Why? Because, not only is the Lord trustworthy and his Word upright and everything he does perfectly conforms to his character, but because by these actions that perfectly express the holiness and righteousness, the justice and mercy of his character, he watches over those who worship him, he delivers those whose trust and hope rests upon him, he defends and protects, making the heart of his people glad.

Take some time, as we prepare to gather together by God’s grace, to reflect on the Psalmist’s call to declare with our mouths – so that all can hear it with their ears – the wonderful ways that our Lord has demonstrated the beauty of his grace and glory to us, his people who bear the name of his Son.

And having reflected on the Psalmists call, please come prepared to declare the ways he has evidenced the goodness of his character to you or those around you. Truly, let us come together into his presence, singing the praises of God that befit us, giving thanks to the Lord, singing songs to him, and telling one another of the steadfast love of the Lord – and in so doing, let us worship our God through Jesus, and bear witness before the world that Jesus remains Lord over all circumstances even today!

Order of Worship for 03.29.09

The day after feeding the 5000, John recounts for us in John 6, Jesus once again encounters the multitudes on the opposite side of the lake. Jesus says to them,

“Truly, truly I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of bread. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Indeed, a few minutes later he becomes more explicit saying, “I am the bread of life.”

Of course, we can imagine the quizzical looks this comment must have generated. So, as if to make things clearer for them, Jesus continues,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” Of course, even as it continues to do to this very day, Jesus’ further explanation only deepened the confusion – and offense – the crowds. In fact, John tells us that “When many of his disciples heard this, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’” And then, a few sentences later, “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.”

It is in this context then that Jesus says to the disciples remaining: “Do you want to go away as well?”

You can imagine the thoughts that the remaining disciples must have had as they considered their options: those who had left had heard Jesus’ strange words and determined that salvation could be found elsewhere – so they left. Those that remained likely quickly reviewed their own histories, their own journeys from here to there to another place, and reviewed the fact that no matter where they went they still encountered the same disappointment, same hopelessness, same sin. Only in the place of Jesus’ presence had they found rescue and relief from the relentless cycles of their own sin. So they respond – as we typically do – by saying far more than they themselves understood at the time: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

We have gone here, there, and most everywhere looking for relief and rescue; indeed, by force of habit, we continue to look here, and travel there in order to find help in our time of need, but by God’s abounding grace in Jesus, we are constantly brought back to the same conclusion as the disciples: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

So now, come into the presence of the Holy One of God, Jesus, where alone is found relief and rescue from the disappointments and hopelessness of our sin and let us worship together the risen and reigning King!
Order of Worship for 03.22.09

Standing on the east bank of the Jordan, Moses was preparing the Israelites with warnings and promises to enter into the land of their promised inheritance:

And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you – with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant – and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. … You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you … (Dt. 6:10ff)

This warning is repeated throughout Moses’ final sermons to the people before they enter the land. Why? Because the temptation to create substitutes and supplements for a God that we esteem inadequate for life in the land resonates so deeply with our hearts, that we find ourselves worshipping as God that which has not the slightest resemblance to God – no resemblance in word or deed, power or ability. As John Calvin said, our hearts are veritable idol factories, creating and adopting gods for every conceivable contingency at such a rate that Wall Street drools to find a way to cash in on this persistent, stable, and ever-expanding market. But while the idols may look glorious, they enslave and consume us to the point that we shrivel, dry, and die.

That is why throughout these last sermons, interspersed among all the warnings, are the words of God’s steadfast promise:

When you find yourselves in the midst of these tribulations, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

He reminds them that they are …

… a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out from among all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it was because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers …

Since, then, the promises have been fulfilled in Christ in whom we have been called from among those dead in our idolatry and adultery, and since those fulfilled promises have been made ours by the abounding riches of God’s mercy in Jesus Christ, let us come together with rejoicing as those who have been freed from our slavery to the idols of our making and brought into the presence of the Holy God in order that we might sing his praises and be nourished by his presence with us in his Son.
Order of Worship for 03.15.09

