Awe

Awe [noun]

1: an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime

2: archaic

a: DREAD, TERROR

b: the power to inspire dread

Would awe describe sung worship within our churches? Not about the music, the execution, the band, or creativity, but in the way that the people of God see and respond to God as we gather?

In Jesus, we are invited to ‘…with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’ Hebrews 4:16, but sometimes I wonder if this confidence can quickly shift to being casual, flippant, and irreverent.

Many low-church traditions do an excellent job of articulating and celebrating the immanence of God - the reality that God is knowable and near. Many high-church traditions do an excellent job of articulating and celebrating the transcendence of God - the reality that God is above and completely other than His creation. Either of these realities can - and should - inspire our worship and devotion, but so few traditions (much less Christians) equally grasp these truths.

One of the themes that has emerged from my recent reading has been how living post-Enlightenment means that our world - and therefore our minds and daily lives - are emptied of wonder. What use is wonder when we have knowledge, understanding, and explanation for so many things? Agreeing to the spiritual - and therefore mysterious - reality of our world can often be seen as an intellectual cop-out. A failure to work toward a knowable resolution. But perhaps wonder and knowledge do not need to be on opposing sides, but can in fact hold hands in the way we approach God as the people of God.

Our people inhabit a wonder-less world, are we leading them toward the transcendent reality of God as we gather?

Tuesday Refocus: August 8

“Receive the gospel with gratitude, marveling that there is a God who loves us so much as to allow Himself to be devoured by death so that we might live.” - D.J. Marotta

The Gospel is not just for the moment of salvation but for every moment in the life of a believer. The person and work of Christ, the beauty and wonder of God’s saving work is something no mind can fully grasp. The gospel is something in which angels long to look and understand, and it will be the song of heaven for all eternity - but does it move you to marvel today? Has the gospel become commonplace - remembered in a prayer of thankfulness - but nothing that reorients our gaze, our affection, our attention, or our time? 

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” - 1 John 2:15-17

Father, may we marvel today at the gospel. Your life laid down so that we may live. And may our song echo the Psalmist: “I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD (Psalm 118:17).” Amen.

Marveling, 

AB

Tuesday Refocus: August 1

“For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
    evil may not dwell with you.

The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
    you hate all evildoers.

You destroy those who speak lies;
    the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
    will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
    in the fear of you.”

“Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies;
    make your way straight before me.

For there is no truth in their mouth;
    their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
    they flatter with their tongue.

Make them bear their guilt, O God;
    let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
    for they have rebelled against you.” - Psalm 5:4-10

While an abundance of transgressions casts us out, the abundant love of God welcomes us in. 

His love is steadfast and immovable. The welcome and love of God mean that we no longer bear the guilt we rightfully deserve, but instead, it has been cast out so that we can be welcomed in.

Father, thank You for Your abundant love greater than the abundance of transgressions we have to offer. Jesus, we are grateful, Spirit help us remember, in Christ’s name, amen.

Amen,

AB

August 9: Tuesday Refocus

“Solitude well practiced will break the power of busyness, haste, isolation, and loneliness.” - Dallas Willard

The more we fill our lives, the emptier they become.

The more we empty our lives, the richer they become.

Solitude may seem the opposite of what we want, but it makes space for that which we truly need. But this is life in the upside-down kingdom of God. It is a Kingdom where Jesus tells us in Matthew 5 that…

The poor in spirit receive the kingdom of heaven (v3).

Those that mourn will be comforted (v4).

The meek will inherit the earth (v5).

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied (v6).

The merciful will receive mercy (v7).

The pure in heart will see God (v8).

The peacemakers will be called sons of God (v9).

Blessing, rejoicing, and gladness accompany the heavenly reward and kingdom of heaven for those who are persecuted and maligned for the sake of Christ (v10-12).

These are the principles of an upside-down kingdom. A kingdom where the last will be first, the first will be last (Matthew 20:16). A kingdom where to lose your life is to find your life (Matthew 16:25). A kingdom where the proud will be humbled, and the humble will be exalted (Matthew 23:12).

Lord, may what is true of your kingdom be true of our lives. For Your glory, amen.

Amen,

AB

May 17: Tuesday Refocus

“Faith is a refusal to panic.” - Martyn Lloyd-Jones

One of my favorite writers has spoken regularly in the last several years about the free-falling anxiety, and fear that we are all experiencing being human these days. And why shouldn’t we panic? We are more aware than ever - some of us for the first time - of our deep vulnerabilities. Our inability to control our lives.

Why should the life of a follower of Jesus look any different? Faith.

