Prepare to Worship – Confess Him in the Creed (May 2-3)

This weekend we celebrate with almost 20 8^th-graders as they become confirmed members of First Trinity. These young people have a completed two years of service and education in the doctrines and teachings of our church and this will be a big day for them, along with their families. But the big deal here is what they are confirming. When each was baptized, their parents, sponsors, and the congregation pledged to see that they were raised to live a life of faith in Jesus Christ. This Sunday, they will stand before the congregation and take on the pledge for themselves, beginning a whole new chapter in their walk with God.

It seems fitting, then, that Pastor’s message will focus on confessing Christ. Our look at the Apostle’s Creed just over a month ago pointed to the need to correct some doctrinal errors that were cropping up in Christendom. It is therefore a great tool to confess what we believe about God and, in particular, Jesus Christ. And that is what scripture commands us to do. Like the disciple Peter and the apostle Paul, we are to confess Christ and the truth we know about Him. For, as we see in the 9^th chapter of Romans: “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…”

The readings for this week:
Old Testament:  Psalm 119: 33-40
New Testament:  1 Corinthians 15: 1-4
Gospel:  Matthew 10: 27-33

Sunday
Gathering:  “My Redeemer Lives”
Opening:    “Days of Elijah”
Communion: “Here I Bow”
                         “Draw Me Close”
                         “Come Unto Me”
                         “Amazing Grace”
Offering:    “Spirit Fall On Us”
Closing:     “Trading My Sorrows”
Sending:    “Grace Like Rain”

Saturday
Opening:  “Days of Elijah” 
                   ”Kindness”
Prayer:   “Come Unto Me”
                  “Amazing Grace”
Communion: “Here I Bow”
Closing:   “Trading My Sorrows”
Sending:  “My Redeemer Lives”

Doors and more doors…um…where’d the floor go?

It’s a rather disturbing thing to be trying to figure out what your next steps are and to discover that the floor has fallen out from under you. Okay, not literally – there’s still plenty of earth beneath my feet. But figuratively, there’s that distinct sinking feeling that you get when what you thought was secure isn’t and there seems to be nothing to grab onto.

 

For those who read my “Closed Doors” post last week – don’t panic! I’m not going off the deep end…well, at least not any more than normal.

 

We’ve needed to work on the budget for some time now and last week’s webcast and sermon gave us the motivation to buckle up and get started. Unfortunately, that was where the fun ended. We’ve tried to be frugal and limit what we spend where we could. We don’t have cable, we don’t drink or smoke (which, health issues aside, tend to be expensive), Darcy got us a great deal on our high-speed internet a couple of years ago, and we’ve gotten really, really good deals on both of the cars among other things. We’ve tried to be careful…

 

…and it hasn’t helped. The hole is far bigger than we thought possible.

 

I won’t go into the reasons for our predicament here (not because they are personal so much as they would bore you!), but I will say that it’s been an eye opening experience. As if facing the doors that God keeps closing for us wasn’t enough, now I’m in a situation where I’m asking questions that I never thought I would ask. Do I really trust in God’s provision over my own? What about His strength? Do I believe that God truly cares about me and wants to work in our lives? Do I believe that He can?

 

I took time to worship at the church last night, singing “All Who Are Thirsty”. The chorus simply sings: Come Lord Jesus, come. Holy Spirit, come. A cry from the heart. And during that cry, I began to sing the following:

 

In You I am (we are) free, in You I am (we are) healed.

In You I am (we are) strengthened, restored and redeemed

 

Can you say that with me? I’m not talking head knowledge here. All those questions I asked above: I know the “correct” answers to them. They are in my head. But I am faced with the question as to whether they are in my heart. Do I really believe in the God that I sing, write, and even (occasionally) teach about? It’s a sobering question, but it needs to be asked.

 

I don’t know what the future holds – none of us do. But maybe, just maybe, we can start leaning on someone who does. Whaddya think?

Worship Debrief – Overcoming Debt (Apr. 25-26)

It almost seems like a pipe-dream – financial freedom! But it is possible. Following Dave Ramsey’s Town Hall for Hope last Thursday, Pastor brought us a message encouraging us to pursue that path. We learned four things about debt:

1. It cannot last – it will catch up to us;
2. It becomes an emotional burden;
3. It gives us anxiety;
4. And it can trap us.

