Scripture
–
Psalm
51:1-17 NIV –
Have
mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great
compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me
from my sin.
For
I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you
only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in
your verdict and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful
from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the
womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
Cleanse
me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let
me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide
your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
Create
in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do
not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me
the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Then
I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.
Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and
my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
Open
my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.
You
do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in
burnt offerings.
My
sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God,
will not despise.
Ephesians
4:1-16 The Message –
In
light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a
prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet,
run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting
around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that
goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in
fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of
love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.
You
were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay
together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and
is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with
Oneness.
But
that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the
generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is,
He climbed the high mountain, He captured the enemy and seized the booty, He
handed it all out in gifts to the people. Is it not true that the One who
climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who
climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed
out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his
gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher
to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s
body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each
other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults,
fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.
No
prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods,
small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to
know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our
lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step
with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so
that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.
Bob’s
thoughts:
The
church has monitors on the side walls so people farther back can still see, and
I did find a cross, so I was happy.
A
little girl completely changed my perspective of the friendliness of the church
when she walked by and stopped, smiled, and waved. How delightful!
The
pastor referred to how God is fine tuning us as we are called to equip others.
I guess the question is, how willing are we to accept this fine tuning?
Most
of my work has been in construction. I might have argued with architects and
engineers, but I never tried to redirect the electrician to finish the plumber’s
work or any other tradesman to do a different job. We worked together to
complete the project. Do we do this in church? Or do we hold tightly to a
particular service only because we have “always” done this job? We need to lose
our ego in church and let God use us where and when He wants.
At my
last regular job, I supervised about 100 people in various fields. On
reflection, I realize I could have been a better boss had I questioned who aspired
to be more than they were and who may have been a better fit for a particular
job.
I
remember a woman in church who was shunned from every place she tried to serve.
I asked her if she would maintain the pencil racks in the pews. She loved it,
was outstanding in the attention she paid to it, and best of all, she became
part of the church she served. She had ownership with that job. The lack of ego
let her be happy to serve Christ and she went on to serve in other ways.
Jan’s
thoughts:
As
we pulled into the parking lot, we were taken aback to see building materials,
equipment, and a sizable project well underway as there was no indication of
this on the website. Following worship, the pastor was kind enough to take time
to explain the intended purposes of this new space. It is planned to be in
addition to the existing building and to be used as space for outreach to the
community and surrounding areas for a variety of purposes.
As
worship time was close when we arrived, we located restrooms with the help of the
prominent signage, then found seats in the sanctuary.
The
large sanctuary is modern-looking with brightly stained-glass windows lining
the walls. In lieu of the usual single projection screen in the front, two sets
of monitors are well spaced down each side. It was easy to read the rear-most
monitor from where we sat almost all the way back.
I
was surprised when a few people pinpointed us as visitors, since this is a
multi-service church.
The
sermon was entitled “Finely Tuned,” referring to the joy when things work
properly, be it a piece of machinery or a group of people, such as the church. He
said when it is the church, members need to be humble, grateful, and gentle
while speaking the truth in love. It is necessary to stay focused on Christ and
lose our pride and ego.
I
think, ideally, we should all try to exhibit these characteristics every day,
no matter who we work with. It’s a virtuous and challenging goal.
Our
prayer for this church:
Father,
we pray Your blessing on this, Your church as they move forward in working to
show Your love and care to those outside their walls. Show Your power and bless
their work in mighty and surprising ways. Amen.
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