Last Sunday, Pastor David emphasized the significance of worship as an essential part of our Christian lives – it’s simply what we do. While it holds a central place in our faith, what makes worship truly beautiful is its diverse expressions and forms. Thankfully, our worship isn’t confined by rigid religious rules or restrictions. Instead, through Christ, we’ve been given the gift of approaching God boldly to worship Him in ways that reflect our individuality.
It’s worth noting that there’s nothing wrong with experiencing rich moments of worship and encountering God through more traditional or scripted styles, often referred to as liturgy – these can be incredibly powerful. However, what matters most is worshiping God authentically, just as we are. God desires a personal relationship with each of us, and He not only accepts but delights in the unique and personal ways we express our worship to Him.
Worship cannot be confined to a one-size-fits-all mold; it can take on various styles and formats – traditional and contemporary, elaborate or simple, scripted or spontaneous. Furthermore, it can be influenced by culture, denomination, or personal preferences. What matters to God is the genuine devotion and adoration that flows from our hearts. It’s a beautiful reflection of the love relationship between the Creator and His creation, bringing joy to God and deepening our relationship with Him.
This week, take moments to pause and engage in worship. Turn off the noise during your commute, running errands, cooking dinner, or getting ready for bed, and reflect on God’s goodness and faithfulness. Use worship music to offer your voice as a gift to God through song. You can even take a moment now to declare who God is to you. And for a creative expression of worship, try going through the alphabet, ascribing a name or characteristic to God that starts with each letter (e.g., Abundant, Beautiful, Creative, Dependable, Exalted…).
Missed Pastor David’s message from Sunday on worship? WATCH HERE
Our thoughts and attitudes toward God shape how we approach Him. If we see Him as distant or judgmental, our approach becomes hesitant, half-hearted, or filled with fear and shame. Thoughts and attitudes shape our perception, and even if they don’t align with the truth, perception becomes our reality. That’s why Jesus calls us to reset and approach God with child-like faith, free from worldly wounds and distrust. We must let go of false perceptions and embrace His tender care.
In this reset, we go back to the basics: God is love. As Christians, we learn this from the beginning, hearing it in verses like “For God so loved the world…” or singing, “Jesus loves me; this I know…” By resetting to the reality of God’s unchanging, unconditional love, we can confidently approach Him. We come to Him with openness, vulnerability, and the belief that He desires a personal relationship with us.
Let’s hit that reset button and embrace child-like faith. Reflect on God’s love by reading and listening to the hymn below. It was discovered partially written on the walls of an asylum and beautifully speaks of God’s limitless and never-ending love. His love surpasses changing kingdoms and cultures as He seeks out His children in the highs and lows to welcome them home.
The love of God is greater far Than tongue or pen can ever tell It goes beyond the highest star And reaches to the lowest hell The guilty pair, bowed down with care God gave His Son to win His erring child He reconciled And pardoned from his sin
O love of God, how rich and pure How measureless and strong It shall forevermore endure The saints’ and angels’ song
When mortal time shall pass away And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall When men who here refuse to pray On rocks and hills and mountains call; God’s love, so sure, shall still endure All measureless and strong; Redeeming grace to Adam’s race The saints’ and angels’ song
Could we with ink the ocean fill And were the skies of parchment made Were every stalk on earth a quill And every man a scribe by trade To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry Nor could the scroll contain the whole Though stretched from sky to sky
Remember is used 352 times in the scriptures. But memory is strange. There are moments I’d rather not recall, such as a foolish remark or decision that wounded my pride or, worse, hurt someone else. On the other hand, there are cherished memories I’d give anything to hold onto forever, baking cookies with my Grandmother, grad-school graduation night, or that last truck ride with my dad. Much like a stray cat, memory tends to wander in and out on its own whim.