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

Faith is a gift, that is secure in the one who authors and completes our faith (Ephesians 2:8, Hebrews 12:1-3). It is faith that enables us in peace to lie down and sleep because it is the LORD that makes us dwell in safety (Psalm 4:8). It is faith in Christ that gives consolation to cheer the soul of the heart with many cares (Psalm 94:19). It is faith that we can believe God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do.

Lord, like your apostles, we ask that you increase our faith. And that the natural outworking of our faith is trust and peace as we rest in You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Learning,

AB

February 8: Tuesday Refocus

‘Faith is ever occupied with God.  That is the character of it; that is what differentiates it from intellectual theology.  Faith endures ‘as seeing him who is invisible’ (Heb 11:27): endures the disappointments, the hardships, and the heartaches of life by recognizing that all comes from the hand of Him who is too wise to err and too loving to be unkind.’ - A.W. Pink

There are many careless words spoken in the language of faith.  

You didn’t have enough faith.  

Have more faith. 

In Matthew 8, a storm is tossing the sea-worn disciples as Jesus is asleep in the boat.  They cry out for Him to rescue them, and Jesus says ‘Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?’  But it is the storm, not the disciples who receive a rebuke: ‘Then He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.’ (Matthew 8:26).

Make no mistake, the disciples are witness to Jesus’ strong words against faithlessness at other times: “And Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?…” Matthew 17:17

But like God calling out to Adam and Eve in the garden - ‘Where are you?’ (Genesis 3:9) - the questioning of faith as an invitation to draw toward God not away from Him.  Because of Christ, the invitation from God for the follower of Jesus is always to come, always to draw near (Heb 10:19, Matt 11:28, Rev 22:17).

Keep drawing near.

‘…for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.’ James 1:3-4

Lord, thank You that You do not stand far off, but You have drawn near to us. And now we can draw near to you with full assurance of faith, with hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  Help us to hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for You who promised is faithful… (Hebrews 10:22-23)

Drawing near,

AB

Songs As Prayers

Our songs are doing more than filling space before a sermon.

Our songs are forming us, shaping us, giving us language.

Our songs speak to us and speak for us.

Our songs instruct us as little pieces of portable theology.

But our songs are also prayers.

Prayers that say:

‘This is what I believe!’

‘This is what I desire to believe!’

‘Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!’

Our songs are confessions of sin, and professions of faith.

Our songs remind us of who we are, and who God has always been.

As worship leaders we must choose songs with wisdom and discernment.

As congregations we must sing out - not mumble - these prayer songs.

We must sing our prayers like we believe they are true.

We must sing our prayers like we are trying to believe they are true.

‘The one who sings, prays twice.’ - Augustine

September 21: Tuesday Refocus

‘Life has no other purpose than to be rendered up to God in adoration and gratitude.’ - C.F.D. Moule

All is grace.

The very breath in our lungs, placed there by God (Gen 2:7).  The beating of our hearts, the movements of our bodies and brains gifted to us by the One who knows the number of our days, and has numbered the hair of our head (Ps 139:16, Luke 12:7).

And what is the purpose of this grace and goodness?  What is the aim of this life and breath and everything (Acts 17:25)?  To glorify God and enjoy Him forever - as the Westminster Shorter Catechism reminds us.

All is grace.

All is gift.

All is given by God to be given back to God in adoration and gratitude.

‘The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein…’ Psalm 24:1

Father, would your lavish grace, goodness, and gift to us lead us to respond to you in adoration, gratitude and surrender.  Because all we do is give back to You what always has been Yours.  In Christ’s name, amen.

Grace,

AB

September 12: Liturgy + Set List

• ALL CREATURES OF OUR GOD AND KING

Call To Worship: To all who are weary and need rest, to all who mourn and long for comfort, to all who feel worthless and wonder if God cares, To all who fail and desire strength, To all who sin and need a Savior, This church opens wide her doors with a welcome from Jesus Christ, the Ally of His enemies, the Defender of the guilty, the Justifier of the inexcusable, the Friend of sinners, welcome. [10th Presbyterian Church]

The human heart is one prone to forget. So we mark days that have marked us to remember. One of the reasons the Church globally gathers on Sunday is to remember the day that Jesus rose from the grave. Every Sunday is a mini Resurrection Sunday, a mini Easter celebration remembering that Jesus was dead but now is alive. Yesterday we remembered it has been 20 years since September 11, 2001. A day that has marked us as a people, a nation, and the world in subtle and significant ways. It is good to remember. When we walk through these doors we remember that we live in a broken world and we ourselves are broken. We do not take a break from reality for an hour or so, we carry these remembrances with us and remember a deeper truth, a deeper reality - and that is that Jesus is alive, ruling, and reigning. Seated at the right hand of the Father. The One who created the universe sustains it by the word of His power, there is nothing that has ever happen that has surprised Him, nothing has threatened to topple His rule as King, and there is nothing so broken that He cannot redeem and restore, that He cannot turn for His purpose and plan, for His glory and our good. So we remember that Jesus is alive. We remember September 11th. We remember the brokenness of the world and the brokenness of our sin, and we remember that Jesus is alive, sovereignly ruling, and reigning. Let these songs be songs of remembrance, remembering the heart and character of our Savior and King.

