Jesus' Birth in Bethlehem

"Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house of the family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth."
-Luke 2:1-6

Lets start slow and get the details right. Mary and Joseph had to return to their home town, engaged, with Mary ready to give birth at any moment. They were Jewish, and in Jewish law if a man is engaged to marry a woman and she becomes pregnant and the child is not his by law he is to leave her. The bible tells us before the angel came to Joseph and told him this was the Son of God, he was going to leave her quietly because he was a righteous man. All of this is to show you the gravity of the cultural pressure on this renown couple. Why would God choose this circumstance to bring Jesus, to redeem the world?

What does this mean for our Worship?
The greatly revered couple, the earthly parents of Jesus were placed in a very uncomfortable situation, by God himself. Not to mention that there was also no place for them to stay, for a woman to give birth (no room for God in this world). Sounds like they were taken as outcasts to me. Perhaps the innkeeper saw them and said, "we don't have room for "you"."
Is God trying to tell us something? I believe so. I think he is saying, "I want your worship through comfort and discomfort." How hard is it to worship God in the moment you feel awkward, or when someone is trying to bring you down. When someone is spreading negativity, and you feel your joy being drained by them, or you just don't feel God's presence.

These moments are the hard to worship God in. God is unchanging, and longs for our worship at all times, it is the least we have to offer for someone who loves us so much he sent Jesus to save our immortal souls. This year when you celebrate Christmas, think about how comfortable or uncomfortable. Then in that moment worship God regardless. Regardless of how you feel, what you see, what you have gone through, where you are. After all look where Jesus was born. Enter Emmanuel "God with Us."

Call Him by name

El, Elohim, ElShaddai, Adoni, Jehovah, JEHOVAH-JIREH, JEHOVAH-ROPHE, JEHOVAH-NISSI, JEHOVAH-M'KADDESH, JEHOVAH-SHALOM, JEHOVAH ELOHIM, JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU, JEHOVAH-ROHI, JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH, JEHOVAH-SABAOTH. To name a few.

Check out this site to see more and what they mean.
http://ldolphin.org/Names.html

This week we will focus on Elohim. Here is what the above site has to say:
God (a plural noun, more than two, used with singular verbs); Elohim occurs 2,570 times in the OT, 32 times in Gen. 1. God as Creator, Preserver, Transcendent, Mighty and Strong. Eccl., Dan. Jonah use Elohim almost exclusively. See Gen. 17:7, 6:18, 9:15, 50:24; I Kings 8:23; Jer. 31:33; Isa. 40:1.

When simply put or summarized Elohim is usually said as "God most High."

What does this mean for our Worship?
Is God your Elohim, your Most High? Of all the things in your lift, what is at the top, the #1 most important, the most high? I might be easier to define if you think about your actions, because they speak our inner values. About what and where are your first thoughts when you wake up in the morning? Apart from work or school, running around and all the tasks of the day where is your mind during all this? Where is your heart?

Elohim wants to be the first in our hearts, or the highest. Carrying Him with you through out the day in your heart, does not have to be a obvious thing. It is an inward remembrance, just saying "you are with me", and taking God along for what ever you are doing. The truth is he is always there, but he delights in being acknowledged and put on the top of our priorities. After all we owe him at least this much, we are not our own, we were bought at a high price. God, Elohim, sent Jesus to save us from our sins, gave up his Son, part of himself to save us. As we approach the Holiday season, think of Elohim everywhere you go he is always with you.

The Name of God

Do you know the Origin of calling God "Lord?" The Hebrews were so concerned with the Holiness of God's name, as a precaution they called him Lord. The Hebrews did not want to even take a chance of accidentally taking his name in vain. This was a decision made out of reverence, and follows this way throughout scripture. The Hebrews are cited with this attitude, "Our lips are not worthy to speak The Name."

What does this mean for our worship?
In a shift to consider God in a more personal way people have lost reverence, and a grip on holiness. Our Lord is the creator of the universe, the mastermind of all we encounter with our senses, he is Good and Holy. Holy so much that people used to believe they were not fit to use his name freely. God wants a personal relationship with us yes, but he also is God, not some friendly force we can talk to. He is Lord of all, the Bible tells us that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord! Basically you will fall to your knees or be forced.
This is not intended to be harsh, just to bring up this though in our heads: What does God think of how we use his name?

