Music Schedule, January – April 2011

As we walk through the season of Advent and we await the coming of Christ, I’ve spent a little time looking at some of the scenes after the resurrection.  These are the moments where Jesus essentially leaves His last important words with His followers; moments that I think might’ve been absorbed very carefully.

In John 21, Jesus has a final conversation with Peter.  After Peter’s three times denial before the cross, Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?”  It’s repeated three times, and each time Peter is increasingly irritated.  But the challenge is repeated, each time to drive home the reality of the question, “Do you love me?”

I’ve been reading a book lately that’s really challenged this in me.  Simply put: I should love Jesus.  If Jesus is God’s son, then like the first of the Ten Commandments, I should have nothing above Him.

“How do I know what I love the most?  By looking at my life outside of Sunday morning.  What do I enjoy the most?  What do I spend the most time doing?  Where does my mind drift to when I don’t have anything to do?  What am I passionate about?  What do I spend my money on?  What makes me angry when I don’t get it?  What do I feel depressed without?  What do I fear losing the most?  Our answers to those questions will lead us straight to the God or god’s we love and worship”  (Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin).

So Christmas is coming, and it can go two ways: we can set ourselves up for disappointment if our love of gifts, and holiday tradition don’t live up to our expectations.  Or, we can put Jesus first in our lives, and then find the appropriate responses to all of what happens this Christmas.  “This doesn’t mean that we can’t love anything else.  Or that we shouldn’t love anything else.  But we can’t love anything in the right way unless we love God more.”

So I pray God’s blessings on you this Christmas, blessings that come out of your love for Him.

Lorn

click here for the music schedule (.pdf)

Just Another Sunday

We just happened to be in the mall last week and were looking through a stack of books and came across this one called Dadzooks.  It’s full of all the little tricks and stunts that dad can do to impress the kids.  It ranges from magic tricks like coin palming, shadow puppets to stunts like the invisible elevator, and the good old detachable finger.  It shows you how to do balloon animals, juggling, as well as some good riddles and stories.  With Christmas coming and lots of family together, and in our family that includes a fairly large gang of children, this seemed like a helpful book when everybody starts looking for something to do.

One of the things in this book is the Homemade Volcano.  I love the homemade volcano, and this took me back to grade 6 science.  We were gathered in the hallway just outside of our classroom with this large paper Mache mountain structure, and our teacher added the required vinegar to the baking soda.  I think he was expecting a nice calm flow of lava bubbling out of the top.  Instead, it literally exploded!  There was a massive flow of lava that shot up and was splattering the ceiling, and all of us.  It seemed to last forever.  It was amazing!  What could have been a forgettable, seen it a million times, average chemistry trick, became an unforgettable moment for our class to experience.

This happened again when I was in grade 10 chemistry:  A little tin can, a little salt, and a little acid.  We had a chemistry teacher that had been in the school forever, and he liked to show off the stuff had had stockpiled over the years that were currently banned for our safety.  So he put just one drop of acid in and flames immediately shot up.  I’m not sure if there were scorch marks on the ceiling, but the smoke drove the whole class blindly out in to the hall hacking and coughing.

These are two classic cases of assuming the inevitable: that the way it’s always been is how it will be today.  They were expecting routine, and didn’t respect the power of the chemicals they were dealing with.  And in both of these experiments there was a significant amount of power and energy that could be released.

Worship is another instance where a significant amount of power and energy can be released.  But sometimes I wonder if we underestimated the God we are dealing with.  If worship is to be in spirit and truth (John 4), then “No Sunday is a normal Sunday.  No Meeting is a routine meeting.  Every time we gather, we can expect God to do the miraculous, transforming us into his image as we behold his glory.”  I’m quoting a book here by Bob Kauflin entitled Worship Matters.   And he refreshingly points us to what will take our Sunday worship gatherings beyond the routine.  It’s not new, but for some reason we forget this truth so often.  So what is the secret to successful worship when the church gathers?  God’s word:  “Our churches can’t be Spirit-led unless they’re Word-fed.  A church that’s dependant on the Spirit’s power in its worship will be committed to the study, proclamation, and application of God’s word in its personal and congregational worship.”

Notice that there are two parts to this, personal and congregational.  I have to ask the question: how personally committed are you to the study of God’s word?  Do you read it, meditate on it, and discuss it in your home, read other books that expand your knowledge of scripture.  God’s word is amazing, but you have to study it, talk about it and apply it before you will worship in truth.  As for the congregational part of worship, if its word centered, then that should be our focus, and how we measure our experience as a body.  So I don’t evaluate whether or not I like the song’s melody, beat or groove.  I evaluate the song on what it says about God, the cross of Jesus, and the meaning of holiness, and grace.

Worship should never be routine.  It’s never just another Sunday.  And as we invest our lives in the word of God, then the truth of God will no longer be contained in us, and true biblical worship will begin to explode from us.  And that means that the gospel would be spread in word and in action to the world around us.   That would be a church to remember.

Lead Pastor Blog II.XIII

In January 2010 I shared a series of messages from Matthew 25 the story Jesus told about the sheep and the goats. This story is not one of those that makes you scratch your head wondering what Jesus meant. No, this one is crystal clear but honestly some of us still don’t get it.

The essence of the story is that Jesus is saying whatever we did or did not do to “the least of these” we did or did not do to Him. To the hungry we gave food, to the thirsty we gave water, to those needing clothes we clothed them and to those sick or in prison we helped them or we did nothing.

Throughout this year we have been reminded at various times and in various ways about this passage which leads me to believe it is a message God wants Cornerstone to hear.

On the second Sunday of Advent this year God met us at church in a startling fashion. He drew our attention to the needs in our own city. Not Toronto or Vancouver but Saskatoon. The way that happened was through Hands On Ministries down on 20th. We had Rick Langlais come and share at our Friday morning men’s breakfast. We left disturbed with the news of what is happening within our own city. We discovered that we have over 250 prostitutes under 16 working our streets. These are under age children so as Rick said let’s call it what it is….these girls are being raped.

It was a sobering, disturbing Sunday because we were talking about the coming of the Messiah. It should be nice and Christmas-like but the truth is Jesus came to change lives. He did not come so we could have church. He did not come to make us comfortable. He did not come so we could be nice. He came to change our hearts and to give us a message to share.

Early on Monday morning a group of men met at a local restaurant to answer…what’s next? Here is what the plan is. 1. Rick Langlais will speak at Cornerstone this Sunday December 12th. 2. We will have an orientation session with police and Rick to train us how to work in that part of our city. We will announce the date once we have it arranged. 3. We want a team of people to commit to praying. This is a spiritual battle. We need to address it spiritually in prayer. 4. We will be putting together a small team to give leadership to this area of our church. 5. This Sunday and every month in 2011 on the second Sunday we will gather dry goods/groceries to give to Hands On for the work they do with children. If you go back and look over those action plan steps all of us can be involved somewhere.

Let’s start this Sunday by bringing groceries and listening to Rick. Be prepared to be challenged. Rick is blunt.

God is at work. There are a host of stories I could share already about the work God is doing. I told our men this morning if we get into this we aren’t doing it short-term. We either commit or we don’t do it at all. Remember the vision…Cornerstone will be a church that changes the world by the grace of God. This is the kind of stuff that changes the world. Are you ready? Pray.