Great Are the Lord’s Works

111 Praise the Lord!

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,

in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

2 Great are the works of the Lord,

studied by all who delight in them.

3 Full of splendor and majesty is his work,

and his righteousness endures forever.

4 He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;

the Lord is gracious and merciful.

5 He provides food for those who fear him;

he remembers his covenant forever.

6 He has shown his people the power of his works,

in giving them the inheritance of the nations.

7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;

all his precepts are trustworthy;

8 they are established forever and ever,

to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.

9 He sent redemption to his people;

he has commanded his covenant forever.

Holy and awesome is his name!

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;

all those who practice it have a good understanding.

His praise endures forever! – Psalm 111

Heavenly Father, your works are truly mighty. You have given order to the universe and to my own life. And, even though I do my best to bring disorder to the world.even though I constantly reject your will for my life, you have had mercy on me.

Lord, help me to recognize what this means. Help me to recognize that in every way imaginable, you have taken care of me. You provide my daily bread. You have given me a unique calling in my daily walk. For Jesus’ sake, You forgive me when I fail. And you have told me that because of your Son’s work, even death itself will not take me from your loving arms.

Therefore Lord, help me to humble myself before you. Help me to recognize how hopelessly lost I am without you! Help me to understand that such humility is the beginning of true wisdom..so that I might all the more trust in what you have done for me through your Son Jesus.

You have been eternally faithful to me through your mighty works! Mend my broken heart so that I might be faithful in return, seeking to follow you and live according to your design.

In Jesus name I pray,

Amen.

SOTL is a solid Christian school option for kids in Brighton, Michigan area.

A couple years ago I remember playing basketball with a bunch of guys. As the game wore on one of the guys let out a string of expletives followed by an extensive apology to me for his behavior. I was up front about who I was and the guys knew I was (at the time) training to be a pastor, so in response, they would often try to curb their behavior around me.

Of course, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.and I’ve experienced this many times since then. I actually don’t think it is bad if the presence of a pastor causes people to examine their own public behavior a little bit. To be honest, it can be quite humbling as it also reminds me to be mindful of my own behavior (yes, pastors are tempted to let out a string of expletives when their jump-shot falls short too!).

The truth is that we ALL need to be mindful of our behavior in public.especially due to the fact that our behavior is a reflection of what we believe, not only about ourselves, but about God!

Yet, Jesus Himself suggested that our PRIVATE behavior is just as important if not more important. For example, when Jesus talks about prayer, he says:

.when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. – Matthew 6:5-6

Our public behavior is important as it gives a message to those around us. However, our private behavior (including our prayer life.or lack thereof) says a lot about ourselves.and it says a lot to God as well!

How often do we treat God as though He is simply a genie in a bottle? We speak to Him only when we NEED something or when others around us force us to pray. How often do you simply talk to God about your life? How often do you simply treat God as someone who is present not only in your hardships but ALSO in the everyday monotony of your life?

It isn’t bad that a pastor can cause someone to rethink their behavior. However, my prayer is that all of us (including myself), would focus on the TRUE EXISTENCE of God. God is REAL and He CAN work miracles! God is REAL and He knows what you do even when no one else is looking! God is REAL and He carries each of us in His arms!

On the one hand, it is absolutely vital to remember that we live by God’s grace! We will never measure up to who we SHOULD be! That is why God sent Jesus! We ALL need a Savior (including us pastors)!

Yet, at the same time, we need to be mindful of the reality that our everyday public AND private behavior affects the way we see HIM. To have a relationship with God is to treat Him as though He is an ever present REALITY in our lives!

May God lead us to be ever mindful of HIM, seeking His forgiveness when we fail!

Peace.

Pastor V.

SOTL is a solid Christian school option for kids in Brighton, Michigan area.

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name!

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits,

3 who forgives all your iniquity,

who heals all your diseases,

4 who redeems your life from the pit,

who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

5 who satisfies you with good

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6 The Lord works righteousness

and justice for all who are oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses,

his acts to the people of Israel.

