Ascribe

This morning we begin worship with:

Psalm 96:7-9 

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!

The key word is "ascribe" (yaw-hab').  It is said using the ancient highlighter of repetition.  Three times the reader is asked to give God his due worship.  It is a simple word meaning to give.

Silence in the face of God and surrounded by His creation is unacceptable.  Worship should naturally flow from us.

Never may we be silent, particularly around our children and grand-children.  Let us always ascribe to God the greatness due His greatness, love, and providence.

In the mirror

This week we begin worship with:

1 Corinthians 13:12

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

This verse comes after the wonderful definition of love (1 Corinthians 13:1-7), which concludes with this important statement:

1 Corinthians 13:8

Love never ends. 

While we easily recall that love bears all things, we often forget that for that to be true, it must then never end.  

Leaving the reader stunned at our insufficiency to love in this way, Paul goes on to speak of our transition through life.  At that end of which we experience one more transition from observing in a mirror dimly to seeing face to face.

Reading too quickly, we might assume that the person whom we will see face-to-face, is Christ.  While that is true, in this passage Paul is describing when we will be seeing ourselves face-to-face.  

For we will then see clearly for the first time all our faults. We will then know, as Christ does, all the times that He had endured our sin and still loved us.  It is His love that never ends.

Blessed

 This week we begin worship with:

James 1:2-4 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 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 in nothing.

James was present and heard the Beatitudes spoken by Jesus himself.  But when he heard them, he did not believe.

John 7:5

For not even his brothers believed in him. 

He was not even present at the crucification, so Jesus transferred the responsibility for the care of Mary to John (John 19:25-27).  

But James was converted sometime after the crucification and had a key role in the Jerusalem Council where the Gospel was extended to the Gentiles (Acts 15:12-21).

Then the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-11) became real for him and in this verse he bursts forth with joy over the accomplished ("Blessed") nature of those future ("shall be") blessings.

Sealing the deal

Many of us have had that sinking feeling returning from the lawyers office or leaving the banker’s desk.  “What have I done?” rings in our head as we have just committed to a lifetime of mortgage payments. 

This week we begin worship with a verse that comes from a chapter (Jeremiah 32) where Jeremiah receives the prophecy that because of Israel’s sin Jerusalem would fall to the Babylonians, but will eventually be restored.  The prophecy contains the instruction that Jeremiah should buy a field, even while the siege is taking place, because God is faithful and it will once again be in the hands of Israel.

It is after that purchase, after recording that deed, that Jeremiah exclaims:

Jeremiah 32:17

‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.