Faith formation and nurturing
29 January 2009
Everyone in the church plays a role in forming and nurturing the faith of fellow disciples of Jesus — from the moment they are born into this complicated world or are enfolded into the church as children, teens or adults.
Watch this movie clip and reflect on the following questions…
:: -Do you ever wonder when a child’s faith begins to develop?
:: -Can you remember milestones of your faith journey?
:: -How have the sacraments nurtured your faith?
:: -Do you know anyone whose faith has stopped growing?
:: -What comes to mind when you hear or sing the refrain,
“You are our God, we are Your people” (Psalter Hymnal #272)?
-
The best part of the worship service
21 January 2009
Sunday morning I paused for a few moments to allow the latecomers to find a place. About to give God’s greeting, I said that we could wait and that I didn’t want anyone to miss out on this element of the worship service. “This has got to be one of the best parts of the whole service!” I said. Some might have thought I was being humorous.
I was being serious.
People stand. I raise my arms. “Grace and peace to you…” I say.
These are not my words. And these are not words from Telkwa CRC’s leadership or from church history. These are Biblical words from God Himself. As a pastor, there’s a simultaneously awesome and humbling thought right there! Think about it: Using my voice, God is welcoming you, expressing His pleasure that people have responded to His call to corporate (that is, group) worship.
The Worship Sourcebook says that these words of greeting “establish the lines of communication in worship. God always comes to us before we come to God. So it is fitting for worship to begin with Scriptural words that convey God’s greeting to us” (p. 56).
As we gather for worship, one of the first things that’s affirmed is that God has graciously brought us together, and that He is mysteriously yet wondrously present whether we come in joy or sorrow, praise or doubt. I certainly cannot think of a better way for the worship experience to begin each Sunday morning!
(Related: “Let Us Stand for the Benediction: Reclaiming the Lost Art of Blessing”
by Lee Eclov at LeadershipJournal.net.)
Prayers for the problem of unanswered prayer
14 January 2009
The other day, we had some people over talking about the problem of unanswered prayer. I prepared a short handout ahead of time that included (perhaps ironically) several prayers from sources of various eras. Here they are…
“O gracious and holy Father,
give us wisdom to perceive Thee,
intelligence to understand Thee,
diligence to seek Thee,
patience to wait for Thee,
eyes to behold Thee,
a heart to meditate upon Thee,
and a life to proclaim Thee;
through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord.”
– Benedict of Nursia
“Teach me, O God,
so to use all the circumstances of my life today
that they may bring forth in me the fruits of holiness
rather than the fruits of sin.
Let me use disappointment as material for patience.
Let me use success as material for thankfulness.
Let me use trouble as material for perseverance.
Let me use danger as material for courage.
Let me use reproach as material for long suffering.
Let me use praise as material for humility.
Let me use pleasures as material for temperance.
Let me use pain as material for endurance.”
– John Baillie
“…And thank You for the things You never gave to me.
When I wanted less than what You had in mind,
when I wanted more than I could handle at the time,
when I needed You, but turned away,
You wouldn’t let me slip out of Your hand…”
– David Meece
Evolution
11 January 2009
“Do you believe in evolution?” I was asked the other day. This is an area in which the CRC has wrestled with some of the alleged contradictions between science and Scripture, and has made a position statement.
Do I believe in evolution?
Let me tell you what I believe. I believe in Jesus Christ, that through Him my sins are forgiven, I have been made forever right with God, and I have been granted salvation. (You may hear an echo of Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 7 there.)
Okay, I realize that sidesteps the question. My point is: I wonder if we too easily say “I believe in…” Perhaps we should reserve that sort of language for the deepest matters of faith which we hold in common with other disciples of Jesus. For the rest, we can say with humility, “This is what I think/how I feel about the topic…” We can add how we are quite convinced about the matter or that we feel very passionate about it. But then we listen — truly listen — to how the other person responds, even if they have a different perspective. That way, at the end of the day, we can still say what we together believe while admitting that in other matters we may need to graciously agree to disagree.
Maybe that way some of our controversial debates will become more gracious.
Discipleship
2 January 2009
I begin with a couple quotes about discipleship that I picked up from a couple commentaries that I used for a couple messages recently. The language is strong, perhaps even hard to take. Thankfully we don’t have to figure this stuff out on our own. We have each other as sisters and brothers in Christ. And we have Christ’s gift of the Holy Spirit, giving us guidance and strength…
“Discipleship is not part-time volunteer work that one does as an extracurricular activity. God refuses to accept a minor role in one’s life; He requires a controlling place.“ (David E. Garland, Mark [NIVAC; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996], p.327)
“Faith comes when one steps into the boat with Jesus and does not prefer to remain in safety on the shore.“ (Eduard Schweizer, quoted in James R. Edwards The Gospel According to Mark [PNTC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002], p. 237)