In your worship of a Lord with a precious name, say what pleases him. After all a dynamic of worship is selflessness looking to do everything you can that is pleasing to our Lord God Eternal.

Sabath and work

"You shall sow your land for six years and gather in its yield, but on the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat. You are to do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. Six days you are to do work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor." -Exodus 23:10-12

Can you imagine what our society would look like if everyone followed this commandment? just imagine, because if this ever happened you better believe the world would be changed. An important thing to note is this, you only leave the field you don't harvest and give it away to the needy. There is something good for the soul of man when he works to earn his way, not having it just given to him.

Note how it is six year you work, and on the seventh rest. Six days and on the seventh rest. God has designed us to handle six days, then recover, six years then recover. Our culture would have us work 67 years then rest.

This can be taken in two directions for different people. Personally i am good at resting, an expert actually. So for me i need to focus on working for six days then resting. For many others you might have trouble stopping, from work to running the kids around you just go go go. There are different ways we keep ourselves busy. To you i recommend this: when i started my MBA a professor told me i should make a "stop doing list." In order to keep yourself rested and balanced, happy and successful. It is just this, when you start something new, you stop doing something else, or limit how much time spent on something else, maybe cut that time in half.

Another thing to note, is not all work is a job. For all you stay at home parents you are working full time, don't let society fool you, keep up some of the hardest and most important work there is, our future.

What does this mean for our worship?
Part of worship is our attitude. If we are balanced in our schedules, well rested, and focused how do you anticipate that will affect our worship of the most high God?

Cold and Darkness are only absences, and do not exist of themselves.

Copy this link and post it in your browser, to watch a short 1 min video.
The video is about a student telling his atheist professor the truth.

http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=77647fc3ce406950d943
This is a great explanation for the existence of evil. The absence of good...
What do you think?

One Foundation Lasts

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock." Matthew 7:24-25

We all know this verse, and we have heard it many times. When brought up it is usually to talk about building your house on the rock, to endure with God, which is true. A key part that is often passed over is this "and acts on them" which is the point Jesus is trying to make. The foundations is his analogy, but this is really a call to action.
James points this out "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only." The significance of this passage is Epic. Jesus is wrapping up the sermon on the mount, started in Matthew 5. His final parable is the two foundations, a call to action.

What does this mean for our worship?
It is one thing to have not heard the truth, to not know it in your heart, and be passive or lazy. It is another to know the truth, hear it, and do nothing. Jesus is challenging us to action, we have heard the truth now go and Do. I am not speaking of salvation through works, i am talking about action. You will know if people are Christians by their fruit. If i call myself a Christian i should have the fruits of the spirit. They should be obvious, you cannot hide good fruit, not flaunting, but recognizable. Our love needs to be obvious, visible to the world. Worship is an action, a decision. Someone who worships in spirit and in truth, exudes the fruits of the spirit naturally. That person is gentle.

Can you name the fruits of the spirit? Comment if you know them.

Depth of Dedication

"Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel assembled with fasting, in sackcloth and with dirt on them (E.s.v. says earth on their heads.) The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth the confessed and worshiped the Lord their God." -Nehemiah 9:1-3

First of all this is amazing that all of Israel gathered fasting, and dirty. Imagine Americans going to church dirty, none the less fasting. Next lets clarify a fourth of the day is six hours. So for six hours they read God's word, when was the last time we read God's word for a half hour? Then for another six hours they confessed their sins and worshiped God. That is depth of dedication.

What does this mean for our worship?

I'm not saying we need to get together dirty on Sunday and spend twelve hours in this fashion. But imagine what would happen to America if all the Christians spent a day like Israel did here. Imagine what would happen if just one church did this, can you visualize God moving? All this aside, we tend to lack in the depth of our dedication. We small times to God, which is good, yes, very good. But our lives and world would be changed if were had this kind of depth, an entire nation fasting and worshiping God, confessing their sins... You know God is listening. I encourage you to take a deep step, into dedication to God, out of his love and sacrifice for us. His step was deeper than any we can take. How great his depth of dedication.