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9 He will not always chide,

nor will he keep his anger forever.

10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,

nor repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

13 As a father shows compassion to his children,

so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

14 For he knows our frame;

he remembers that we are dust. – Psalm 103:1-14

Lord God, today help to remember who I am and who you are. I am but dust. My very life is a blessing given to me from you. You have no reason to give me anything more. Yet, you do not seek to repay me according to my sins. Instead you seek to forgive me. You seek to separate my sins from me as high as the heavens are above the earth! You seek to remove my transgressions from me as far as the east is from the west.

As such, help me to lay my burdens at your feet. Help me to set aside my own selfish arrogance so that I might be forgiven by you.and so that I might also be able to forgive others!

Today I thank you that you are a forgiving Father. I thank you for sending your Son Jesus to pay the price that I deserve. In response, help me to see myself as your child…a child that has been blessed beyond measure.

I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

SOTL is a solid Christian school option for kids in Brighton, Michigan area.

I don’t know how experienced you are with death.but I have seen it firsthand (as many other pastors have) and it isn’t pretty. Death is hard to watch.especially if it something that is dragged out over a long period of time. It is especially hard to watch when it is someone near and dear to you who is dying.

But even though it is incredibly hard to watch someone close to you suffer.even though it is incredibly difficult to come to the realization that they have died..AND.even though it can be hard to sit through a wake and funeral.I would suggest that these experiences aren’t the hardest for those of us who are forced to witness the death of a loved one.

I would argue that one of the hardest parts of death are those steps we take out of the graveyard.officially leaving that loved one behind. In fact, the closer you are to the person the harder those steps become..for as we walk away from that gravesite, we are walking back into a world that is ready to move on. We are walking into a world without that person we so dearly loved.

As we walk away, we are forced to ask the question, “Now what?”

In truth, there is a finality to those steps that remind me of the stone being rolled over Jesus’ tomb.

Jesus had gone through hell. His disciples had abandoned Him and His enemies appeared to have won. Those who loved Jesus were forced to watch Him publicly beaten and mocked. They were forced to watch the parade through Jerusalem as Jesus carried the instrument of His own death. And THEN, they watched as nails were hammered through His flesh.

Their beloved Jesus was hung on a cross and He was left there to die. Nobody came to the rescue.not even God Himself. Jesus was utterly abandoned.

And then.Jesus bowed His head and died.

Jesus’ sufferings and death are horrible to comprehend. However, I wonder if the hardest part for those closest to Jesus was the moment when they took His body off that cross and laid Him in the tomb. Perhaps, for them, the hardest part of that long day was rolling the stone in front of that tomb and walking away.

They had followed Him.but they couldn’t follow Him to the cross. That was too much.

And now.as they walked away from Jesus’ body, they were forced to envision a world without Him.

I can’t imagine what that time must have been like for the disciples. The three days after Jesus’ death must have been absolutely agonizing. The finality of Jesus’ death meant the end of all their hopes and dreams. Perhaps, as they walked away, they asked the same question that we all too often do in such a situation: “Now what?!”

But the plans of God are greater than our own.

Unknown to Jesus’ disciples AND His enemies.God’s plan to rescue humanity wasn’t over.and even though the disciples were forced to bury Jesus and walk away.God was about to do something amazing. And the truth is that God has ALSO promised to do that same amazing “something” for every single person who has died trusting in Jesus.

But the time has not yet come to discuss such matters. Until then.we walk away from the cross and we leave our sins buried with Jesus.our humble Savior who did what we could not do. Today we walk away and we wait for the Son to rise..

Peace!

Pastor V.

SOTL is a solid Christian school option for kids in Brighton, Michigan area.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,

and by night, but I find no rest.

Yet you are holy,

enthroned on the praises of Israel.

