I don't break that rule". It should be: "God didn't make man in order to fulfil this thing called "sabbath", He made the Sabbath for man as we need time to rest and focus on Him".
  
• We think: "I wont use the lords name in vain so that He wont get angry, I'll use another word instead so it doesn't offend Him". It should be: "In response to God's grace towards me, I treat everything about Him with honour and respect"
  
• We think: "I wont worship any other gods so that the real God is pleased with me". It should be: "As a response to God's love and grace towards me, He becomes the focus of my entire life and worship, and other things don't become gods".

Don't look at the 10 commandments as a list of how to be a good person. Don't look at this as a list of how to please God. Don't look at this as a list of how to ensure God's "blessing" in your life. God has already given us grace. He has brought us out of the slavery of sin. As a response, we love Him because because He first loved us (1 john 4:19). The more we realise that, the more that love results in a life that looks increasingly like the one described in the 10 commandments, and increasingly more like Jesus himself.

the nativity

Retooning the Nativity from Igniter Media on Vimeo.

lego nativity

Nativity from Jim Gray on Vimeo.

the record of debt

colossians 2:13-15

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities  and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

The record of debt that stands between us and God was nailed to the cross when Jesus died. This disarms our enemy, when he tries to bring up things that we have done to discourage us and make us feel guilt or shame. The cross gives us humble confidence to come before God. We come confidently because we know that all our sin has been dealt with by Jesus and we come humbly because we know it's not based on our list of accomplishments (or lack of them!) but based on what Jesus has done.

CJ Mahaney on Tiger Woods

If you've been following the news coverage about Tiger Woods recently, you might be interested in what CJ Mahaney has to say about it...

"As expected, the allegations of adultery involving a public figure are attracting a media pile-on. This is a big story with a big audience and it’s a story that will not disappear soon. Tiger Woods is being hunted by the media.

But let us make sure we do not join the hunt. A Christian’s response to this story should be distinctly different. We should not be entertained by the news. We should not have a morbid interest in all the details. We should be saddened and sobered. We should pray for this man and even more for his wife.

And we can be sure that in the coming days we will be in conversations with friends and family where this topic will emerge. And when it does, we can avoid simply listening to the latest details and speculations, and avoid speaking self-righteously, but instead we can humbly draw attention to the grace of God in the gospel...

...sin is an enemy Tiger can’t manage. He can’t shape this story like he does a long iron on a par 5. Tiger doesn’t need a publicity facelift; Tiger needs a Savior. Just like me. And just like you."

Read the full thing here

advent 2009

the church

acts 2:42-47

⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. ⁴⁴All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. ⁴⁶Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, ⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

All of these features of the church come from an understanding of the gospel...

• When we recognise that God is so devoted to us that it cost Him His life to bring us back into relationship, we will be devoted to Him.

• When we know that it's His word that created us and sustains us, we are desperate to read, hear, and talk about it

• When we see that, next to the cross, we are totally sinful, but totally loved, it sets us free from competing and distrusting others and releases us to enjoy deep community

• When we understand the pain and suffering that Jesus went through on our behalf for the sake of our relationship with Him, we are willing to endure the "pain" of deep relationships - forgiving those that hurt us, recieving criticism without getting defensive and speaking honestly to others about their life.

• When we realise that everything we have is a gift from God, we are released from selfishly holding on to stuff that we think is ours, and we recieve with thanks and give generously

• When we know that we were lost and God found us, we were dead and He has made us alive - we want to shout and sing about it, joining with others doing so and rejoicing as more people come to know Him

advent

you are a worship leader

"You are a worship leader. Follower of Christ, I'm talking to you. You stand in church on Sundays during the singing and you're probably from either of two schools--you sing your heart out to God or you have your hands in your pockets, maybe mouthing along with a few lyrics. The thing you probably don't realize is it influences others. People wonder why you sing and even why you may not be singing. As new people encounter any particular worship culture, they learn how to do it. But when people encounter authentic worship, it changes from something they do (singing) to someone they are (a true worshiper). They learn to know and experience God through song, scripture, prayer and meditation and they become worship leaders too. On and on it goes."

Josh Dix, The Journey, St Louis. read the full article here