Joyful Noise

"Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into joyous songs and sing praises!
Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody!
With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!"
-Psalm 98:5-6

So we are to make a joyful noise, i thought we were supposed to sing pretty. Funny isn't it, God wants a joyful noise from us so what do we do? We sing pretty, or try to that is. We have to get away from the idea that only good singers can worship God in a church service. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. You know the best part? God knows your voice, he knows how he made you, he is not worried about intonation or rhythm. He just wants your worship and praise.

This reminds me of the book of exodus, God tells Moses at the burning bush that he is to deliver Israel from Egypt, from pharaoh. Moses essentially tells God, don't you know i cant speak well, i stutter and fumble. God reply's, who do you think makes the blind, blind? Who makes the deaf, and the dumb? After this God tells to take Aaron his brother to speak for him. But Moses acknowledged that God made him this way, and for a reason. God wanted to work through Moses' weakness.

What does this mean f fo foo for our worship?
God knows how he made us, so don't worry about how you were made.
God will work through you just the way he made you. In the gospel Jesus heals a blind man, and the Pharisees ask him, "who sinned this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus said, "neither, he was born blind so that the glory of God may be revealed in him."
Wow, so no matter your vision, or your voice you are this way so that the glory of God may be revealed. Let us make a Joyful Noise!

The Cure for Anxiety

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; not for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.” -Matthew 6:25-29,
“Do not worry then, saying, “what will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear for clothing?” For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” -Matthew 6:31-34

I don’t know about you, but I am prone to thinking about the future. Part of my personality is strategy so I am always running scenarios in my head. If I cannot find a best scenario, I start to feel like Jesus is telling me the above. “Don’t worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.” In attempting to plan sometimes we go overboard, and our nerves go with it. Our society has anxiety issues; Prozac and Zoloft sell more than gumdrops, and lollipops. How much of this could be healed if we had faith that God is watching our backs. The birds don’t plant anything to eat, they don’t really work at all, but God feeds them.
We sometimes lose sight of what we need, and Satan convinces us that everything we want is what we need. When our need becomes our want, we are more prone to worrying. Because it is difficult to acquire all we want, even assuming that those wants are healthy and realistic.

What this means for our worship.
To Worship God involves trusting him, knowing he will provide for us. The Jews would call him Jehovah-Jireh, the provider. If we know he will provide us with our needs, our anxiety dissipates. When Moses was on mount Sinai receiving the law, God sustained him for forty days and nights. Moses didn’t need to spend any time or thought on food or even sleep. God sustained him completely. Read the book of Exodus if that sounds interesting to you, it is a colorful majestic book.
All this to say we should not bring worry to worship, if anything we should let go of our anxiety and hold onto God’s presence.
We don’t want to let go of everything and be empty when we worship, we need that passion that desire and heart for God. Let go of distractions yes, hold on to the Good.

What makes you anxious? Are there any wants that have become needs in your mind? Do you bring worry to your worship of God?

Living Sacrafice

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” –Romans 12:1 (NASV)

This verse has some serious implications on our lives as Christians. Not only is this a foreign idea to our culture, it requires a totally different way of living. In order for us to be considered a holy sacrifice and be acceptable by a Holy God we have to be the following things: Holy, which is set apart, sanctified, righteous in God’s eyes, without blemish, or defect.
Leviticus 6:6 says, “Then he shall bring to the priest his guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without defect from the flock.”
Leviticus 2:1 says, “Now when anyone presents a grain offering as an offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flower.”
Leviticus is full of these examples, without defect, fine or finest, choice of the flock/herd. We are supposed to live our lives in this way, a sacrifice Holy and acceptable to God. As the best of all our people, not to incite competition, instead that we should love God so much to worship him in this way.

What this means for our worship?
This is how we are supposed to live, as a sacrifice, which is our service of worship. We are supposed to live, present our bodies to God as Holy sacrifices, that is our service of worship, wow! Whichever way I say it, the weight of this verse remains. How does this affect what we eat, anything we put in our bodies, or on our bodies if our bodies are to be a living sacrifice to God? A sacrifice is given, the bible also says, “For I am not my own I was bought at a high price” (that price being Jesus the ultimate sacrifice.) For those things we put in our body or our minds, television, games, emotions or anything we put in our hearts. Those things should also be acceptable to God, if we are living a life of worship, as a sacrifice.
This in conjunction with our bodies being temples of the Holy Spirit makes us think twice about how we are living. Our decisions, how we spend our time, and what we do with our bodies. This is something I wrestle with, so I am preaching to the choir.

