By Faith, Fall Music Schedule

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  (Hebrews 11:1 ESV)

I’ve been thinking of late a bit more about this concept of faith.  We all have various hopes, expectations, and things that we’d like to see happen, but what is Faith?  As we get into the fall and another season of life and ministry begins, we have plans, schedules and goals that we would like to come to fruition.  But faith is so much more than just the hope that what we plan will come to pass.  And maybe that’s the key difference.  Hope can simply be about our agenda and what we’d like to see happen.  Faith is much more about the kingdom considerations of following Jesus, and allowing the unseen work of the Holy Spirit to reboot our agenda.  By faith we have both the power and the will to do the work of the kingdom when the world is violently opposed to it.  As creative artists, worshipers, and musicians, it is faith that should set our agenda.  We practice and rehearse and “hope” we have a good worship service.  This means that we sing in tune, we play the right notes, and no other glaring train wrecks happen.

Let’s exchange that for the Biblical idea of faith.  Faith looks beyond the visible elements and has an expectation that God is at work when the church gathers.  When we encounter God in his revelation and have the opportunity to respond in obedience, then things change.  Let’s in faith pray for our church and that our hearts will soften, and that we lead a movement to live out mercy and compassion to each other in the church, to our city, and to our world.  Let’s in faith pray that holy living becomes a priority, and that we will confront long standing sin in our lives.  Let’s in faith pray that God will heal us of lukewarm faith, and exchange it for a bright witness of the gospel to everyone we meet.  These are the impossible things of faith.  But as the writer of Hebrews says, faith is connected to assurance.  By faith we know and believe that God’s work will be victorious.  Our life’s glory is to follow Christ into that victory.

Pastor Lorn Gieck

click to download a copy of the Fall 2011 Music Schedule September- December(.pdf)

A Faith Story

 

Abraham’s life was full of challenges of faith.  More often than not he had a hard time trusting God.  This never once changed the assurance of God’s promise to him, that he would become the father of many, and through him all the people of the earth would be blessed.   This painting depicts a scene from Genesis 18.  These three men bring news to Abraham that his wife Sarah will have a son within the year.  Sarah laughs at the thought, but they are quick to remind her that nothing is too difficult for God.

Read Genesis 18:1-15 and examine your doubts.  Ask yourself if there are areas in your life that you think are too hard for God.  Pray to grow in faith.

The Future of Jazz

Let’s start with a joke.  It’s a lame one, but a standard one used to poke fun between musicians of different styles.

Question:  “What’s the difference between a rock musician and a jazz musician?”

Punchline:  “A rock musician plays three chords to thousands of people, and a jazz musician plays thousands of chords to three people.”

I’ve been getting more interested in Jazz music in the last few years, starting to get to know the history of the art form, who the movers and shakers were that pushed the envelope and developed it into what we know today.  I’ve been learning of the traditional giants such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Louis Armstrong.  I’ve been checking out the Bop era with Dave Brubeck, Coltrane and Miles Davis.  I’ve also been listening to the expansion of Jazz, through artists like Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock. It’s all really great stuff.

Just recently I got my hands on a jazz music documentary.  Whereas most inquiries on the subject of Jazz dig back into the history, and into the great traditions that have been handed down, this documentary took a very different angle.  This documentary was about Jazz music today, and who the current artists are and what they are trying to say with their music.  What I found interesting, as they unfolded the narrative in various interviews of these artists, was the determination and drive that they had to find meaning in the music they are making.  They looked back on their Jazz roots, and instead of finding giants that can’t ever be topped, they find inspirations to become just as great.  There was optimism and a confidence (that honestly bordered on the arrogant) that the future for their music is very bright.  These are artists with something to say, and nothing is going to stop them from saying it.

