Did you ever wonder: is this really God’s “Plan A”? That is, Was his first, best choice to use people such as “me” as instruments in his great work of redemption? That just doesn’t seem to make any sense at all. Surely he would have preferred to use smart, good-looking, strong people who have connections and influence. So we think; so we believe.

I suspect that the thought occurs to you as you reflect (assuming honest reflection, of course) over the things you have said and done in the course of a day or a week or a year – in retrospect we see ourselves acting in foolishness (according to which we didn’t understand the full picture) and arrogance (according to which we believed we had full control) and blindness (according to which we didn’t recognize how small our vision was). Surely, such foolish, arrogant, blind people could not have been God’s first choice of tools; that would make no sense whatsoever …

… or would it?

As the saying goes, the magnificent glory and generosity and power of God’s grace is made most visible as we see him drawing precise lines of mercy with crooked sticks of our self-centeredness. The truth of God’s “Plan A” in Jesus is at once humbling and encouraging: it humbles us as we grow more fully and clearly aware that our security and our significance has nothing to do with our own wisdom or righteousness; it encourages us as we, despairing of our own wisdom and righteousness, behold more fully and more clearly the glory and power of God’s grace in the completed work of our risen and reigning Jesus Christ.

Having been called and equipped by our Father in Jesus Christ; having been taken up this week by the hand of his grace to be utilized for the display of his glory in Jesus Christ, he draws us into his presence once again to continue that work of refining us his people through our worship, fellowship, and service together before the throne of his grace in Jesus Christ. Come, NOW is the time to worship! NOW is the time to give praise to God and bear testimony before the world for the marvelous truth of his “Plan A” in Jesus: that which is dark and twisted is being made new by the power of his grace.

Order of Worship for 03.01.09