Devotional 10-19-07

The Heart of Worship

What is worship? What is the difference between worship and entertainment? What defines worship of God? If God commands us to worship, what does that mean?

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing.

Know that the Lord is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.

For the Lord is good;
His steadfast love endures forever,
And his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100)

Do you ever wonder if certain kinds of music qualify as worship? Do you ever think that location is important – that we must worship in our sanctuary? Have you ever thought that particular sermons, spoken eloquently and with grace, were “better” worship than other, less spectacular sermons? What about prayer? Are there qualifications that make one prayer more “worshipful” than another?

I think worship might have three characteristics:

1. It should be pleasing to God. What makes worship pleasing to God? Does he care if the person singing can carry a tune? Does He deduct “worship points” if the preacher forgets an illustration or if the scripture reader mispronounces a name? Does God have a preference for one type of music over another? No. What pleases God is that we bring Him the gifts that He has given to us, whatever those gifts might be. What pleases God, I believe, is that we love Him through our worship, with all of our hearts, souls and minds. Worship is not what happens in front of us; worship is what happens within us.
2. It should move all of us closer to God. I believe that one of the reasons that God commands us to worship is so that we will enter into relationship with Him. It is to create in us an awareness that God is God, and that we belong to Him. I believe that because we are ALL God’s children, that we have a responsibility to bring others closer to God through worship. That’s one of the reasons for community. That’s one of the reasons we have worship leaders. We bring each other to worship.
3. It should become a demonstration of what the Kingdom of God is like. God in our midst, His people offering him worship and their gifts to Him and to each other – true communion. Through worship, God communicates with us.

If the goal is to love God and to love each other, and if the goal is to help to move each other closer to God, then when we truly worship God, we accept certain responsibilities.

• When the music is “not to our taste” or the volume is too high or too low; when the style is too classic or too modern, we realize that none of that defines worship. We come to the realization that the music might move someone else closer to God, so we not only tolerate what we do not like, but we embrace it. We love the other person SO MUCH that we will even sing their music for them, because it means that God is brought closer. We have the responsibility to show a generosity of spirit which values the person standing next to us, or across the room from us, more than our own tastes in music (or preaching or praying or liturgy). We love our neighbor.
• We realize that if the pews, the carpet, the candles, the organ, the piano, the pulpit, the lectern, the screens, the microphones, the stained glass and the hymnals were all taken away, that worship would continue. Worship can happen anywhere that God and His children come together. With that reality in mind, we accept that we cannot love the “trappings” of worship more than we love each other or God. Our actions toward each other and toward God must be an expression of that priority.
• Because worship is a reflection of the kingdom of God, then all of God’s children are part of our community. How we look, how we speak, our ages, our gender, our salary, our clothes, our health or our abilities cannot exclude us from the command from God to worship Him. It is our responsibilities, as members of God’s community, to be welcoming.

So what is the difference between entertainment and worship? Entertainment takes place in front of you; worship is born inside of you. Worship is of the heart. Music, proclamation, location and prayer may inspire it, but they do not define it. Do not come to church looking for God; bring Him with you.

Heart of Worship
Matt Redman
When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth
That will bless your heart

I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

Kim Matthews

Devotional 10-12-07

Sunday, October 14, our church family will have the joy and privilege of celebrating Children’s Sabbath. This is one of only two Sundays each year we are invited – and given permission – to abandon the solemn “stuff” of adulthood and embrace the wonder-full worship experience of a service planned, prepared and offered by our precious children and youth.

How long has it been since we allowed ourselves to look at Jesus through the eyes of a child, to express our love for God with the tender heart of a trusting little one, to imagine what it would be like to meet our Lord face to face and talk with Him?

The students in our Sunday School Classes, from Kindergarten through High School responded to just such an imaginary meeting. As you read their varied – some serious, some humorous – questions and comments, imagine the incredible freedom of being able to sit with Him and discuss the longings of your heart as well.

