Power Struggle

I’ve been having issues with technology again! These devices that are supposed to make our lives easier somehow seem to make it more difficult sometimes. For example:

• On our recent vacation, we found our baby monitor had stopped working. Upon our return I took it apart and found some broken parts causing a short…thanks to Joel (age 3) refusing to leave it alone! Some electrical tape to hold things in place and…it still doesn’t work.
• Middle of this past week, I somehow managed to leave our toaster oven on when I left for work, cremating a couple of Eggo waffles in the process! Saturday, I tried to toast more waffles and couldn’t get the thing to heat up. (Note: Samuel used it that day with no problem!)
• Plugged in my laptop on the train from Montreal to Toronto and used it a good bit of the way home last weekend. Got it out here on Tuesday, and found the transformer on the power cord shorted out. Unplugged and with a drained battery, the laptop is currently useless (grrr!!!).

The issue in all of these cases is power…or, more accurately, a lack of power. And I have realized that we can have the same problem: We don’t work because we lack power. As Christians, we need to stay “tapped in” to the power of the Holy Spirit in order to do just about anything in life that God has called us to do. Our problem is that things – like losing battles with electronics – can cause a short in our power connection.

It’s another reminder that we need to stay in constant contact with God through worship, prayer, and Bible reading. His power, through the Holy Spirit, can bring us through all kinds of difficulties, from life changing situations all the way down to…sharing the desktop computer with the rest of the family.

Worship Renewal 7 – Pray!!!

We’re down to the last step in Worship Renewal – Pray! It seems like a no-brainer to say that this should be the first step. But think about it this way: Before a concert, the bands that are playing do a sound check…with the band playing first sound checking last. The reverse order let’s you set up the pinnacle of the concert, then gives you the starting point. So it is with Worship Renewal – we’ve set up the concept and put the pieces in place. Now it’s time for the starting point.

Steve Fee hinted in the last section that worship renewal begins on the personal level. And for that to happen on a personal level, we must be in prayer. Kenn Gullicksen – leader and teacher from the Jesus Movement and founder of the first Vineyard  church in West Los Angeles – writes:

“We were created to experience an unbroken and intimate love relationship with our Father, and to live and serve from the overflow of that relationship. … We have been grafted into a vine/branch union, and prayer is the joint that connects the vine (Jesus) to the branch (us). Without prayer there is no life, let alone renewal. Prayer is the most important thing we do, or fail to do.”

Kenn gives us four ways to make this a reality in our lives:

• Show up – Choose to accept the invitation to rest, commune, and receive…and stop making excuses!
• Agree – Be honest, confess, repent, and ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart.
• Receive – Let God be your breath, His word be your daily bread, and let His mercy a grace flood your life
• Serve from the overflow – If you get to this point, you will be compelled to give away what you’ve experienced in Christ!

Kenn concludes: “Ultimately, then, prayer/abiding is our connection to the ongoing work of continual personal and corporate renewal.” Will you join me as we connect with a Holy, living God and seek God’s direction for First Trinity?

Worship Debrief – God’s Will Be Done (Sept. 5-6)

OK…who here has not experienced the willful defiance of a two-year old that is not getting his/her way? (for me, that’s every day!!) How about that feeling that, just once, we’d like to be in control of our lives?

Moses learned the hard way that when we try to take over and make things work without God’s guidance and instruction, things can go a little bad. Or, maybe a lot bad! God gave us our will, but our sin has turned it into a lever that can pull us into trouble. This weekend, we looked at Moses’ experiences and what we can learn from them as we pray “God’s Will Be Done” … and mean it!

There are three aspects to willfulness and the cue us into when we are leaning on our own will rather than God’s:

1. A lack of dependence on God…and the number 1 sign of this is a lack of prayer.
2. Asking: Can I get away with it?
3. Acts of submission to other people – that is, if there’s no submission to others (e.g.: a church (membership) or life group), then there’s probably no submission to God.

So, here is the challenge for the coming week: Make this week an experiment in the prayer of surrender! Daily, as often as you think it, pray “Your will be done, not mine”…and see what happens!

Saturday, 9/5 – 7:00pm:

•          Yes, Tom filled in for Matt again on drums. I love having flexible people in this ministry!
•          If you stayed for our closing song, “Arise, Praise His Name,” then I’m sorry. It was pretty bad! Wrong key, wrong tempo, we were not together… If you missed it, then good choice!

Sunday, 9/6 – 11:15am:

•          Tom again on drums – filling in for Jubal this time. We’re just trying to get everyone confused with who’s playing in what band.
•          Speaking of who’s in the band, we had a lot of vocalists this morning. It’s great to have all the teens involved, but I’m going to have to get more mics!
•          I actually kind of liked Pastor’s children’s message. Kids are naturally willful, so trying to get them to see what it looks like can be a bit tricky. I know…I keep trying with my own kids!
•          It was mentioned to me that my mic was hard to understand when I was speaking…at least when the band was playing. As Worship Assistant, that’s not necessarily a good thing. Did anyone else catch any similar sound issues?

Hear Our Prayer

Even in contemporary worship, there are some traditional elements that creep their way into the services. At least, that seems to happen at First Trinity. Some of these elements extend out of our doctrine – such as the Confession/Absolution of sin, the Lord’s Prayer, or the Apostle’s Creed. Others are more practical ways to keep the congregation involved in the worship service.

One of those more practical items is the congregational response we use during a time of corporate prayer following the Confession. As our prayer partner finishes praying for a request, they will say “Lord, in Your mercy,” and the congregation will respond with “Hear our prayer.” It signifies the close of one prayer and the transition to another request.

Well, the practice that crept into our contemporary worship has now crept into our home. When we put our kids to bed each night, we have a routine that includes a devotional time. For Caleb and Samuel, that devotional time includes recounting a “high-” and a “low-” point for the day. When we pray about these, I have Caleb pray for Samuel and vice-versa, and then I close out (when I am home at bedtime.) Of their own initiative they have decided that, instead of saying “Amen” and finishing their prayer, they will say “Lord, hear our prayer” so that the next person knows it is time to start. Hmmm…I wonder where they got that idea!

That’s one of the great things about regularly worshipping with a body of believers. It doesn’t matter if it’s 20 people or 2,000; if it’s contemporary, traditional, blended, Gen-Ex… There’s always a habit that we can take home that will help us commune with God and exercise our faith more consistently outside of the regular Sunday observance.

Pray for Prop. 8 (California)

I caught a snibbit of the Focus on the Family radio show this afternoon at lunch. Dr. Dobson was speaking to Pastor Jim Garlow of Skyline Church in San Diego in regards to Proposition 8, the initiative measure on the California ballot for this year’s election. In short, this is a vote on the validity of gay marriage. A vote of “yes” would amend the California State Constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. A vote of “no” would affirm the State Supreme Court’s July 2008 decision upholding the State Constitution’s current gender neutral language and allow same-sex couples to continue to wed.

Without getting into the issue on the ballot (at least not at this time,) I wanted to relate some of what Pastor Garlow said (Focus on the Family has the audio feed on their website.) There has apparently been significant aggression against those who support this ballot initiative – lots of signs supporting the amendment being stolen, pastors’ cars being keyed, car windows smashed, etc.

Obviously this is an emotionally charged issue and that always increases the risk for violence on either side. But it is disturbing to hear of an election being preceded by violence in this country. I encourage you to pray for the vote on this initiative. Pray that the voters and leaders on both sides of this issue will be kept safe, and pray we as a country will be able to disagree without the need for violence to support our position!

Proverbs 16:4a – “The Lord works out everything for His own ends…”