Recognizing our tendency to forget, God incorporated the act of remembering into a way of life for His people. Keeping the Sabbath holy reminds us of our dependence on God. Coming together to the table of communion invites us to remember Jesus’ broken body and shed blood. Christmas calls us to remember the birth of Jesus, Immanuel – God with us. And on Resurrection Sunday, we rejoice in Christ’s victory over sin and death. Memory is a gift from God, one we must choose to use, lest we forget and become wandering strays seeking refuge in fear and rejection, feasting on the lies of our adversary.
Our faith is strengthened when we choose to remember God’s past faithfulness. By remembering who He is and what He has done, we stand confident in who we are and what we are called to do. Today, take some time and choose to remember. What about God do you need to remember? Who is He? (Father, Creator, Provider, Protector, Powerful, Loving, Merciful, Shelter). What has God done for you, your family, your community, or fellow followers of Jesus? This past week? Past month? Past year? Past decade? Past century?
Whenever I share a Bible verse to connect to a song, I always want to make sure I’m accurately communicating the original intent of the scripture. I never want to take Scripture out of context so it can fit into my agenda. In this day and age, there is no excuse for quoting scripture without giving context. It’s so easy to do a quick search for a 5 minute Bible Project video that reliably communicates all the context we need to faithfully interpret God’s Word.
But sometimes I can get lazy. It’s easy to just find the scripture behind the song and throw it up on the screen, read it, and assume the context. This is what I did when we first sang the song “Father of Lights” by Chris Tomlin. I shared the scripture that inspired the song: James 1:17.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
–James 1:17
I took this verse to mean we should acknowledge God in simple pleasures and give thanks for our individual blessings. I encouraged you to use this as an opportunity to be thankful for your home, your pets, your cars, good food, etc.
In no way is it wrong to be thankful for these things! However, this is not what James had in mind when he said “good gifts.” Let’s back up and get some context.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. -James 1:2-4
James believes that the trials and hardships of life are to be seen as gifts that can produce endurance and teach us to lean in closer to God. But to get that perspective, we need the gift of God’s wisdom.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
-James 1:5-8
God offers this wisdom freely to those who don’t doubt God’s heart for them. In the midst of hardship, we must make a choice between letting our anxiety and stress define us, or trusting that God will sustain and mature us through our difficult circumstances. True wisdom is choosing to believe that God is good in spite of my circumstances.
Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed.
In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business. Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. -James 1:9-12
Is there a better or more perfect gift that the Father of Lights could give than the maturity and reliance on God that comes by persevering through hardships? It’s the wisdom to choose to believe that God is good, in spite of what I’m going through.
In light of all this, let’s look at the lyrics to Chris Tomlin’s song.
Every good thing in my life
Comes down from the Father of lights
We now know that “good” can mean anything that draws us closer to God. Can good refer to anything else?
I have good news for you! He has told us what else is good through the prophet Micah:
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
-Micah 6:8
Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. Any opportunity we have to do one of those three things should be viewed as one of God’s good and perfect gifts.
We can do justice by joining God in his mission to put right the things in the world that have gone horribly wrong as a result of our sin and selfishness (i.e. poverty, prejudice, oppression, violence). We can love kindness by reflecting the compassion of God onto a broken and hurting world. Finally, we can walk humbly with our God by remaining close to Him, and by having a teachable heart as he works to mature us through the Word of God and through our brothers and sisters in Christ.
All the best things in this world
Money just can’t buy
So this song is not about being thankful for your home, your new car, or any other material blessings. It’s about being grateful for the circumstances of your life that have caused you to mature in your walk with God.
In NO way am I saying that you shouldn’t be thankful for those little things, or that material blessings can’t come from God. After all, Jesus tells us to pray for daily bread.. The practice of thankfulness for shelter and food is a great discipline to develop. But there is one sobering truth that we should keep in mind.
If the world didn’t give it, the world can’t take it away.
If this is true, then the inverse is also true: “If the world DID give it, the world CAN take it away.” We should be wary of allowing our financial stability, workplace success, or social status to be the thing that we put our trust in. As James warned us, these safety nets can fade away as we go about our business.