• IS HE WORTHY

• GOODNESS OF GOD

Message: Ephesians 5:25-27

Christ cares and cared enough for His Church to lay down His life for Her - She may be bruised, but She has never been and will never be a lost cause. We are going to sing ‘Jesus Paid It All’ - and I want you to sing this as someone who has sinned, and someone who has been sinned against. And I want you to remember the blood of Jesus is enough to cover the sin you have committed, and it is enough to cover the sin against you. We sing not hoarding forgiveness, because the blood of Christ is not just for me, not just for you, but for His Bride. We sing as the sinner, the sinned against. We sing as the forgiven Bride of Christ.

• JESUS PAID IT ALL

• IN CHRIST ALONE

August 31: Tuesday Refocus

“Thy death is my life, Thy resurrection my peace, Thy ascension my hope, Thy prayers my comfort.” - The Valley of Vision

The death of Christ is life for us.  This reality is evidence of an upside-down Kingdom.  A Kingdom ruled by One who came not to be served, but to serve (Mark 10:45).  One who emptied Himself and became obedient to the point of death (Phil 2:5-9).  It is in His death that we live - dying daily to self to truly find Life (Gal 2:20, Matt 10:39).

Because death never has the final word - not in an upside-down Kingdom, not ever.  There is peace in knowing though the Prince of Peace died, He has been raised, and gives peace not like the world - but gives the Peace of His presence with His people (Is 9:6, Jn 14:27, 1 Thess 4:14, Matt 28:20).

Not only did He die, not only was He raised, He has ascended to the right hand of the Father (Rom 8:34, Jn 20:17).  He completed His work, accepted by God, and we can rest knowing that His righteousness is now ours (Phil 3:9, Col 3:1, Heb 10:12).  Our Hope is secure anchoring our souls in heaven (Heb 6:19).

And there our Anchor rests - making intercession on our behalf before the Father (Heb 7:25).  Our Savior and King, the One who in a glorified body now stands, bearing eternal scars, having been tempted and tried in every way like we have been and will be, and yet has been without sin (Heb 4:14-16).  He prays for us.

Jesus, there is no life, no peace, no hope, and no comfort more secure and significant than what is ours in and through You.  We are grateful people, may we live like we know these things are true.  In Your name, amen.

Believing,

AB

August 24: Tuesday Refocus

‘I beg you, Lord, let the fiery, gentle power of your love take possession of my soul, and snatch it away from everything under heaven, that I may die for love of your love as you saw fit to die for love of mine. Amen.’ - Francis of Assisi 

The love of God: 

Fiery enough to awaken hearts of stone and turn them to hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).  

Gentle enough to not break a bruised reed or extinguish a smoldering wick (Isaiah 42:3).  

Perfect enough to cast out fear (1 John 4:18).

Deeper than feelings or emotions, it is the very person of God (1 John 4:8).

It is God who in love sends His Son (John 3:16).  

It is God who in love welcomes enemies as friends (Romans 5:10).  

And it is God who in love reveals Himself exposing any of our attempts to find love outside of Love Himself.

Lord, in the middle of our half-hearted pursuits, and divided affections, reveal a greater glimpse of Yourself to us.  For Your name sake, amen.

Love,

AB 

August 10: Tuesday Refocus

‘I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.’ - Charles Spurgeon

There is perhaps nothing that exposes our hearts to ourselves more than trial and trouble.  We discover what we truly value, and where we are rooted and grounded. 

Jesus said that He is the vine and we are the branches, and He invites us to abide in Him (Jn 15).  But when we respond to trial and trouble attempting to muscle through, grit our teeth and bear it, or ignore it and pretend like it’s not there - really what is being exposed at that moment is that we abide in ourselves, not in Christ.  And those are shallow roots.

We can abide in Christ now by actively looking to Him, actively resting in Him, actively trusting Him, actively treasuring Him.  Abiding in Christ will not mean we are free of any trial and trouble, in fact, Jesus says in this world we will face trial and trouble (Jn 16:33).  But when we abide in Him, we can be rooted and anchored deeply in Him even in the midst of trouble and trial.

Yes, every one of us will face trial and trouble in this life, but Christ invites us to take heart - because He has overcome the ultimate trial and trouble.

Jesus, we are grateful that you have overcome the ultimate trial and trouble, and you are with us in our own trials and trouble.  Let us abide deeply in You, as You abide in the Father, amen.

Taking heart,

AB