Sunday’s service was great.  We had the awesome priviledge of listening to our Vicar, Josh, preach for the first time.  More on that in a minute.

Songs:
I Sing the Mighty Power of God (hymncharts.com)
Your Name (Baloche)
Oh, That the Lord Would Guide My Ways (arranged in modern style)
Lord, You Have My Heart (Smith)
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Shine, Jesus, Shine (Kendrick)

Josh challenged us from the book of James, noting that what the passage basically all boiled down to was that we are all in three chairs.  The first chair is those people who don’t care about God’s Word.  The second is those who hear His Word, but don’t do anything it says.  And the third are those who hear God’s Word and do what it says.  Josh said that James message was simple, “Get in chair #3.”

What a fantastic challenge.  It seems like so often we come to church weekly, but our lives never change.  And we were reminded by Josh that God doesn’t place us in the third chair just to fail again, but gives us the power to succeed.

Songs from yesterday:

Most High God (a new song off of Worship Leader’s SongDISCovery)
Hosanna (Baloche)
Offering (Baloche)
Give Us Clean Hands (Hall)
Breathing the Breath (Redman)
Lord Have Mercy (Merkel)
Your Name (Baloche)
The Heart of Worship (Redman)

Yesterday brought some new members and a baptism, which is always very exciting.

The music was a bit more subdued, which I think was very fitting.  Pastor John talked about coming back to the heart of worship.  He spoke on Jesus saying “these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

How often, as worship leaders, do we do that?  I know I am guilty.  So many Sundays my heart is focused on whether or not the music is going to go well, whether or not people are going to get “into” the music.  My lips are singing God’s praises, but my heart is worrying.  Yesterday was a big conviction in that area of my life.

The awesome thing is, yes, I need to work on these problems, but God will give me the strength to do it and I’m very excited to see where He will lead me.

Let us continue to honor God with a heart of worship, and not give Him just our lip service.

Sometimes I wonder why we are afraid of being bold in our faith.

Why are we afraid to worship without hindrance? Why are we afraid to raise our hands, drop to our knees, or show emotion during worship? Why are we afraid to be vulnerable?

And, why are we afraid to proclaim Jesus Christ?

Pastor John’s message was so fitting for our world today. It seems like so often, we can’t ever offend anyone, but if a Christian is offended, it’s okay. In the text John read, Jesus asked the statement, “Does this offend you?” And it did offend many, and they left Him. But those who stayed declared, “Where else is there to go? You have the words of eternal life.”

How true is that statement. Is offending one person by procaliming Jesus Christ worth having one person end up following Him because of the seed you plant? Absolutely.

Is being vulnerable in worship and with our emotions worth it even though it might be uncomfortable to us? Absolutely. How else are we to let people know that we need help, if not by being vulnerable?

I hope we can all stand up for Jesus in every area of our lives. This is true worship.

Do we hear the voice of God? Are we in tune with our Savior enough to be able to be still before Him and listen?

Elijah was hiding in a cave, and God came to Him. God didn’t come in the wind, or the earthquake, or the fire, but God came in a small whisper.

God whispered to Elijah, “What are you doing here?”

Are we just sitting and waiting for God, or do we need to be asked the question “What are you doing here?” It’s time for us to get outside the walls, stop waiting, and bring God’s Good News to the world who needs it so badly.