Recommended listening: “Everything Glorious” by David Crowder Band

Light of Man

John 1:4-5 “In him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend (or overpower) it.”

The first three verses of John talk about the Word being with God in the beginning and everything being made through him, the Word representing Jesus. I talked about this last week. What is incredible is the connection made here. Jesus is the word and in him is life, and the light. This is somewhat mysterious to our understanding. Yet there is power in this connection “the darkness did not comprehend (or overpower) it.” The darkness cannot comprehend or overpower the light. By calling upon the Word of God, we have life, and light is on our side.
The darkness cannot overcome the light think about it.
When was the last time you watched a sunrise, flipped on a light switch, or gazed at a star, which is an unconceivable distance away yet its light reaches us just the same. Darkness has got nothing on light. Darkness cannot withhold light, can’t overpower it, and can’t even slow it down.
There is a recent scientific study conducted that revealed human beings emit light. Through out the day the levels varied, peaking in the afternoon. The most focused place emitting light is our faces. The reminds me of Moses after being on the mountain with God receiving the law, and his face shone with light because of speaking with God. Now we know everyone emits light, Moses was just a little brighter than us.

What does this mean for our Worship?
If Jesus is the Word, the Life, and in him is Light, how bright should we be? Bible verses like these come to mind, “Let your light shine before all men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven.” If our faces emit light more than the rest of our bodies, is that because we speak out of them? Listen out of them; receive light into our eyes by them?
Here is a thought, instead of using the term light year to measure the distance light travels in one year. We could use it to measure how much darkness has been overcome by light in a given year. How many light years do you want to be a part of? With the Word of God, the Truth we can overcome the darkness.

Power, to the Word, in the Word, is the Word

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being.” John 1:1-3

There is great power in the Word of God, what is often not mentioned when God’s powerful word is spoken of id this; as written in the book of John “the Word” is Jesus. If you replace “the Word” with Jesus in John 1:1-3 there is no denying the powerful implications. This is part of the mystery of the trinity.

Lets go back to the beginning, Genesis 1:3, “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.” Hold on just on second, God said. God spoke with words… and light came into being, he then goes on to separate the light from the darkness. With words God created the heavens and the earth, created light, wow! If Jesus is the Word, and all things were made through him, by God. That makes me think twice about something we do every day, speak, with words.

We tend to underestimate the power of our words, they can bless and curse, and as Christians our words have God’s power behind them. Listen to what Jesus says to Peter in the book of Matthew 16:19b, “Whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Jesus repeats this in Matthew 18:18, not specifically to Peter but to the disciples. Authority is in our words, with the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Jesus is saying here, that what we say in his name, those words once said, are backed by Him. The words are backed by Jesus the authority on words, after all he is “the Word.” All things came into being through Him, light, the cosmos, us… power in the word.

What this means for our worship?

If we are to worship God in spirit and in truth we have to speak truth. We must choose our words carefully, they carry weight, they can curse and bless. Proverbs 15:2 says, “The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable (or good), But the mouth of fools spouts folly.” We need to be careful what we say, and only speak truth. We must refrain from spouting folly, or blabbering we might call it. So that when we speak people listen, and care about the words we speak. After all “Let there be light,” was short and sweet and look what that did.

Let me know what you think? This hits home for me, how about you?

Additional random tid bit: Notice it was Genesis 1:3, and John 1:1-3, crazy

Falling for you for Eternity

Falling in love is a popular topic in our culture; love for eternity is not always as popular of a topic. It can be hard for us to imagine love for an eternity when there are fewer examples of long lasting love in front of us. I don’t pretend to know the reason that divorce is more common than it used to be. I also don’t know why long lasting friendships are harder to come by. I do know that as a people we are more selfish in general. Selfishness can make love a difficult thing, for whoever’s involved.
The bible gives us the example of Jesus, who said, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, yet not as I will, but as You will.”-Matthew 26:42. Jesus surrenders his desire to live on earth, is crucified, and rises from the dead to save us from death. For the first time in history man (with the exception of Moses, Elijah, and Enoch) can live eternally with God, all due to the self-LESS-ness of the savior.