Needless to say I found this all very inspiring.  When I look at the world around me, and my ability to engage with it, I want to have this kind of optimism.  And for us as followers of Jesus, it’s not just optimism, it’s about faith.  This is what I think the writer of Hebrews was trying to get at.  In Hebrews 11 we’re given this great overview of the tradition handed down by the patriarchs of Israel, and there’s this survey of all these heroes of faith.  And the end of this mighty list kicks off into Chapter 12:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne. (Hebrews 12:1,2 NLT)

You get this picture of someone looking forward with faith.  It’s important to understand that the book of Hebrews was written to encourage a group of people grappling with what it means to take faith that has been handed down through history, and live it with strength and vitality in their present day.  And the author isn’t even for a moment considering going backwards.  It’s about running full on forward.  And we should also remember that the situation wasn’t easy.  There were so many reasons to turn back to the safety of religious tradition or settle into the anonymity of secular life.   Life can be so much easier when you give people what they want.  But no, the choice here is to keep focused on Jesus.  Jesus is the model who with purpose walked forward, into the world announcing God’s kingdom, and in his death showed just how significantly things had changed with God’s message of freedom for the captives.

After watching a documentary like that I immediately go to the piano and practice, and I love every minute.  I desire to be challenged and to grow in my skills as a musicians, and exposure to models like that pushes me on.  Yet this journey into jazz music is so far beyond inspiration and my modest musical ambitions.    I hope, or rather I want to have a deepening faith, that extends into my practice of living.  Christ is my daily focus, Christ is my model.  He came to change the world for the better, and now has left the commission on my life.  Nothing should stop me from pursuing that with my heart, soul, mind and strength.

Pastor Lorn

 

Worship and Confession

Psalm 15

Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
Those who refuse to gossip
or harm their neighbours
or speak evil of their friends.
Those who despise flagrant sinners,
and honour the faithful followers of the Lord,
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
Those who lend money without charging interest,
and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever.

When the people of Israel came to worship, they were well aware of the fact that they were not a sinless people.  Even the most devout realized that God’s holy and righteous nature was so far beyond their ability to attain.  And so that meant that somewhere they had to deal with their failures.  Psalm 15 is one of the ways in which the priests would remind the people of their need of God’s grace.  Traditionally titled “a liturgy at the gate”, the priest would list the conditions required of those wanting to enter into worship.  The unasked questioned behind this psalm being, “who can ever claim to live this perfectly?”  The purpose of this list then is to break down self-righteousness, and the illusion that we are doing pretty good on our own.  Instead it draws attention to the little, everyday offenses and helps to bring out the reality that there is a profound need for humble repentance.

As a church this summer we’ve planned to delve into Nehemiah, and this past Sunday in Chapter 1 we find Nehemiah falling on his knees and confessing his sin and the sin of his people.  Nehemiah is a long way from the source of the problem.  You could justifiably say that he really had no responsibility at all.  Yet before God realized that he too could not ignore what was going on around him.  By implication we must look at Saskatoon and see the social, moral, ethical, and spiritual breakdowns in our city.  As worshipers of the one true God, and as the hands and feet of Jesus we must acknowledge somewhere that we may not be living up to what God want us of.  As Psalm 15 points out, we need to be a repentant people as well.

This is a fundamental and I believe transformational concept for us in our worship.  God in his lavish generosity of grace towards us will also motivate in us a joyful and generous spirit as we live an active life involved in our community.  Allen P. Ross in his book Recalling the Hope of Glory says it like this:

Worshippers who were spiritually motivated
would be in the sanctuary at times other than
those prescribed by law – it was their life.
They so enjoyed living in communion with
God that they would go to the temple anytime
they could to offer their freewill offerings and
in the process provide food for the poor and
the needy who would be there (Lev. 7:15-16).
When separated from the sanctuary, they
felt a genuine loss (Ps 42:1-1; 63:1-8)…