How do we know if we have been ensnared by debt? Check out the following danger signs:

• We are living on credit;
• We delay payments or pay the minimum due;
• We are unable to tithe or save;
• We are unable to pay taxes;
• And we are always looking at “Get Rich Quick” ideas (i.e. – lottery, etc.)

As we’ve heard before and Pastor shared again this weekend, there is a path to freedom.

• Commit to becoming debt-free now!
• Start paying God & myself first – tithe and save;
• List all we own, owe, and earn – set a budget;
• Have a sale (get rid of the excess junk – you know you have some!);
• Set up a payment plan;
• Add no new debt;
• And share my plan with my creditors.

Production notes:
Saturday, 4/25 – 7:00pm:

• Small crowd tonight. They were worshippers, but we had to pull them into the sanctuary @ 7pm from the Narthex!
• Not much else to say this week. If you were there, let me know what you thought!

Sunday, 4/26 – 11:15am:

• Band sounded good from where I was standing. How about you. I’ve had some feedback, but would love more!
• Seeing little Matthew (baptized this week) lounging in Pastor’s arms was great!
• I had another Proud Daddy Moment! Darcy informed me that, during “Throne of Grace” Samuel (8) was sitting with his eyes closed and both hands raised. He later agreed that he was feeling the spirit during the service.
• I got to fill in for Sue as the Worship Assistant last minute. I probably should have known she was out of town, but didn’t.

As always, I’m looking for your feedback on the service. I had a great time of worship, but we are here to serve you. So let us know about your meeting with God this past weekend.

Town Hall for Hope

I’m sure other the other staff members will blog about this as well, but we hosted Dave Ramsey’s Town Hall for Hope – a live webcast from Edmund, OK in conjunction with FOX Business, LifeChurch.TV, and Great American Businesses. While I’ve been familiar with the financial principles Dave puts forth (they are very similar to the late Larry Burkett and his ministry: Crown Financial Ministries,) I have had little exposure to the man’s teaching. I liked what I heard. This particular webcast was less about teaching financial principles and more about removing the fear that is the dominant driving force in this recession. Among the nuggets I took away:

• The current recession has lower unemployment and inflation rates then previous recessions (he compared to the Great Depression in the 30’s and the recessions circa 1974 & 1982), there is no energy crisis, and the DOW never came close 1930’s lows.
• More than anything, we are struggling becase we fear recession…and the government and media are feeding that fear.
• We, the people, are going to fix the recession, not the government.
• This story: A pastor was visiting a farmer who had an immaculate farm. The crops were all need and weeded, the farmhouse was picture perfect, and the picket fence clean and in good repair. As he approached the house, the farmer came out to meet him in his overalls, showing obvious signs of hard work. The pastor commented: “Sir, God has truly blessed you with this farm.” The farmer replied, “Yes, sir. He has. It’s a great gift…but you should have seen it when He had it all to himself.”

Dave’s point was that we should not be waiting on the government to pull us out of the recession. Instead, we need to:

1. take action,
2. avoid “loser talk” and read, and
3. give again.

That’s good advice for all of life…and especially worship. We often come to church expecting God to meet us, but not prepared to work at meeting with Him. The work of salvation is all God’s. It’s a gift. But the work of worship is all ours. We cannot wait for God to show up in worship and pull us into the Throne room…’cause he’ll be there and we won’t see Him! We need to come in anticipation…in hope. We need to prepare for that meeting over the six days we have prior. We need to:

1. Worship regularly and exercise those “muscles.”
2. Get into regular Scripture reading and/or Bible study
3. Give, not necessarily our money, but of ourselves in service to others.

Like the joy of not having to worry about this recession, if we engage in worship and make it a lifestyle, then we may just find a whole new and wonderful world waiting for us when we arrive for weekend services.

And if you want a follow-up, join us this week for worship. Pastor is speaking on “Overcoming Debt.” It’s not even too late to prepare!

Take Your Child to Work Day

After the heavy post from yesterday, it’s probably good to let the pendulum swing back and offer something on the lighter side of life. So, I’ll tell you about yesterday.