In you our fathers trusted;

they trusted, and you delivered them.

To you they cried and were rescued;

in you they trusted and were not put to shame. – Psalm 22:1-5

Have you ever had one of those days? You know what I’m talking about. The alarm goes off late.the kids are sluggishly getting out of bed.the sink is still full of the dishes you forgot to clean.AND you have somewhere you need to be five minutes ago!

There are days when I feel like I’m the only one that has these days. I coming running in to the teacher devotions I am supposed to run 5 minutes late feeling completely irresponsible. But then another day comes and I see someone else with that same look. It makes me wonder what has been going on for THEM in the past 24 hours!

The truth is that we all have plans to a certain degree. We all have a picture of what tomorrow SHOULD look like! However, despite our best laid plans, tomorrow can sometimes end up being a train wreck. Tomorrow can be a day that we merely want to survive!

Life is the same way. None of us can guarantee what will happen to us in the next year. We can plan all we want.but at the end of the day, we must acknowledge that things can sometimes get beyond our control.

At some point, each of us has to concede that God’s plans have a tendency to trump our own!

And yet, even in the midst of our frustrations with God.we can sing His praises.just as the psalmist does over and over again!

Why? Because God has blessed us beyond anything that we deserve. This is EXACTLY what we recognize during Lent. The cross is the ever present “and yet” in our lives.

It’s easy to focus on what’s going wrong in our lives. It is easy to get mad at God for not going along with OUR plans. And yet.despite our own frustrations, we can ALWAYS find something to give thanks for when we fix our eyes on the cross!

Peace!

Pastor V.

SOTL is a solid Christian school option for kids in Brighton, Michigan area.

We are rapidly approaching Holy Week. For those of you who don’t understand Holy Week, it is basically the week in the year when many Christian Churches around the world remember the central story of the Christian faith: Christ’s death and resurrection.

As such, up to this point I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the cross and what Christ’s sacrifice means for all of humanity. However, as the season of Lent rapidly draws to a close I also can’t help but feel a sense of anticipation.and there is a reason for that. St. Paul tells us that if Christ simply died on the cross, then we are still in our sins (1 Corinthians 15:17). In short, we can’t simply stop our conversation about Jesus at the cross.

Yet, for many of us the conversation DOES stop there. Of course, there is a reason for that. Death is something we see in our everyday lives. Death is a reality that repeats itself over and over every day. We come in contact with it quite frequently (even if we are oftentimes shielded from it). Whether we see a hearse drive by, hear about tragic death on the news, or experienced it firsthand, we ALL know that death exists.

However, Jesus didn’t stay dead. And THIS is where things REALLY get interesting in the story of Jesus Christ. We talk about what Christ’s sacrifice means for us every day. It calls us to live a new life. It reminds us that Jesus took the punishment WE deserve for our sins. Yet, we all long for something more. We long for peace from the daily cycle of our own sinfulness and need for forgiveness. We tire of screwing up and watching others do the same!

And we are given a brief glimpse of such peace three days after Jesus death. It is a peace in which sin and death itself no longer has power over our bodies.

In the Scripture reading below (one of my favorites), Paul speaks of a future peace that will come about when Christ returns. He tells us that “the sufferings of this present time are NOTHING compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). We don’t know EXACTLY what this future existence will look like. However, we are told that such an existence is free from sin and death. The world itself will be free from turmoil and decay! I don’t know about you.but that sounds pretty good to me!

This week, thank God for the sacrifice He made for us on the cross. However, ALSO give thanks to Him for the peace He promises.and ask that He will come soon to fulfill that promise!

Peace!

Pastor V.

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

- Romans 8:16-25

SOTL is a solid Christian school option for kids in Brighton, Michigan area.

“And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” – Luke 9:23-24

The theme for today’s worship service is “Sacrifice”. As a result, I’ve been thinking a lot about this theme.