• Do you love Scooby Doo?
• What is your favorite food?
• How do you tell time?
• When we received our Bibles, we were happy and excited!
• My favorite Bible stories are Noah’s Ark, Ruth and Naomi, and Samuel
• How does it feel to be living forever? Can I live forever?
• Why do people sin?
• Are there animals in Heaven?
• Are you happy when we sing?
• What color are your eyes?
• What did you do at church?
• Since you’re Spirit, can you give me strong muscles?
• Did you ever throw rocks when you were a kid?
• Where’s Waldo?
• Did you have a pet? What was its name?
• What do you do for fun?
• Thank you for – Everything!
• What’s your favorite color and why?
• What’s it like there? Is it different for each person?
• Do you like day or night better?
• Will you karaoke with me?
• Should we worry about what separates us from each other?
• Did you ever have a fist fight?
• Why is faith so hard?
• Sometimes I say things that aren’t very nice.
• Sometimes I don’t want to do the things I know I’m supposed to do.

At first glance, some of these questions and comments may appear a bit absurd, but if we’ll look deeper we can see that they are all offered as a means of establishing or reinforcing a relationship. How do we get to know someone unless we have some interaction? How can we build trust without personal experience? How can we open our hearts to another without the assurance of acceptance? Their authenticity is simple, honest and heartfelt.

“When the religious leaders saw the outrageous things [Jesus] was doing, and heard all the children running and shouting through the Temple, “Hosanna to David’s Son!” they were up in arms and took him to task. “Do you hear what these children are saying?”
Jesus said, “Yes, I hear them. And haven’t you read in God’s Word, ‘From the mouths of children and babies I’ll furnish a place of praise’?” (Matthew 21:15-16) The Message

If you had the opportunity to go back to your childhood, would you? The choice is yours – the possibility to do just that belongs to you Sunday morning – all you need to do is enter the Sanctuary with joy in your heart and a longing to be renewed as we celebrate and worship together as children of God.

Dear Father,
We are so grateful for the privilege of being a part of this wonderful family at Johnson Memorial – Your family. Thank You for the gifts of worship our children and youth are offering. Keep us mindful of how precious they are to You, and to us. And let us experience the love, peace and acceptance found if we would allow ourselves to become as authentic as our children, asking only to spend time with You. Amen.

Youth Sunday School class
Led by Linda Summers

Devotional 10-5-07

And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed and broke it and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body.
And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.
--Mark 14:22-24

This is an invitation across the nation the chance for folks to meetThere'll be swinging, swaying, music playing and dancing in the street
--Dancin' In The Streets, words and music by Marvin Gaye, Wm. "Mickey" Stevenson, Ivy Jo Hunter

This Sunday is World Communion Sunday. Every-other-year, members of Johnson Memorial UMC join our neighbors from other downtown Huntington churches and have a joint Communion service in the middle of 5th Avenue. The choirs combine, pastors from all the churches participate, and the congregations mingle. There is almost a party atmosphere, and I think that's a good thing. We Christians come together to celebrate our sameness and forget our differences. I often see old friends at this service. There's a lot of greeting and hugging.

Kevin Witt of the UMC General Board of Discipleship wrote: "When we share in this meal, we proclaim that we are followers of Jesus. We declare our willingness to join him in spreading love throughout the world, even if it means that we may suffer for it sometimes. We are one with Jesus and his mission. If, then, Jesus unites us, then naturally we must be one with one another. We are all fed from the same loaf and drink from the same cup of God’s love. This love unites us with God and with each other."

I'll see you Sunday, dancin' in the streets.

Anita Gardner Farrell

Devotional 9-28-07

Please read Galatians 1:11-24

In this section of Paul’s letter, he is discussing his call by God and how it transformed his life. Through a revelation by Jesus Christ, he recognized that he had been set apart and called by God through grace to share the news with others.

I am struck by verses 22 through 24:

I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; they only heard it said, “The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me.

Look at verse 24 again. “And they glorified God because of me.”

They did not know him, yet because of the radical transformation his life had taken, they praised God because of him. Do others praise God because of you? Has your life been radically change by the recognition of God’s grace in your life and by the power of the Holy Spirit?

