Let This Be a Place of Worship

   I think all too often we forget why we are on this earth - to worship God. And when we forget that, it is not too far behind that we start to forget what worship truly is - offering God honor and praise. Instead, we make it into an experience of what we like most or what we don't like at all... all the while forgetting God.
   One of the statements that saddens me most as a pastor is that someone is "not getting anything out of worship" - which more often than not means that they don't like the sermon or songs being sung or style of worship. I often find myself responding by asking what that person is putting into worship. As you can imagine this is not quite the response that they are expecting.
   This week we talked about how David put his all into worshipping God. It wasn't about making a memorable experience or one that he enjoyed because it personally met his needs - it was about him bestowing worth upon God for simply being God.
   Why do you worship today? What worship hang ups do you experience? And what are you putting into worship?

"I'll Go Where You Go"

   One of the most ironic things about the story of Ruth is what it has become. In particular Ruth 1: 16-17 has become a popular verse to read at weddings, pledging fidelity and loyalty. But when we take verses like this out of their context, they lose some of their beauty. We forget that Ruth being with her mother-in-law, would be as much of a reminder of tragedy as a sign of comfort. For every time the women saw each other they would be reminded of the lose they had experienced. Why Ruth was pledging to go with Naomi in the first place. And yet. And yet, according to Pastor Dale  P. Anders in his homiletics article on this passage of scripture found in Feasting on the Word, "Yet through the relationships the women already begin to break to break the bondage of tragedy. They struggle to give to each other, to act in each other’s best interest."
   This isn't necessarily a pledge to be taken at weddings, but if it is, it should remind us that we are to go through life together through the good and the bad - and Ruth and Naomi surely knew about the bad. They knew about life's struggles and hardships that had brought them to this point - the point where they absolutely had to rely on one another. 
   Who are the people in your life who will walk with you through life's darkest valleys and point you to the shining light of God? 

“Stories of Faith: Loving God with Your All”

   I love a good story. I'm now in my fourth month of being the pastor at a new parish, and a lot of my time has been spent hearing people's stories. Going from home to home to hear who they are, what relationships are important to them, and what brought them to this church. Stories are vital to who we are as human being and when we tell them, they are powerful.
    Big Daddy Weave has a song out right now entitled "My Story" which is summed up in the one line, "to tell you my story is to tell of Him." Our stories should powerfully proclaim God. But all too often we have seemed to forfeit telling our stories in favor of scolding folks. We substitute witty one liners and jabs for telling of God's goodness in our lives. What would it take to realign our lives to have our stories tell of God's love, mercy, and goodness?