Moreover, if we gained any of these possessions, positions, or stability in a way that is not God’s Kingdom way (see Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount for reference) we should expect that the world is completely within its right to take those away from us. But there is hope!
James will go on to say:
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. –James 1:27
John Eldredge says that the “world” refers to systems that humans put into place so that they don’t have to rely on God. These systems are damaging to a creation that is meant to remain connected to and reliant upon God. We can keep ourselves unstained from the world by not participating in those systems and by living out the principles of the Kingdom of God (again, see the Sermon on the Mount for reference).
The orphans and widows James mentions were among the most vulnerable people of the first century. We should identify the most vulnerable people groups in our communities. Then we can use the material things we have to care for them, all while showing them that in God’s Kingdom, the vulnerable are protected, the orphans have a home, and the poor have their needs met. This is one of the greatest ways we can preach the Gospel!
New Testament scholar N.T. Wright has this to say:
“When God wants to change the world, he doesn’t send in the tanks; he sends in the meek, the pure in heart, those who weep for the world’s sorrows and ache for its wrongs. And by the time the power-brokers notice what’s going on, Jesus’s followers have set up schools and hospitals; they have fed the hungry and cared for the orphans and the widows. That is what the early church was known for, and that is why they turned the world upside down.”
-N.T. Wright
By taking these truths to heart (and proving so with our actions), we can be relaxed and generous with our earthly possessions and status. We can know (thanks to the prophet Micah) that the true good gift from our Father of Lights is the wisdom to walk humbly with our God, to reflect the loving kindness of God to the broken world, and to join Him in righting wrongs thus making this world look more like His coming Kingdom.
As a believer in church today, you see a pretty standard structure to the Sunday morning service. We greet each other, grab some coffee, find our familiar seating area, praise and worship, do a bunch of transitions and announcements, and eventually, the sermon. This is the current and modern format for the service. And, we seem to like it. But, why do we do it? Specifically, why do we praise God?
When I first started going to church, praise was a strange thing to me. The first few months after I gave my life to Christ, I struggled with the concept. “Why would God need us to cheer for Him? Does that inspire God? Who are we doing this for?” were my initial thoughts as I began to navigate around this idea. I totally understood the purpose of worship songs, humbling yourself to an all-powerful, all-knowing God. But, the praise songs left me a bit confused, at least at first.
I thought, “does God need a cheerleader? Do we praise Him to build Him up?” Clearly, the omnipotent God we serve and love doesn’t need our praise. Does He? Well, let’s see what the Bible says about this.
“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.” – Isaiah 12:4 (NIV)
“I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue.” Psalm 66:17
“My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long.” Psalm 71:8 (NIV)
“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” Colossians 3:16
These scriptures above reveal what I believe is the main purpose for praise. Notice the active words in these scriptures. You cannot proclaim, declare, or sing silently. This is opposite to quiet worship. This is an active and often loud way to communicate with our mouths. Think about it. Since when did anyone start their sentence with “I do declare” and not be standing on some sort of platform or stage talking to the masses? No, praise is heard. It’s a declaration of the goodness of God.
God doesn’t need a cheerleader, at least for His own benefit. While He does enthrone our praises, we don’t praise Him for His benefit. We praise Him for ours. And, apparently, we praise Him for the benefit of others as well. We put on “…a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” Isaiah 61:3
Praise is a powerful tool we can use as believers to encourage each other. We praise God together so that we can build each other up in the faith. Praise is a way to overcome fear and despair. It’s more than a singalong. It’s something you shouldn’t miss on a Sunday morning.
“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.” Psalm 145:3 (NIV)
Most importantly, we praise God because He deserves it. He is worthy of it. Think about what He’s done for you. Doesn’t that make you want to shout it from the rooftops? Ok, perhaps that’s a bit drastic, or even dangerous. But, praise is a bit dangerous, isn’t it? And, in this world, danger is all around us. I think praise is a bit more essential to us now than it’s ever been. So, let’s get to it!
