Are you ready to worship?

Worship Matters

Are you ready to worship?  It’s probably not a question that many of us ever ask ourselves, but it’s a question of critical importance to our worship together every Sunday morning.  The Lord of all creation is awaiting our undivided attention and He seeks to pour out His presence upon us as we sing and pray to Him, and as we engage with His Word; however, we all too often walk through the doors of the Sanctuary rushed, distracted, or unprepared to meet with God in a significant way.  Seeking the presence and power of God with a heart to honor and glorify Him is the purpose of our times of corporate worship, and He longs to meet each of us there in life-changing ways, each week.  The question for each of us is: are we ready to worship?  Do we come expecting to hear a message from God in our times of praise and teaching?  Do we come expecting answered prayers and healing for broken spirits, bodies, and families?  Do we spend time each day before the Lord in preparation for all that He longs to do in us and through us?  

So, here’s a challenge for each of us this month - at least once per week, preferably more, spend time in very specific prayer for the upcoming times of worship.  Pray that God will be honored in our praise and that we will have open hearts to receive the Word of truth that He has for each of us.  Pray that we will passionately pursue God in all that we do, say and sing, and that our worship will be more than something that happens for an hour each week; rather, that our worship will become our “lifestyle” as we submit to the love and leadership of our Lord each day.     

Grace and peace, 

Sean 

God's Providence in the Midst of Pain

I am a big "providence" guy. Though it's probably not the most popular theology, I believe that the circumstances and situations of our lives, even when painful, are either given by God or allowed by Him for reasons that are often beyond our understanding. Does this mean God brings about evil? By no means! Yet, he does permit tragedy in our lives. If we don't believe in a God who chooses to permit difficulty in our lives for our growth and for His glory, then we come to believe in a more theologically disturbing alternative: a God who is too weak or unwilling to help.

What brought this to mind was my study of Stephen's defense before the Sanheidran in Acts 7, particularly hen he mentioned Joseph and his family going into Egypt and eventually becoming enslaved for hundreds of years until their rescue by God through the leadership of Moses. What struck me was the necessity of slavery in order to move the people of Israel into the land of Promise. For, if the Hebrews enjoyed a prosperous life in the Nile Delta, why would they ever leave to pursue a land they had never seen? Moses' call to follow him out of Egypt, into the desert and into armed conflict with the inhabitants of their new real estate venture might have gathered a dozen people. Instead, God's providential timing and His plan for blessing in the midst of pain brought the entire Israelite nation out of Egypt as one! The years of pain and degradation left the Hebrew people longing for anyplace other than there.

You may be going through a trial today, as well. I will not call evil "good" or in any way dismiss the tragedies you may face; however, I do believe that no matter what, God is in control of your life and your circumstances. And that is cause to worship Him, whether your are in Egypt or the Promised Land.

The Supremely Happy God

I believe God is the most supremely happy being in the Universe. He has never lacked in anything, and He has always been completely satisfied and fulfilled in His triune-relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God has never been in want or in need. He is ultimately satisfied in Himself and he is the only one who can do so.

He lacks nothing and He is always joyful.

Yet, is it possible for God to become even happier? I believe so; for just as he is grieved by sin and the damage we do to one another, and our rebellion against his good rule, he is overjoyed when we turn to him in faith, love, an repentance. There may be no clearer image of God's joy than in Luke 15, when Jesus describes the courts of heaven at the return of a sinner to relationship with God:

"Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10 NKJV)

I've always read this passage and imagined that it was the angels rejoicing before God, but that is not what the passage says. It states there is "rejoicing in the PRESENCE of the angels". So then, who is the One in the presence of the angels? Who is the One rejoicing? It appears that the God who made you and me, though we rebel against Him by nature and by choice, celebrates and rejoices before the Host of Heaven whenever we repent and return to Him.

When you return to your Heavenly Father through faith in His Son, you fill the halls of Heaven with happiness.