The selfless part of love is difficult for us also, in a world that wants to claim credit for itself. Our celebrities are fixated on themselves, and it runs deep in our culture. It is almost impossible for us to see what others need when we are focused on our selves, with eyes as unidirectional as an owl’s.

What this means for our worship:
Jesus is inviting us to a wedding feast, to an eternal love, a relationship that will not end. As hard as it is to understand eternity, eternal love is insane to us.
Our challenge today is to get past our culture’s inhibitors, to live selflessly, to look to others needs before our own, to love with a fierce strength, to fall in love with God for eternity. Part of this love is surrender, and requires selflessness, look to Jesus for the strength to be selfless.

Recommended listening: “Forever and Ever ect.” By David Crowder Band

Be Lifted High

Be lifted high, high above all, exalted, higher than our hopes, glorified, above the heavens, higher than the earth, atop the mountains, over our greatest achievements, Creator of the universe, arraigned in glory, clothed in light, bright and morning star,
Over all our pride, in our hearts, higher than our desires, greater than our understanding, surpassing in majesty, victor over death, beyond everlasting,
Eternally Gracious king, merciful Lord, gentle Father, Holy God!

What this means for our worship?
This Psalm is to be read with “Be lifted high” before every phrase. Ex. Be lifted high atop the mountains, be lifted high over our greatest achievements, and so on.
Read it out loud; there is power in the spoken word. God spoke the universe into being, speak his praises, and sing unto him this blessing. If feels great in our souls to give him praise, for he alone is worthy.

Recommended listening: “Came to the rescue” by Hillsong united, from the album United we stand.

Yet you have Not returned to me...

“But I gave you also cleanness of teeth in all your cities and lack of bread in all your places, Yet you have not returned to me,” declares the Lord. –Amos 4:6

Some times God is just trying to get our attention. It can be hard for us to understand a God who takes away, or withholds. The key is he does so out of love, one reason can be to get our attention. I am reminded of my wife, who when I am not as attentive as I could be says, “Pay attention to me, lets have some quality time.”

I think that is all God is saying, I want to spend time with you I miss you. It is easy for us to go through out our days without consciously thinking about God. Not all examples are as drastic as that in Amos 4, but they are all God saying, “can’t you tell something is missing.”

What this means for our worship

I love this verse because it is food, something so necessary, and is used as an illustration for the bible. God’s word is the bread of life. The best way I know to keep God with me all day, is start with Him. I’ll read the Word and pray, it doesn’t have to be thirty minuets, just five. Then I feel great, having started my day with God. Then through out the day I think about what he taught me that morning.

There is power in someone who can worship, truly worship God through all their mundane daily tasks. There is something special in corporate worship, when we gather together on Sunday mornings. To hear worship rising to God as a sweet aroma, a fragrance of praise, but the whole picture is for us to worship together and apart. One person who lives this way can do much good, an entire congregation that lives this way could change a community, or state. There is no limit to God’s power, especially when we are willing to let him work.

Woship is a lifestyle

The word worship get thrown around in churches all the time these days, but what is it? Brother Laurence said his desire was to worship God through every act of his life. He said, "The time of prayer does not with me differ from the time of business." He called it the practice of the presence of God. That my friends is dedication, and a lifestyle.

A lot of the time we think worship is just the part of church when we sing. We say worship service, and branch out our understanding of Sunday morning to be all worship. But we still withhold the true meaning from ourselves. Worship is offering ourselves to God. It has nothing to do with our likes and dislikes, and has everything to do with his Love. Worship is an attitude, a way of living. Constantly offering our hearts to the creator of the universe. I can worship through any daily task, and it makes everything worth doing.

God seeks worshipers that worship him in spirit and in truth. Man i want to be that worshiper.

When considering my activities, i have to ask myself, "can i worship God while doing that?" if the answer is no, the activity is never worth doing. To me this is sin, anything i cannot worship God through, or something that brings my worship to a screeching halt.


-=What does this mean for our worship?=-
This means it is a constant decision, an offering, always sacrificing our personal desires for the desires of God's heart. The reward is the ongoing presence of the Great shepherd, and an overflowing joy that is unsurpassed.