The congregation of Christ’s people gathered at Corinth were being confused and, consequently, divided in their highly educated, culturally sophisticated and worldly-wise ignorance and pride. To gather these saints in Jesus Christ back in their unity and joy, hope and confidence together in Christ, Paul writes simply and straightforwardly:

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. … [While] the Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and absurdity to Gentiles, but to those who are being called, whether Jew or Greek, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. … And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of god with lofty speech or wisdom. For I determined to make known among you nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified. … and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (I Corinthians 1:18, 22-24; 2:1-2, 4-5)

Since, then, God has demonstrated his love for us with power in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, let us come together with rejoicing and thanksgiving, sharing together our common salvation, our common fellowship, our common joy, our common hope having been raised together in Christ — and let us worship!

Order of Worship for 11.16.08

The Israelites would one day find themselves in Babylon … confused, disoriented, despairing: “Sitting by the waters of Babylon, how can we sing the songs of Zion?”

You can sing the songs of Babylon because of the certainty of our covenant God’s steadfast faithfulness, the certainty of his promise: if he has spoken it, it is as good as done. It is the certain, trustworthy power of God’s Word with which Isaiah encourages the Israelites living in exile:

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55: 10-11)

Throughout Scripture, the Word of God is conceived of as having in itself power to create and sustain; protect and defend; rescue and restore. Why? Because it is carried on the very life-giving breath, the very life-giving Spirit of the living God and so is imbued with life-giving power. What was true for Israel in the midst of godless Babylon, what was true for the first Christians in Jerusalem and Antioch, remains true for God’s people in Jesus in the 21st Century: we are created and sustained, protected and defended, rescued and restored by the power of God’s Word applied to us by the life-giving Spirit of the risen and reigning Jesus Christ.

Come, then, let us rejoice and revel together by the strength of that Word, even that Word-made-flesh, Jesus Christ – worshipping, fellowshipping, and serving together to the praise of his astounding glory before the nations.

Order of Worship for 11.09.08

Paul writes to the Christian believers gathered in Rome about the gospel of God in Jesus Christ which they have believed and which is the power of God by which all things are restored:

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. … For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. … but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God? For it while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be made alive and made whole by his life. (Romans 5:1, 6, 8-10)

There you have it: we come boldly, with confidence and rejoicing, into the presence of the living and holy God to worship, fellowship, and serve together not on the basis of our great wisdom, intellect, abilities, or achievements, but upon the basis of the gift of God’s astounding grace in Jesus Christ alone. If he has granted that gift so generously to us while we were his enemies, how much more, now that we are his friends – yea, even his children in whom he has declared his good pleasure – will he take pleasure in our presence and pour out upon us the riches of his mercy and grace through Jesus Christ? In that confidence, then, let us come together with rejoicing and thanksgiving and worship – and so bear witness to the glory of God’s grace in Jesus Christ!

Order of Worship for 11.02.08

In the midst of very difficult circumstances, Jeremiah writes,

Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!
My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him.”

Since the neverending steadfast mercies of the Lord have been secured beyond dispute through the resurrection of the Lord and its continuing echo in the many circumstances of our own lives, come and let us worship together with rejoicing as those who have been carried through another week by the steadfast mercy of the Lord in Jesus Christ!

Order of Worship for 10.26.08

The pastor’s congregation had been scattered all throughout the land, contact maintained through an unbroken network of loving and worshipping fellowship. They were followers of Jesus Christ, men and women of Jewish descent — and they were now facing increasing pressure and persecution for their profession of faith that this Jesus of Nazareth is the risen and reigning King, the long-promised Messiah come in fulfillment of their covenant-God’s promises. Knowing the pressure of their circumstances – knowing how their confusing, frightening, disconcerting circumstances were shaking and eroding their joy, hope, and confidence, the pastor writes a letter to encourage them, to provide them concrete, practical advice for navigating difficult social, economic, and political waters and coming through on the unknown “other side” with renewed strength, joy, and hope.