Worshiping the God Who Trumps Religion

And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

Now that day was the Sabbath.
So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed." But he answered them, "The man who healed me, that man said to me, 'Take up your bed, and walk.'" (John 5:9-11 ESV)

I love the way this verse so powerfully illustrates the 'newness' of following Jesus. Christ's healing of the lame man on a Sabbath and his command to pack up his bed and walk blew away the legalism that surrounded him. It shows following Jesus is more than adding more religious baggage...it's following a person. The healed man didn't have a new religious system...he had a Savior.
Jesus turns religion and worship on its head. Instead of doing our best to check the blocks and impress God with our goodness, we simply need to respond to the One who has come to us in our lameness and inability to heal us. When we encounter Jesus as He really is, we stop worrying about other's criticism, and we point with confidence to the One who told us to "get up an walk."
The power of Jesus and His word trump EVERYTHING else.

Crazy Run For Us = Great Opportunity For You

Hello all,

As many of you know, two friends of mine (Todd Wigley and Weston Cheatham) and I will be running in the Rock Creek Stump Jump 50K Ultra marathon on October 6, 2012.  We’ve been told we’re crazy by our wives and co-workers, and maybe we are.  But, we want to use the opportunity that this crazy run provides to make you aware of a need halfway around the world.  Just across Lake Victoria from Kampala, Uganda is a place where tremendous opportunities for service await.  Some of our friends in ministry, Steve and Stephanie Bredesen are in the process of building a clinic and aid facility in a village called Nakalanda on a remote and isolated peninsula, far from all conveniences.  The people of Nakalanda have no running water or electricity and they survive essentially on what they are able to raise and produce around their homes.  At this time, they are raising money to equip the clinic with water and to finish some critical projects in order to sustain their work among the people of Nakalanda.  The heart of this message is this:

If our crazy-long run inspires you to do something outside your normal routine in order to help the Bredesen family in their service to some of the poorest in Uganda, we would be honored.  Please check out their work online by going to their Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/BredesensInUganda or by going to their website, http://www.bredesensinuganda.com.  You can also check out the race we’re running by going to http://www.rockcreek.com/stumpjump.rco.  Any amount given would be appreciated, as there is so much work to be done, so if you’d like to partner with us to assist them financially, please send your donations to the following address with the words, “Bredesen Account” in the memo line:

Mission Ministries

PO box 6546

Santa Ana, Ca. 92706

All we’re doing is running for a day.  They’re doing the real work of serving those in need every single day.  Thank you for your prayerful consideration and for your support of the Bredesen’s and the Nakalanda Project. 

Sean Riley

God Always Had A Party In Mind

In my reading today, I was struck the following verse from the story of Creation:

Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for festivals and for days and years. (Genesis 1:14 HCSB)

God has always had celebration on His mind. When He breathed the stars into existence and placed the Sun and Moon in the canopy of the heavens, He did so, in part, to serve as "signs for festivals (read: worshipful celebrations)". A part of day four of the creation of the universe was dedicated to party-planning. This points to God's eternal purpose for humanity - we are designed to worship. It is written in the heavens as a divine appointment for all people to worship our Creator God.

Additionally, this serves as a reminder of what worship should look like: not drab or dreary. Instead, the idea of "festival" should be always in the from of our minds as we come together to praise God. Does this mean worship isn't serious business or that we don't deal with life and death issues in worship? Not at all. Worship is the most serious endeavor of the human heart, but it doesn't have to be somber in order to be serious.

Our God is a celebrating God. He rejoices in the presence of the angels when a sinner repents (Luke 15). Should we not rejoice in His presence for the ability to repent and the gift of redemption? Let's party in the presence of God this week...the Sun Moon and stars all say it's time.

Worship Through Obedience

I have been touched by the outpouring of love and care for Lydia and our family as we journeyed to Uganda to meet her and as we have since brought her home. Something that has honestly surprised me has been the conversations I've had with people who have told me that our story is "inspiring" or that we were "brave" to pursue this adoption. While I am humbled and grateful for these kind words, it is not something I would think of on my own. Much of the time during the process, it just felt like faith and obedience to what we felt God was leading us to do. He led us every step and provided all we needed. This process put flesh and bones on what I've taught students for years: step out and follow step by step where God calls and leads...your obedience in faith is worship. When I was in the middle of the process of adopting Lydia, I didn't feel particularly brave. I felt dependent, humbled and amazed by the big-ness and goodness of God.