I wonder if this spirit of generosity is missing in our hearts today.  Is the worship of God our very life, or is it a law and a ritual in which we meet the minimum requirements?  Do we enjoy giving to help others, or do we instead focus on what we’ll lack as a result.  Do we even acknowledge that there is room in our lives for the orphan, the widow, or the foreigner, and do we make efforts to build community and communion?  The confession of our sin is beyond the things we’ve done wrong.  We also have to acknowledge that the omission of doing the right thing, when we are instructed in the Bible to do so, that is sin.  True worship in the Bible is never associated with the services and programs of the religion.  It is always connected to the life lived day to day.  In fact, there is no separation between religion and daily life in the Bible.  Every moment is an opportunity to live a spiritual life.  This is what brings life and meaning to the worship gatherings of the church.  So let us rebuild the social, moral, ethical and spiritual breakdowns in Saskatoon.  And that just might mean we have to look at Psalm 15 and at ourselves first.

I’ll close with this final scripture from Hebrews 13:15,16 -

Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

Lorn Gieck
Music & Arts

 

CD Review – Be Lifted High

There’s something about a worship album that is recorded during an actual worship event.  There’s an energy in the room that is infectious and that is very difficult to capture in the studio.  Maybe its because it never quite gets as polished as a studio album, and thus we get a little more of an immediate glimpse at the artistic heart of the worship leaders and the musicians.  One album I recently came across in this live recording category is Be Lifted High, put out by Bethel Church in Redding California.  There is a lot of really excellent songs on this collection, combined with really engaging performances.  You Are Good opens the album with a great tone of excited celebration with an emphasis on trusting hope in God’s goodness.  It’s a song co-written by Jeremy Riddle, and much of this project is anchored by his song writing.  Riddle has been emerging as a worship song writer to watch and its great to see him very active in this project.  He also contributes One Thing Remains, which is one of my favorite tracks and Furious, in which he writes a forcefully passionate picture of divine love that avoids the mushy romantic overtones, and presents God’s love in a way that a guy can really identify with.  Other standouts include God I Look to You, which communicates this very intimate focus on God and a commitment to trusting in him, and I Will Exalt which is sung by Canada’s own Amanda Falk.

If I have any criticisms its that as whole these are response songs, excellent response songs, but response songs nonetheless.  To use them in worship they really need to be accompanied with songs that have a little more Biblical meat to them, or they need to be used very intentionally with scripture.  Even for personal worship at home, to get the most out of these songs, I’d really recommend that one spend some time in God’s word rather than just letting the mind wander with inspirational thoughts.  These song writers wrote some great songs in response to what God was doing in their church and in their lives.  We don’t always get that context from a casual listen.  We should be very careful that we don’t pull songs out of context, and instead find ways in which we can apply them to the things God is teaching us in our hearts and lives as well.  To be honest its not so much a criticism on the album, but more of a reflection on how we should be more intentional in our worship.  This is really great material.

Overall there is so much to like about this album, and its packaged in such a way that the music and the art don’t distract from the heart.  It reminds me a lot of the spirit in early Vineyard worship music (if anyone can remember that far back).  The songs are simply crafted and readily accessible for the church to sing.  Any worship team should be able to play these songs.  These songs were written for the church, and we may find a few of these songs making their way into our worship.

Lorn Gieck
Associate Pastor of Music & Arts

The Lord Reigns

As a worship leader, and pastor I have to admit spending a lot of time in the book of Psalms.  It’s actually been a practice of mine every year after Easter to read through the entire book and just catch in the sweep of history how God’s people worshiped.  It’s actually really easy to just take a look at a few favourite psalms.  There are amazing examples of poetry, and many words that are peaceful and comforting.  But it would be a mistake to think of Psalms as a lightweight addition to the Bible.  There is a lot of really challenging content held in the praises of Israel.

A significant grouping of psalms is the “YHWH malak” psalms – the Lord Reigns.  This includes Psalm 47, 93, and 96-99.  One of my favourites, and one that has recently been read in our worship gatherings is Psalm 93:

¹ The Lord is king! He is robed in majesty.

Indeed, the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength.
The world stands firm
and cannot be shaken.