While it didn’t seem to be very well advertised, apparently yesterday was “Take Your Child to Work” day. I found this out only because Caleb called me (at work) on Tuesday and asked if he could come with me. Others I ran into didn’t seem to know about it this year, either. Only Caleb. Hmm…

Anyway, Caleb was excused from school to come with me and experience my job. He actually worked – I had stuff to keep him busy for about ½ the day – and stayed with me the whole day. He did my stuff in the morning, then after lunch he did his homework, a couple of word searches, and watched (most of) a movie in the dealership’s movie theater. It was good to spend the day with him and a far-too-rare block of time he could call his own. Highlights (quotes may not be verbatim!):

• First task was interfiling invoices in numerical order. By 10am, the quote was: “I’m going to die!”
• “Daddy, with all this sorting you have to do, they should definitely be paying you more [money]“
• “Do [the other 3 ladies in my quad-cube] do the same thing you do?”
• “Do you have more work than everybody else? Because they keep sitting around talking while you keep typing your stuff into the computer.”
• The big smile on his face when someone mentioned my “little helper” or asked him if he minded missing school.

While I don’t know that it did much for stress relief – I wouldn’t have traded the day for anything!

“Closed Door Effect”

Maybe you’ve experienced this? You’ve been seeking God’s direction for something and following the open doors as you’ve come to them. One by one the opened doors have closed on you – some hitting you in the face – and you are left back where you started from wondering what the next step is…and if it’s worth it!

Or, maybe you haven’t.

Well, that seems to be our life right now. One closed door after another. After a few years, it starts to wear on you. You get snippy, self-focused…maybe even a little depressed and/or favoring of self-pity. God is distant. Worship is dry. Bible reading or Bible study – if and when it happens – is mechanical and stale. Oh, right…we’re supposed to pray? The drive to push through life and pursue anything falls away and you become content to just ride it out.

The Closed Door Effect.

After years of pursuing what I think is God’s calling on my life based on the abilities and experiences God has provided, I’m unable to move forward. Every “next step” I see on the horizon becomes unattainable. And God seems OK with that…like I’m supposed to stay right where I am doing the way-too-much that I’m doing now and remaining distracted from my family and the ministry I feel called to. I get the feeling that my SHAPE (as Pastor puts it) is not really meant to determine what I do, but rather just give me dreams that can never come to reality.

Then again, maybe I’ve been beating my head on too many closed doors.

Yeah, it sounds like a crisis in faith. And maybe it is. God prepares us for His plan in His way and that doesn’t always make sense to us. I may want to know what He’s up to, but He doesn’t seem to think that’s necessary at this point. It’s His prerogative – He’s God! But I can tell you, I feel like it’s adversely affecting my health, my ministry, and my family. I’ve long wondered how the schedule that I ride glorifies God, and I’m feeling worn thin enough that I don’t even want to figure it out any more.

So, what’s next? I don’t know. The scarier thing is that there are moments when I don’t want to know…or worse, don’t really care! The Closed Door Effect – things spinning inward to squish the passion and adventure out of living for God. I’m sure God knew this would happen, but I’d much rather He did something about it.

Prepare for Worship – Overcoming Debt (Apr. 25-26)

As Jason mentioned last week, these are financially stressful times. The economy is in trouble – and if you don’t know that, he playfully suggested that you crawl out from under your rock! It seems that all we hear about these days are stimulus packages, borrowing and spending money, and the government taking on more and more debt…while those of us already in debt are losing our jobs, our homes, and/or our sanity. But there’s hope!

Thursday evening we are hosting at First Trinity Dave Ramsey’s “Town Hall for Hope” at 8:00pm (doors open at 7:15). Join us for this live webcast and learn Biblical principles for money management.

This weekend, Pastor will continue looking at “Overcoming Debt.” The question in Jesus’ time was: “Do we have to pay taxes as followers of Christ, since God’s kingdom supersedes Rome?” Even today, our taxes keep going up while salaries don’t…and it’s easy to ask the same question (or others like it.) But all we have is God’s to be used as He directs. By following His word and living for Him, we can realize an incredible freedom to do all He’s laid out for us to do financially…even in today’s economy!

The readings for this week:
Old Testament:  Habakkuk 2: 4-7
New Testament:  Romans 13: 1-8
Gospel:  Matthew 22: 15-22

Sunday
Gathering:  “On the Third Day”
Opening:    ”My Reward”
                   “Throne of Grace”
Offering:    ”Give Us Clean Hands”
Closing:     ”That’s Why We Praise Him”
Sending:    ”Happy Now I Know”

Saturday
Opening:  “That’s Why We Praise Him”
                 ”Throne of Grace”
Prayer:    ”Give Us Clean Hands”
Closing:   ”My Reward”
Sending:  ”On the Third Day”

Little Guys Can Do Big Things Too!