He goes on for some time reminding them of the concrete and practical, visible, audible and historical demonstrations of God’s astounding, sovereign faithfulness by which they and their forefathers have safely navigated far more difficult circumstances in years past. This same sovereign faithfulness, he states repeatedly, is most fully and gloriously demonstrated in Jesus Christ. He then sums it all up with a blessing, known as a benediction: “Everything that I have written to you, all of it, is now gathered together, wrapped up, and put into this one, bursting package of blessing:

Now, the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will [even in these disorienting circumstances], working in you that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. AMEN.” (Hebrews 13:20-21)

The same concrete, practical wisdom the pastor gave his congregation in that day, remains unchanged for us, followers of Jesus Christ, in our own day: resting ourselves in the good sovereignty of our risen and reigning Lord, Jesus Christ. Finding ourselves – and one another – securely within his good, sovereign control, let us come together with rejoicing to worship with abandon – not in spite of our circumstances, but in the midst of them.

Order of Worship for 10.19.08

Moses tells us that “because the outcry [the cry for mercy!] against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I [YHWH, the covenant-making, covenant-keeping God of mercy] will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me.” (Genesis 18:20) The Lord hears the cries of the people and he responds – to rescue them from their misery and to display the character of his glory.

Moses tells us later that “… the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham … God saw the people of Israel – and God knew.” (Exodus 2:32b-25) The Lord once again hears the cries of the people – this time not just any people, but the children of Abraham, God’s beloved; he hears their groaning and their cries for help and he responds – to rescue them from their misery and to display the character of his glory. Thus begins a long, amazing series of contests between the God who hears the cries of a weak, enslaved people and the gods of the world’s superpower – day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month the people watch, Egyptians and Israelites alike, watching as the heretofore unknown God makes himself known by systematically overcoming every obstacle and all resistance – in ways that were simply unimaginable and therefore beyond plausibility. Even those who witnessed it could not believe their eyes and struggled to trust their memories, losing that battle more often than winning.

Luke tells us that “in the days of Herod, king of Judea … in a city of Galilee named Nazareth … [in the days when] a decree went out from [the august, demi-god, Ceasar] that all the world should be registered, [the one] when Quirinius was governor of Syria …” a baby was born, even Jesus. In the midst of those dark days, when the people of God groaned under the weight of exile in their own land under godless Romans and their traitorous allies, from out of nowhere, a baby was quietly born in response to their cries, “How long, O Lord, how long shall we sing these songs?” Mark shouts out the imperial news: the emperor has come, the victory is sure as he opens his quick-paced account: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God!” John tells us, in some senses more fully, that in the person of this baby this was not merely an emperor, but more than that, “the light shining in the darkness;” in fact, “the true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world,” and that this light “became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

We come to worship because the Lord has heard our cries for mercy, our groaning under the weight of a world gone terribly wrong – perhaps even a career, a marriage, a friendship, a choice gone terribly wrong – and he has come. It is his way; it’s simply who he is: because he is the eternally living and present, powerful and merciful One, he has heard our cries and he has come – to rescue us from our misery, from our oppressors, from our imprisonment and to display to us and through us the full scope of his glory in Jesus Christ. Come, then, with rejoicing as those newly rescued, and let us worship together without reserve.

Order of Worship for 10.12.08

“Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”

This is no mere conventional greeting with which Paul opens his letters to Timothy; it is his thesis statement, the proclamation of the gospel of God’s grace, made certain by his steadfast mercy, by which he secures the eternal reign of his peace over all nations, peoples, and circumstances. It is by this grace, mercy, and peace that Timothy would be strengthened and nourished to endure and thrive even in his very difficult and pressing circumstances — and by which he would become the strength and nourishment for others to endure and thrive in their difficult circumstances. Paul’s greeting reminds Timothy of the “steadfast mercies” of the Lord by which his grace and peace are guaranteed. Paul wrote to fortify Timothy – and through him, the congregation at Ephesus – with the real strength of God’s grace, mercy, and peace for the real life of faith among a fallen people in a fallen world.