² Your throne, O Lord, has stood from time immemorial.
You yourself are from the everlasting past.
³ The floods have risen up, O Lord.
The floods have roared like thunder;
the floods have lifted their pounding waves.
⁴ But mightier than the violent raging of the seas,
mightier than the breakers on the shore—
the Lord above is mightier than these!
⁵ Your royal laws cannot be changed.
Your reign, O Lord, is holy forever and ever.  (NLT)

What impresses me about this short song, beyond the bold declaration that the Lord is King, is the way in which the writer talks about the permanence and the eternal nature of Gods reign.  Not only is God king now, He always has been, and He always will be.  The waters rising are symbols of all the powers that are trying to thwart His rule and reign.  God doesn’t do battle with them.  He has no need, for He stands far above all those who challenge.  God is awesome and supreme.  This is a picture of God that is meant to be absorbed and enjoyed.  It is triumphant and majestic, joyful and ecstatic.  The revelation of the Bible shows us how great our God is.

The difficulty is we are not eternal.  Our lives are bound by mortality and we get consumed by day to day worries.  And these are the things we bring to our worship.  In his introduction to Recalling the Hope of Glory, Allen P. Ross says:  “In short, our worship services have become time-bound and routine.  We have been so successful in fitting God into our important schedules that worship is often just another activity.  But it should be anything but routine and ordinary.”  Psalm 93 reminds us that God cannot be contained by us.  God is to be worshiped because He is powerful, strong and in control.  Despite our best attempts at placing ourselves and our agendas at the place of primary importance, God still stands high above all the competing idols that take us away from true worship.  Ross continues: “How can we talk casually of this Lord?  How can we merely slot him into our fully scheduled lives?  How can we think there might be more important things for us to do in life than to worship Him?”

The truth, the fact of the matter, is that the Lord Reigns.  Scripture tells us this over and over.  Our response then needs to be consistent with this.  Is the worship of God our highest priority?  Does it pour over into every aspect of our life?  Has it changed our priorities and the choices we make?  If it hasn’t we need to think seriously about what we are missing out on.  Because this picture of God we get is one of triumph and joy.  Nothing can compare to living a life in worship to our great God.

Pastor Lorn
Music & Arts

 

Summer Music Schedule

As the weather starts to warm up, I’ve been excited to finally get the BBQ out.Burgers, steaks, salmon, grilled vegetables, and baked potatoes; everything tastes great when it’s been cooked over a flame.  And when it’s all ready we as a family get to sit down together to enjoy the tastes and the smells, amid the backdrop of laughter as we share what’s been going on in our lives.

I must admit, it’s odd to think of worship as an event to anticipate, or to even associate with the party atmosphere that is described in these passages of scripture.  It’s hard to hold in tension that scripture reveals God as holy, awesome, and transcendent; and that scripture also reveals God as intimate, accessible and part of our lives.  But yet it’s there.  God has invited us to His feast, and we are to worship Him in this way. God can’t help but share His joy.  A real awakening has to occur in our lives, because I think we are often missing out.

Jesus tells a story in Luke 14:15-24 and describe a man who prepares this great feast and sends out these invitations, but no one seems interested in coming.  One has just bought some land and wants to take a look at it.  Another just bought somelivestock for working and wanted to try them out.  The last said they’d just got married, and so they didn’t have time.  Verse 18 says it clearly “They all began making excuses.”  The word excuse is well placed, for all of these “reasons”, were artificial.  They simply made their choice.

Henri Nouwen in his book The Return of the Prodigal says this:  “Celebration belongs to God’s kingdom.  God not only offers forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing, but wants to lift up these gifts as a source of joy for all who witness them.”  This joy is to be caught up in the eternal pleasures of Christ’s salvation.  The psalmist agrees:   “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11).  So in worship God wants us to experience the joy of His presence and the blessings that come with it.  We have a standing invitation. Let’s not miss out.

