Tag: Worship

I love the beginning of a new year! It brings with it a grace to renew promises to ourselves or even start new ones. At the kick off to any new year, there seems to be an abundance of new dreams, new opportunities, and the hope to accomplish something you never have before. Unfortunately, life gets busy. It’s hard to keep up with everything, and sometimes our new goals for ourselves somehow get lost or forgotten. If you have ever experienced this, like I do, I want to encourage you today!

Galatians chapter 6 talks about reaping what we sow. Looking a little deeper, Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.” James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it a great joy whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”

Friends, God wants us to persevere! He designed us to rely on Him and push through, even when it’s hard. I challenge you this year to go after the dreams God has given you. The ones that lay dormant. The ones you haven’t visited in a while. The life changing ideas you’ve been sitting on. And after a few weeks or months in when it gets challenging, push into God and lean on the Faithful One who gave you that idea in the first place. Remember, He is the author and finisher of our faith. I am praying and believing with you that the gifts He’s given you to bring forth His glory – WILL happen through you this year!

As this year comes to a close, I am reminiscing about all the things we have gone through as a church this past year. Pastor Zach and his family moved to Texas, and we gained two wonderful interim pastors to help us during this transitioning period. We started new ministries at the church and are gaining new members. We have seen God work in and through our congregants as they give of their time, money, and share the love of Jesus to our community. We have so many things to be thankful for!

Yet I also think of the struggles we have gone through as well. Some of our members have experienced sickness and are still recovering. We continue to fight mental illness and the loss of loved ones. There are many unknowns that we go through in this world that can cause anxiety, fear, and doubt. So, I wanted to share a few lyrics to one of my favorite songs with you:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of this earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace 

God never promises to take away all troubles in this life as soon as we decide to pick our cross and follow Him, but He DOES promise He will always be with us, every step of the way. In Matthew 28:20, Jesus says, “I am with you always, even until the end of the age.” 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” In John 14:27, Jesus also says, “I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So do not be troubled or afraid.” Let’s turn our eyes to Him and experience this gift of peace He gave us – that only He can give. Then may we not only experience this peace ourselves but share it with the people around us.

As we celebrate this season of Advent, I’m reminded of Mary, the mother of Jesus. When the angel Gabriel appeared to her as recorded in Luke chapter 1, he told her that God picked her to give birth to a son. She was to name Him Jesus, and He would be the Savior of the world.

One of my favorite Christmas songs is Breath of Heaven. It gives an account of how Mary might have felt during her journey being pregnant with Jesus and bringing forth the Prince of Peace into this world. Here is a portion of the song:

Do You wonder as You watch my face
If a wiser one should have had my place?
But I offer all I am
For the mercy of Your plan 

When the angel told Mary about God’s plan, she could have said no – but she said yes. She said yes to the unknown. She said yes to something bigger than herself. She said yes, even though there was a potential to be rejected by her fiancé and other people. She took a huge risk because she trusted in God. She exchanged all of herself – for God’s plan for her life.

Let’s look inward for a moment: Do we say yes to God? Do we say yes to His Word? Do we say yes to His plan, even when it’s uncomfortable?

We can definitely reflect on Mary’s story during this Advent season and allow our heart of worship to say YES to God!

With the holidays approaching, a lot of people like to listen to Christmas music. I know when I listen to Christmas music, I can’t help but smile a little bigger! I turn up the volume a few notches. I start singing the words with vigor. Listening to Christmas music really puts me in the “holiday spirit.” I feel the same way when I listen to praise and worship music. Listening to worship music helps me align my thoughts and attitudes with God’s. When I sing the words, I am reminded of His faithful love towards me. When I meditate on the words of the songs, faith rises up in me!

Romans 12:1-2 says, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, … I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Our true worship to God is laying down our own ways and adopting His. It is a daily renewing of our mind to the Word of God and allowing His words to change us from the inside out. After our minds are renewed to His Words, the Bible says THEN are we able to “discern what is the good, pleasing and perfect will of God.”

Friends, I challenge you to go deeper in your worship with God. When you listen to praise and worship music, really listen to the words, and let them minister to you. If you have held onto certain truths that do not line up with the Word of God, ask that His Spirit help you discard the lies and hold onto His truth. I challenge you to put on your favorite worship song and practice this today!

Sometimes worship looks like those moments when we are at peace and in quiet reverence before the Lord, and other times worship is a sacrifice. Today, I would like us to explore the sacrifice of praise together. The Bible says in Hebrews 13:15, “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His Name.” No matter what is going on in our lives, the Bible encourages us to always acknowledge God. Are you going through a great time in your life? Acknowledge Him. Are you going through a rough season? Acknowledge Him. God is God on the mountain tops, but God is still God in the valleys. He also promises to never leave us or forsake us. Our response to Him is to always give Him praise, no matter what!

In the book of Jonah, we see that Jonah did NOT want to minister to the Ninevites. Jonah wanted God to reign down His judgement on the people instead of showing His lovingkindness that leads us to repentance. He knew that if he shared God’s love and mercy, the people of Nineveh would repent. (Jonah 4:2) The Bible says that God sent a fish to swallow Jonah, and while he was in the belly of the fish, here is part of Jonah’s prayer, “As my life was fading away, I remembered the Lord. My prayer went up to Him. I will sacrifice to You with a voice of thanksgiving. I will fulfill what I have vowed.” If Jonah can have a change of heart and bring a sacrifice of praise to God in the belly of a fish, so can we! Let’s vow to always acknowledge God and have a spirit of thanksgiving on our lips.