Come, let us come together, greet one another with the Grace, Mercy and Peace of God in Christ and worship before the Throne of God’s abounding glory in Christ!

Order of Worship for 10.05.08

Brother and Sisters…sojourners and exiles,

Amidst the toil and uncertainty of this world our Lord calls us to Worship and reminds us that we are not Americans looking for salvation in economic stability. We are children of the King and heirs of a salvation that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading…indeed let us SHOUT for our blessed savior reigns!

Shout, for the blessèd Jesus reigns; Through distant lands His triumphs spread;
And sinners, freed from endless pains, Own Him their Savior and their Head.

He calls His chosen from afar; They all at Zion’s gates arrive;
Those who were dead in sin before By sovereign grace are made alive.

Gentiles and Jews His laws obey; Nations remote their off’rings bring,
And unconstrained their homage pay To their exalted God and King.

O may His holy church increase, His Word and Spirit still prevail,
While angels celebrate His praise, And saints His growing glories hail.

Loud hallelujahs to the Lamb, From all below, and all above!
In lofty songs exalt His Name, In songs as lasting as His love.

Order of Worship for 09.28.08

Peter encourages/exhorts (Biblically and in Christ the connection between “encouragement” and “exhortation” is so close as to make them almost synonymous) the congregation under his care who were pressed hard on every side to the point that they felt they would crumble, melt, and simply die:

“But y’all are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim [through your very being together] the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. … [so] … keep you conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers [and atheists], they may see y’all’s good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” (I Peter 2:9-12)

What “good deeds” might the unbelieving “Gentiles” of the culture see that would manifest the chosen race-ness, the royal priesthood-ness, the holy nation-ness, the God’s-own-possession-ness of these people? As Luke repeatedly shows us, it was the entirely new quality of worship, study, prayer, fellowship, and service together with joy and hope of the community of the redeemed in the midst of the death and despair of the surrounding society. These are the deeds by which the “Good-ness” of God’s grace in Christ is made manifest in the flesh, providing a taste on earth of the peace that is perfect in God’s presence.

Come, then, let us worship, study, pray; fellowship and die together to the praise of his glorious and astounding grace in Christ, our risen and reigning King.

Order of Service for 09.21.08

Paul speaks to the Corinthians about the reality of their new life. This flesh-and-blood, fact of history forms the basis of his straightforward, rational conclusion: since this is true, your life should be visibly characterized by this:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ: be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
(2 Corinthians 5:17 – 6:1)

Did you catch that? Paul wasn’t writing a Sunday School lesson for the leaders of the Corinthian congregation to teach; he was declaring a historic event, the truth of which acknowledged by faith, would result in historic and visible transformation of relationships within the congregation and beyond to the city and culture of Corinth. The peculiar character of God’s reconciliation in Christ – namely, one in which true and real trespasses are not counted against us because they had been laid upon the Christ – is to characterize those who have been made new creatures by the ministry of this reconciliation.

We have a vague sense that we have heard this before, that we have been this way before. But stop. Wait. Listen. Look. Paul’s declaration of a historic fact is but the beginning of his love for the wayward Corinthians; it is but the beginning of a new life manifesting itself among the Corinthians through their worship, fellowship, and service together in Christ; it is but the beginning of their new life together among the nations on behalf of the nations for the life-giving display of God’s glory and grace in Christ. This new life is brand new, a brand new kind of life, a life of an entirely different order altogether; it is not the normal, run-of-the-mill kind of life that can be seen and experienced in any old civic organization, but something totally new that breeds life, peace, and hope, bringing healing to the nations.

It is in this new life, and in celebration of this new life, that we are called by God’s grace in Christ before the throne of God’s grace in Christ to revel and rejoice and sing praise to God’s astounding grace in Christ together as those who have been made new by the powerful breath of God’s Spirit. Come, then, let us not receive this astounding grace in vain, but let us worship and bow down, and lay the entirety of our lives before him as living sacrifices to be used up in his continuing ministry of reconciliation!

Order of Worship for 09.14.08