We praise God when we notice radical transformations, when we see a life completely turned around by coming to Christ. We celebrate Paul’s conversion. Or the story of John Newton, a slave trader who became convicted of his sin and joined forces with William Wilberforce to abolish the slave trade. His is the story of the hymn, Amazing Grace. We always seem to praise God when someone else—an ex-convict, a reformed alcoholic, a lost son—recognizes their wretched humanness, does an about-face, and dedicates her or his life to Kingdom living. What about you?

I’ll ask the question again. Do others praise God because of you?

If not, then perhaps there is a transformation yet to take place in your life.

What is keeping you from experiencing the nearer presence of God? Are you holding on to the traditions of your ancestors instead of letting go and soaring by the power of the Holy Spirit to where God is leading you today? Are you absorbed in self instead of reaching out to others in love? Do you ask for God’s blessing on what you do, or do you trust in God and obey his will? God set you apart and called Paul, you, and even me, by name since before we were born, by his grace, so that others might know him because of us. I pray that others may know him because of you, and even me.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace. And then, others will praise God because of you!

Anonymous

Devotional 9-17-07

As a child, leaving home to enter first grade, I remember being scared to leave home that first morning! But, when I arrived I found that my teacher, Mrs. Geiger, was a very small and wonderful woman who put us all at ease.

Our first morning, she asked us to sit at our assigned desks and clasp our hands together. We were to think of one hand as ours, the other as God's clasping ours -- and to say the Lord's Prayer together. It was just what we needed to comfort our fears -- and we did this the first thing each morning. Throughout my life, this became a habit, and even now when the minister says, "Let us pray," my hands automatically clasp in my lap. What a wonderful gift she gave all of her many apprehensive little ones through the years -- and through each of our entire lives.

Our childhood is the most important part of what we grow up to be, and I am so thankful for all of JM's teachers, in schools and church, who introduce our precious littles ones to God.

Quinn Van Nostran

Devotional 9/14/07

Alone or connected to the divine?

Lectionary Readings: Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28; Psalm 14; Luke 15:1-10; and I Timothy 1:12-17 (All scripture quotations are from The Message).

The lectionary readings this week offer a vision of life for the “lost” and of life or the “found.” The tone goes from grim darkness to celebratory light.

Jeremiah tells us of “foolish people who don’t know God, stupid children who have no understanding but are skilled in doing evil, not knowing how to do good.”

The Psalmist speaks of those who say, “God is gone.”

“God sticks his head out of heaven,
He looks around.
He’s looking for someone not stupid –

He comes up empty. A string of zeros. Useless, unshepherded
Sheep, taking turns pretending to be Shepherd.
The ninety and nine follow their fellow.

Don’t they know anything, all these impostors?
Don’t they know they can’t get away with this-
Treating people like a fast-food meal
over which they’re too busy to pray?

Night is coming for them, and nightmares,
for God takes the side of victims.
Do you think you can mess with the dreams of the poor?
You can’t, for God makes their dreams come true.”

Luke’s passage offers the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. When the “lost” are found, the “finders” invite their neighbors to join in a joyous celebration. Jesus tells us of the great joy in heaven “over one rescued life…the kind of party God’s angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God.”

The reading from I Timothy gives us a glimpse of Paul’s “dark side.” In this letter he states, “I’m so grateful to Christ Jesus for making me adequate to do this work. He went out on a limb, you know, in trusting me with this ministry. The only credentials I brought to it were invective and witch hunts and arrogance. But I was treated mercifully because I didn’t know what I was doing – didn’t know Who I was doing it against! Grace mixed with faith and love poured over me and into me. And all because of Jesus. Here’s a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.”

All these passages offer insights into the incredible importance of relationship with God, made possible through faith in Jesus Christ. When we turn away from Him, we make the world our friend, our confidante, our conscience. We work hard to fit in, to measure up, to be right, to achieve success and power. And too often all that working, measuring, being, achieving, is done at the expense of someone else – our spouse, our children, our friends, our community – and our eyes are blinded, our ears deafened, our hearts numbed, to the needs of those around us.