Writing to a people who would soon find themselves living as exiles among the decadence and godlessness of Babylon, the prophet wrote a series of poems as part of his prophecy of hope and comfort. Known as the “Servant Songs” (which we will visit in a few weeks as we approach Easter), they were part of Yahweh God’s promise of continued faithfulness to his covenant promises by providing a rescue and return from exile. Of this servant, Isaiah wrote,

… He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (– Isaiah 53:3-6)

The identity of this servant became an increasingly irresolvable mystery: a rescuer? a King? stricken and smitten by God as accursed? despised? These things simply did not add up. Since we all know, so the Israelite logic went, that God’s rescue will be a spectacular, political rescue as in the days of the Exodus, and since we know that to effect such a spectacular, political rescue God must raise up a strong, wise, popular leader of the people, well, clearly, Isaiah could not be describing here the servant by whom God’s promised rescue would come. In other words, while in retrospect we easily recognize Jesus in Isaiah’s description, because of preconceived notions about God’s wisdom and glory, about political power and influence, and about the best strategies for planning and executing a revolution, the Israelite people and their leaders were blind to Jesus.

Because of our own ideas about wisdom and strength, power and influence, is it possible that we find ourselves blind to the person of Jesus and the reality of his gospel in the midst of our own society, our own circumstances, our own families? Do we find ourselves disgusted and embarrassed by him as he reveals himself so that, like the Israelites of Jesus’ own day, we “esteem” him as a little more than a religious fashion, unworthy of our attention with regard to the real, pressing issues facing us?

Come, then, into the presence of our holy and loving Father who has called us by his marvelous grace, made us alive and washed us clean, adopting us as his very own children by the powerful work of his Son, our Savior and King, Jesus. Come together with the redeemed to have your eyes opened to behold the glory of his grace in Jesus.

Order of Worship for 03.08.09

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

“Grant us, even us, O Lord, to konw you, and love you and rejoice in you. … Let the knowledge of you increase in us here, that it may be full hereafter. Let the love of you grow every day more and more here, that it may be perfect hereafter; that our joy may be great in itself and full in you. … O make good your gracious promises to us, that our joy may be full.”

So prayed Augustine. Anticipating the prayer, our Lord has generously answered that very prayer: calling us together by his grace to worship, fellowship, and service together as those made alive in Christ he grows us in the knowledge of the Father, the Love of the Son and the Joy of the Spirit to the praise of his glory among the nations throughout his world.

As those who have certain knowledge of the true love of God in Jesus Christ abounding in the joy of the Spirit, let us come and worship! Let us come before his presence with rejoicing – bearing confident testimony to the watching world that our God reigns supreme over all things through our risen and reigning King.

Order of Worship for 02.22.09

The true service of worship, Isaiah tells his incredulous readers, is …

to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the burdened and pressed go free, and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
(Isaiah 58:6-7)

If Isaiah is right, a little self-reflection will quickly exhaust us and bring us nigh unto despair. How can one live up to such a life-consuming standard of worship?

Isaiah, that prophetic instrument in the hands of a tender and compassionate God, anticipates the concern and provides a response on the lips of a Servant of the Lord:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord for the display of his glory.
They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. (Isaiah 61:1-4)

In short: of course, such life-consuming worship, love in truth and unity, and self-renouncing service is beyond our ability or even desires. It is, of course, for that reason our lives are consumed by the love and mercy of God through the service of Jesus Christ: our mourning consumed by Jesus and turned to gladness; so that we are made oaks of his righteousness planted for the praise of his glory.

Since, then, we have been consumed and made new by the blood the Lamb, let us come with joy and confident hope into presence, bringing the sacrifices of praise that are fitting for such a great calling.

Order of Worship for 02.15.09

There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins,
and sinners, plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains!

Stop there; savor that: “lose all their guilty stains, lose all their guilty stains!” Really? That’s right: “and sinners, plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains.”

