Archive for the ‘Worship’ Category

25 Nov

Give Thanks

Posted by sandhillspastor in Bible, Christian Living, Praise, Salvation, thanksgiving, Worship.

The last time I visited the house at Lake George, I came away feeling good about having drained the automatic sprinklers in the lawn, and doing some other preparations for winter. About the second day of our recent cold snap, my lovely wife asked if I had turned on the heater in the well house (so much for my self-satisfied feeling). My answer: “No, I forgot all about it!” We’ll be heading up there today to see how that turned out. The last time I forgot, I discovered my mistake when I saw water running out the door and down the hill to the lake.

I just realized it’s only one month until Christmas! However, since I believe the Thanksgiving holiday comes first, I’ll focus on it today.

As we observe Thanksgiving this week, let us first acknowledge the One to whom we give our thanks. Without a Creator, who created this world and everything in it, there would be no giving of thanks. So we first thank Him for Who he is. We then thank him for our very lives, and for the air we breath, the food we eat, the shelter he provides, and so on. Where do we stop? Could we ever stop? I think not.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations (Psalm 100).

For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving (1 Timothy 4:4).

One last thing: We thank you God, for the Lord Jesus, and for the gift of salvation. I pray everyone who reads this has received that gift.
Happy Thanksgiving,

Pastor Jerry

18 Feb

Worship

Posted by sandhillspastor in Christian Living, God, Worship.

Our devotional topic for the week is worship. Man was created to worship. People worship all kinds of things, but it was God’s plan for his creation to worship Him. It seems today that worship is reserved for sports figures, movie, music and television stars, our jobs, our children, our cars, (in ranch country it might be a new “truck”), or any number of other things.

God still desires to be the exclusive object of our worship, and the reality is this… we will only be satisfied in worship when our worship is totally directed toward God. The first two of the Ten Commandments establish God’s right to be the only true God, and that He alone is to be worshiped (Deuteronomy 5:7-10).

It seems to me that we have lost much sincerity in our worship of God, and I have to think it is because we have a watered down idea of who He is. Somewhere we have gotten the idea that God is just a kindly grandfather that wants us to be happy, and that worshiping him is optional. I believe if we have a right concept of who God is, and if we will comprehend His glory and His majesty, worship will naturally follow. When we read in the Bible of men who have come into the very presence of God, we see that their response was dramatic.

Isaiah said, “Woe to me! I am ruined!” (Isaiah 6:5). When Ezekiel was in the presence of the glory of God, he fell face-down (Ezekiel 1:28). John, writing of his experience in Revelation, and recognizing the Lord, said, “When I saw Him, I fell at his feet as though dead (Revelation 1:17). And there are others I could mention.

Oh, that we would have this view of worship when we come into our churches each week! Would we not see a dramatic difference in the way we worship and in the way we respond to the preaching and teaching of the Word?

Just Wondering,
Pastor Jerry

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