Son2’s Karate

You may be a little tired of hearing about the Project Future Kick-a-Thon that Samuel participated in last weekend, but I’m a daddy! We’re allowed to brag a little bit. The Bible indicates that God even brags on His children every now and then. Check this out:

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” – Job 1: 8 & 2: 3

Okay, most people know the basics of what happened to Job after that. But still, God was bragging on His child. And if God can brag on His kids, so can I!!! Samuel did a great job and had a blast. He was the youngest student on the competition teams and the lowest rank ever selected. The video clip linked to above show’s his first attempt to break a wooden board – actually two boards, each about ¼ inch thick – we have the board pieces as proof.

Enjoy – we did!

Worship Debrief – Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner! (Apr. 18-19)

As I mentioned last week, the Sunday following Easter is typically the lowest attended worship service of the year…or so I’m told. The hard numbers in the office will ultimately tell the story here, but from where I was standing our attendance didn’t seem to be hurting at all! Jason brought us the message this morning, giving Pastor a break after his conference in Dallas this past week. He always does a good job and appears very comfortable in front of the congregation.

The rather intriguing title refers to Jesus’ appearance to the two men on the road to Emmaus from Luke’s Gospel – their eyes were opened to recognize Jesus at dinner when He broke bread with them. From this account we learn:

1. What we believe influences what we see. Our expectations can blind us to what God is doing, and also the facts of what really happened.
2. Jesus reveals Truth. He meets us where we are, does the unexpected, and leaves us a sufficient (but not all-inclusive) record of events for us.
3. Truth transforms our lives. Therefore we must engage truth regularly through discussion with others, reading scripture, and regular worship (including communion); and then we must respond to the truth. 

Production Notes:
Saturday, 4/18 – 7:00pm:

• We had Matt back and (mostly) healthy. He had been taken down by the flu bug that had been going around!
• My parents joined us for worship tonight. Every once and a while they float in if they are down in the Tonawanda area (they live up by NCCC). It’s a very interesting experience to be leading your parents, no matter how old you are!
• I told Jason at the outset of the service that all he needed to worry about was the absolution and the message. Then he ends up needing to do the announcements and the benediction. Oops!

Sunday, 4-19 – 11:15am:

• We miss having Annie with us. She had surgery right before Palm Sunday and will be recovering for a while. She could use your prayers!
• Props to Sandra who continues to sing despite some medical issues causing discomfort. It’s amazing how God can strengthen us to do His work!
• It was a little different having Pastor in the congregation and NOT preaching. He certainly deserves a break every now and then, but I wasn’t sure he looked like he was relaxing.

How was your worship experience this weekend? I’d love to hear about your encounter with God, so drop a note in the comments and let’s share our stories!

Kick…kick…break!

I mentioned last week that Samuel’s Karate School is holding their annual Kick-a-Thon this weekend. Students will do 500 kicks (various styles) followed demos from the Adult instructors and Youth Competition Teams.

Samuel – who just received his first rank promotion to Yellow Belt (with high praise!) this past Tuesday – is on one of the competition teams. He will be participating in a group Kata (what they call some of their forms) and, we’re told, will be doing a board break. Yes, you heard that right! Our little Samuel will attempt to break an actual wood board with his bare…um…foot. It should be exciting. And while I admit I’m a bit biased, he’s so fun to watch because he absolutely loves what he is doing.

The Kick-a-Thon is Saturday from 10:30am-1:00pm at Niagara Catholic School – 520 66^th street – in Niagara Falls (exit I-190 @ NF Blvd and turn right, then right again onto 66^th street.) Tickets are $5 (Kids 5 & under free) if you want to come and support him (or just see this board break thing!) and the proceeds benefit the Project Future Center. Refreshments will be available to benefit the Niagara Catholic Booster Club as well.

Project Future is a Christian-run Karate school and I’m told the director, Bob Heisner, will be speaking at various points during the event. Not only will you get a great sense of their mission, but I’m willing to bet you’ll get a dose of the Gospel in there as well.