So wrote William Cowper (pronounced “Cooper”) in 1771 reflecting on how he survived some of the darkest, coldest, most terrifying days of his life in which his past and present circumstances began to unravel and crumble around him, threatening to crush and causing him to despair of life. In fact, as one account has it, despite multiple, mad efforts to take his own life in those days in 1763 he found his plans thwarted at every turn.

Eight years later he was coming to understand the root of his sorrow – and the Root of his rescue: Jesus Christ and him crucified by which the guilt and shame, anger and bitterness that consume us and weigh us down are taken away! “The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day; and there have I – as vile as he! – washed all my sins away! — washed all my sins away; washed all my sins away! And there have I – as vile as he! – washed all my sins away!” All of the real shame and guilt which threatened to be exposed on that day in 1763 and by which he would be destroyed had been dealt with and done away with.

Some years later, Cowper expressed his wonder at the mystery of the cross by which guilt and shame, anger and bitterness are done away with:

God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform;
he plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.

[so ...]

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds ye so much dread are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head!

Having been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb, then, let us come boldly together, with confident joy and hope, to worship and fellowship together in Christ before the throne of grace to be renewed in the joy of his salvation and the hope of our calling.

Order of Worship for 02.08.09

Paul’s an interesting character. He often doesn’t quite say things as we might expect; while he uses the same words as the rest of us, he seems to string them together according to completely different rules of grammar and syntax, as though he shares our language, but grew up in a different Culture.

Paul opens his letter to the Ephesians with understandable enough words of praise:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, … (Eph 1:3ff)

… and the sentence goes on seemingly interminably. But, of course, that is part of Paul’s point: the blessings of God in Christ are so rich, so broad and deep, so expansive in scope, that they force us to pile explanatory clause upon explanatory clause.

But when Paul finally gets to identifying the purpose for God so imprudently lavishes the riches of his blessings upon us in Christ, he uses an interesting expression:

… so that we … might be to the praise of his glory. (Eph 1:12)

The English teacher in me wants to suggest a correction: “that we may sing praises to his glory.” But that is NOT what Paul has in mind. He is not concerned merely to suggest that we sing his praises, (though it is certainly wrapped up in his thought) but that since we have been reconstituted by the riches of his blessings in Christ, our very lives bear the radiance and image of his glory in a dark world. By the blessings of God in Christ we have become, in our very being, the embodiment of praises to his glory.

As we gather together this weekend by his gracious invitation, He is quite literally gathering up the praises to his glory so that the world may see, hear and know the Truth of his super-abounding grace in Jesus Christ. Reflecting on the riches of his blessings by which we have been made new in Jesus Christ, come let us gather together with rejoicing as the praise to his glory.

Order of Worship for 02.01.09

One of the tools our Lord uses to guide and shape his people according to the truth of the gospel of his imprudent grace is called a “catechism.” With this tool we are taken by the hand and led to ask questions: some are questions that at different points in our life we ache to ask, some are questions that we would never ask left to ourselves. We are then guided to hear answers to those questions that arise from the truth of God’s imprudent grace poured out with abandon through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

One question that our life circumstances often press us to ask is:

Question: What is my only comfort, my only refuge, my only strength, my only hope in death — and even in the press of life, for that matter?

Answer provided to us in the Gospel: that I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto Jesus Christ; who, by his blood, has fully paid my debt and satisfied for all my arrogance, ignorance, foolishness, and rebellion, and has delivered me from the chains of guilt and shame by which the enemy has kept me bound; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not even a hair can fall from my head, securely and surely carrying me through the press of life and the darkness even of death into the presence of God the Father.

Instinctively, such an answer seems absurd and unreal. We ask, “Really? Even for me? Even in these circumstances?” Answer, “Yes, even you, even these circumstances.”

So, let us come and worship! Let us gather together with rejoicing! Let us love and sing and wonder, let us praise our Savior’s name! Let us join the chorus of saints around the world and those enthroned on high: here they trust and have trusted him before us, and now their praises fill the sky: “You have washed us with your blood! You, O Lamb, You alone are worthy, Lamb of God!”

Order of Worship for 01.25.09