It’s extraordinary to know that Jesus looks for us, even when we don’t have a clue we’re lost! And when He finds us, we realize our lives have only been lived in black and white and shades of gray. He gives us Himself – not soft pastel colors, all warm and fuzzy, but vibrantly alive, with sharp-edged honesty, in magnificent color.

How could we have been so blind to the beauty/desolation all around us? How could we have been so deaf to the music/misery of the masses? How could we have been so numb to the abundance/poverty which continues to thrive in this land?

Shane Claiborne writes in The Irresistible Revolution, “Christianity can be built around isolating ourselves from evildoers and sinners, creating a community of religious piety and moral purity. That’s the Christianity I grew up with. Christianity can also be built around joining with the broken sinners and evildoers of our world crying out to God, groaning for grace. That’s the Christianity I’ve fallen in love with…Community [relationship] is what we are created for. We are made in the image of a God who is community, a plurality of oneness…The biblical story is the story of community, from beginning to end. Jesus lived and modeled community with his little band of disciples…and the early church is the story of a people who were together and were of one heart and mind, sharing all in common…But that doesn’t mean community is easy. For everything in this world tries to pull us away from community, pushes us to choose ourselves over others, to choose independence over interdependence, to choose great things over small things, to choose going fast alone over going far together. The simple way is not the easy way. No one ever promised us that community or Christian discipleship would be easy…My life was pretty easy before I met Jesus…This love is not sentimental but heart-wrenching, the most difficult and the most beautiful thing in the world.”

Jesus gives us the opportunity of walking with Him throughout life – He offers us relationship with the Divine. All we need to do is allow ourselves to be found - He promises to do the rest.


Loving God,
Give us the courage to be “found.” Open us to receive the love of Christ. Allow us to experience His heart – the joys and the sorrows. May our relationship with You empower us to live in community. To love fearlessly, to follow faithfully, to serve humbly, as we share the hope and Gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen

Thanks to Jeff Taylor for our Holy Spirit Prayer.

Dear God, by the Power of Your Holy Spirit, create us anew.
Give us the breath to sing your praises and the faith to soar with you.
Give us power to discern what you call us to be and to do.
Come Holy Spirit, come! Amen.

Devotional 9-7-07

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Come, go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words." So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me: Can I not do with you, O house of Israel , just as this potter has done? says the LORD. Just like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel . Jeremiah 18: 1-6 (NRSV)

In this section of the lectionary from Jeremiah, it reminds us that we are all shaped by the Lord’s hand. By allowing God to mold us like clay, we as individuals and as a nation are better suited for the work the Lord has intended. Even when our first attempts seem like failures, God can use the effort for good by helping us to re-shape it.

As people of God, we need to remember that even though we have made different choices, or see the world from different angles, we are all still molded by the same hand. This hand guides us all toward the same goal even though at times it may appear that life is moving us in different directions. Through faith we can be assured we are moving in the direction that has been set for each of us to do the work of the Lord.

This weekend, is also Grandparents’ Day. This day has three main purposes. To honor grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children’s children, and to help children become aware of the strength, information and guidance older people can offer.

It is amazing how God guides us along life's journey by placing choices in our path. Many times choosing the right path is very difficult. These choices can be made easier through the wisdom and love of our grandparents.

As grandchildren, we listen to the stories of their lives. Then, as we begin to make decisions on our own, there is a basis of values and memories that help us to make the correct choices toward the path God desires for each of us.

Dear God, we thank you for our grandparents. Bless them and keep them in your loving care. Allow them the ability to share their wisdom with others, and give all grandchildren the ability to accept that wisdom. Lord, May we all continue to be molded by Your masterful hands so that we may do Your work, Amen.

Hulse Budd

Special Note: One of the long time recipients of the email devotionals from Johnson Memorial UMC lost her battle with cancer this week and passed away. Please keep Sharon Ryan-Coil, her family and friends in your prayers. Sharon lived in Arizona; she continues to live in heaven.