Dust

 This week we read  Psalm 103:1,13-14,20-22 as we begin worship, which reads in part:

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and all that is within me,

    bless his holy name!

As a father shows compassion to his children,

    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

For he knows our frame;

    he remembers that we are dust.

A gentleman remembers that a woman is often not as strong and offers assistance.  A parent remembers that a child is often fearful and needs confidence.  This morning we praise the Lord, because we are dust.

God is not the problem.  We are. We forget we are made of dust.

This morning let's fold our hands, also made of dust, and worship our God.

It is not about the numbers

 This morning we begin worship with:

Deuteronomy 7:9

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

To know why this is said we need to go back a couple verses:

Deuteronomy 7:8a 

but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers,

Deuteronomy 7:1a

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, . . . 

We can trust God because He accomplishes what He promises.

But the degree of that accomplishment has an amplifier, or rather, a multiplier.

Deuteronomy 7:7

It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,  

Not only did He do what He said, He did so when they were small.

That reminds me . . . 

Romans 5:8

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

No matter how small our strength, nor how big our enemy, God does what He says -- no matter how small our ability to repay, no matter how big our debt.

It is about His Name

Today as we start worship we read:

2 Corinthians 12:10

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul is expressing his joy when he endures something for the sake (hyper) of Christ.  This involves His name.  He is contributing to its importance.

When we endure the same things, but do not identify with Him, we are not contributing to the weight of the name of Jesus Christ, but rather we are contributing to our own importance.  

When you express the love of Christ, without expressing His name, you take credit for something He gave you (Yes, dear reader I am preaching to myself).

He is risen!

This week, we cannot help but worship, when we read:

Matthew 28:1-6

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.

What a sight!  Imagine it.  Waking early, the woman prepared to do the loving but grim task of embalming the lifeless body of Jesus.  But as they arrived, the event that changed history occurred.

Sufficiently frightening to stun the soldiers, the calming words of the angel invited them to see where they thought he lay.  They did not have to believe the angel's word.  The angel invited them to remove any doubt.

He is risen!