Pastor Lorn

Summer Music Schedule (.pdf)

The Best Seat In The House

Please come in, sit back, and relax.  We want to make sure the temperature is comfortable and that the lighting and sound give you the optimal experience – at least that’s the message our culture gives.  Every experience is focused on me, and my comfort, and I’ll only engage as much as my environment gives to me first.

Do you remember Rainbow theatre?  Maybe you still head over to Saskatoon’s budget theatre, but it’s been a long time since I’ve been there.  I remember fondly the cheap movie nights, the slightly sticky floors, and creaky old theatre seats.  But honestly I don’t give it much thought anymore, and the reason of course is Galaxy cinemas.  I’ve upsized my movie experience.  The entrance is full of flashing lights and movie posters the size of my house.  The screen is slightly bigger than the size of the moon.  And of course the seats are worth it as well; you really can’t beat the slight recline, and the ample headrest.  I really owe it to myself not to go back to the lesser experience.  Or so I tell myself.

This shapes in subtle ways the expectations we bring into the Cornerstone Church worship experience each week.  We feel like the environment needs to be a certain way, or feel a certain way in order for us to adequately worship God.  And if we didn’t worship, or connect with God, then it is an obvious issue with the environment.  Which leads me to the question:  what is the best environment for worship?

Let’s take for a minute the Biblical model of Paul and Silas in Acts 16.  They arrived in Philippi and were just doing as they usually do, preaching the good news and healing the sick, when inadvertently they offended some powerful men who had them beaten and thrown in jail.  Under close guard they were placed in stocks and left there for the night.  And of course they react like any of us under such circumstances.  They complained, threatened, called for their lawyer, and asked for a representative of the media to put their unjust arrest all over the internet and cable.  Not a chance.  See instead their response in verse 25: “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. “

If ever there was an environment that was not conducive to worship, you think this would be it.  They have wounds all over their bodies; they are cold and by all accounts should be miserable.  Yet for them this was an opportunity to enter into the presence of God.  It didn’t really matter where they were, or what the circumstances had done to them.  No, they had a joy that was beyond the reach of what was happening to them.  They knew that God is awesome and worthy no matter the circumstance.

The key here is obedience.  Instead of living life for their own agendas or desires, they were whole heartedly pursing God’s specific job for their lives.  And the suffering that resulted could not contain the sense of Joy and contentment they had.  Christ modeled this as well when He went to the cross.  Hebrews 12:2 says: “For the joy set before him he endured the cross…”.  Jesus was obedient to the Father in going to the cross.  Crucifixion wandered far beyond discomfort, into a death both shameful torturous.  But there was joy to be experienced in accomplishing the work of God.

So if we find ourselves unfulfilled and frustrated with our times of worship, it could be because we come first for ourselves.  It’s a subtle form of idolatry that puts us as the center of worship.  Should we really have the best seats in the house?  If worship is for God, then really He should be honoured with the center of our attention.  When we gather it should be to humbly consider our lives as an offering, and that extends far beyond that specific moment into every waking hour of our lives.  We are not disciples at Sunday worship, or just in the church building proper.  Being a disciple has to impact every aspect of our lives.   If our true agenda is to do the work of the kingdom and conform to the will of God, then we will find true worship no matter where we are or what is happening.  And no matter what we will live a life of joy.

Pastor Lorn
Music & Arts

Duty & Pleasure

Since the beginning of this new year I’ve really enjoyed spending some time reading the pastoral letters.  The pastoral letters are three short books in the New Testament where Paul, who we primarily know as a bold missionary and the writer of doctrine, becomes the mentor.  Timothy and Titus are on the receiving end as Paul passes on how to lead and be a positive godly influence in the very small, very young churches that are beginning to emerge in the ancient Roman world.  Part of the Roman experience was the ever present military, which the Romans used both for conquest, but also to police the population and maintain peace.  So everyone understood the role, and Paul uses this picture to give a clear picture of how the life of a committed soldier is ordered.

Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. And athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules. And hardworking farmers should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labour. (2 Timothy 2:3-6 NLT)

Paul is telling them, that believers cannot afford to be like everyone else.  This is such caution for us as Christians in North America.  It is one thing to say we are distinct because of what we believe, but another to see the fruit of that in our lives.  Have we capitulated to the shared dream of our society in such a way that we pursue security and safety in work and play as the highest of achievements?  To say we believe something is only part of it.  Being a soldier is a very practical affair, and has some pretty obvious results in victory and peace.  Perhaps our loyalty must be questioned when we look at our own results.  Are we concerned with victory or are we distracted and use our time and energy in things that are only for us.

Culturally we maybe aren’t as familiar with soldiers and the strict life of discipline they need to live.  And certainly we aren’t comfortable with the idea that we might need to endure suffering for the sake of Jesus Christ.  What our culture is interested in is the pursuit of pleasure.  And Paul talks about that here as the farmer should be the first to enjoy the fruit of their labour.  The problem in the misdirected pursuit of pleasure is that you get what you aim for.  We aim for pleasure in so many ways.  We enjoy entertainment, we enjoy security and peace; we enjoy our homes and our families.  These are all fine things to enjoy.  But they are limited.  The story of the prodigal son ends with the older, stable, good, hardworking son; angry because his brother dares to come and enjoy the peace and security of living at home again.  To which the father replies:

“His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. (Luke 15:31)

In effect he is saying, it’s not about all this stuff we have.  It’s about me.  You have me.  And you have me all the time.  This is what is great about our lives; it’s about our being together, living together, and working together.  Following Jesus is beyond religion and it’s this marvellous place where duty and pleasure meet.  It’s because we are motivated by the wonder and mystery of God revealed to us in Jesus Christ.  So as we worship and live our lives to glorify God, let duty and pleasure be unified out of love for God, and a true desire to work with our father as he builds his church in us and through us.

CD’s For Worship

Here are a couple of CD’s that I’ve been listening to lately that will have some songs make their way into our times of congregational singing.  We had a lot of excited people about the song Our God when we sang it recently.  It’s the first song off of of Christ Tomlin’s If God is For Us.

Hillsong’s latest release has a great song on it called The Greatness Of Our God which has some amazing imagery on the power and honour of our great God.  We also regularly sing the song Open My Eyes, and Thank You has been used during communing.Both releases are great to listen to and have solid mixture of revelation and response aspects of biblical worship.  Having these with you during the week can be great for personal worship.

Also, for more in-depth personal Bible Study, I really recommend a series of New Testament Commentaries by N.T Wright.  They are great to read, and very practical

Introducing Michele, Music & Arts Intern

Michele Irving has just joined us as a Music & Arts Intern here at Cornerstone Church.  We’re excited to enjoy her passion and gifts for this ministry and look forward to seeing God grow her ministry skills as she gets involved serving in worship here.  Here’s just a quick introduction to Michele, who she is and what makes here tick.

So what’s your family like?

My husband’s name is Martin.  Many of the men know my husband through the Men’s Breakfast time on Friday mornings and through Promise Keepers.  Our boys’ names are Justin and Andrew, Justin is in Grade 6 and Andrew is in Grade 2.  Our family enjoys doing activities together, board games, reading, swimming, etc.  We are continually amazed with God’s character and the on-going journey of knowing Him more.

Favourite thing in the whole world.

God’s beauty; His beauty in my husband and boys, in people, in His creation and to sing praises to the Lord and join in with others in lifting up His name.

Things you really try to avoid.

I look rather to the things that are good, pressing on to the goal (Phil. 3:12-16).

How did God bring you here?

We know that God has brought our family too Cornerstone for my Internship through answered prayer, revelation of His word and relationships for such a time as this.  Our family is excited to be here and get to know you and to serve our Lord.

What are you excited about as you get involved?

I am grateful and excited how God shapes things and about learning, growing and serving in the ministry of praise to our Lord with Christ’s body.

So do your best as a church welcome Michele and her family, and encourage Michele as she grows in leadership while here at Cornerstone Church.

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)

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