We have a great tendency to place a huge emphasis on our own sacrifices. Often-times these sacrifices are hardly sacrifices at all. For example, canceling your cable subscription (that one’s mine J), eating healthy food, and making better decisions in general are not such great sacrifices (at least not in the strictest sense of the term). At the end of the day, they involve giving up things that we really don’t NEED!

In the same way, we as the Church, often times get wrapped up in our own particular WANTS. We want certain programs for our children and youth. We want our worship services to look a certain way. AND we want our church to have the fancy bells and whistles you see down the street.

However, most times, all of these WANTS (just like cable television) reflect our own personal preferences and selfish desires!

Consider this: the other day, I was privileged to sit down with a room full of teenagers. We were discussing the direction of our Youth Group and I was blown away by what I heard from these kids. You’d expect a room full of kids wanting to do all sorts of “fun stuff”, whatever that might include.

However, instead, the main thing I heard from these kids was a deep desire to dig into God’s Word and help their peers live a Christ-centered life by doing the same. One teenager said something like this:

“Why are we all so worried about acquiring wealth and looking a certain way when eternity is so much bigger this blip on the radar that I call ‘my life’?”

Talk about maturity.and this came from a sixteen year old!

Yes.Jesus tells us that if we want to save our life, we must first lose it. This means recognizing FIRST that our lives are defined by Christ and not ourselves. The Christian faith does not have to be an overcomplicated thing! We are called to worship God and receive His free gift of Grace. We are called to study His Word and receive His wisdom. Then, we are called to serve one another. On our own we will continue to pat ourselves on the back with all “things” we can live without. We get worked up over so many things in life that are not that important!

Instead of doing all of this, take a second to look BEYOND yourself! Stop focusing so much on YOUR life! After all.is it really yours?

Instead, focus on the life that was given so that you might receive eternal life! Focus on Christ.and His sacrifice.

For the cross can change the way you look at the entire world!

Peace!

Pastor V.

SOTL is a solid Christian school option for kids in Brighton, Michigan area.

53 Who has believed what he has heard from us?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,

and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

and no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men;

a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his wounds we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned-every one-to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth. – Isaiah 53:1-7

Heavenly Father, all too often do I hold myself in high esteem. I think I know everything.and I expect everyone, including you, to agree with me! Today I ask that you help me recognize myself for who I am.a wandering sheep that is hopelessly lost. I am lost in my own selfish desire and I need your help! Help me to recognize what YOU did to pay for my faults! Help me to recognize the SACRIFICE you made so that I might be saved from my own sinfulness!

You deserve none of these burden which we lay on your shoulders each and every day. Yet, you took ALL of them and paid for them with Your own blood.

Please forgive me and help me turn from my selfish ways.

I pray this for the sake of Jesus.Amen.

SOTL is a solid Christian school option for kids in Brighton, Michigan area.

The Call of Wisdom

20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street,

in the markets she raises her voice;

21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;

at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:

22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?

How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing

and fools hate knowledge?

23 If you turn at my reproof,

behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;

I will make my words known to you. – Proverbs 1:20-23

Lord, I know that I am not perfect. I take advantage of the grace that you give me. You offer me a clean slate, by cleansing me of my sin. Yet, I continually jump right back into the mire of sin. I love my sinfulness and ignore Your voice.your wisdom.

I know this and I need your help. Please help me to seek Your wisdom.which was fully revealed on the cross.

Pour out your Spirit upon me and create in me a pure heart. A heart which looks to you every day.

In Jesus name, Amen.

SOTL is a solid Christian school option for kids in Brighton, Michigan area.

“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only be still.” – Exodus 14:13-14

These are Moses’ words to the Israelite people as they found themselves trapped between a large un-crossable body of water and a massive army seeking vengeance. The Israelites could see the writing on the wall. They were going to die. Yet, Moses told the people to stand firm.DO NOTHING!

This simply would not do in our modern day world. We do not easily trust in things that challenge our worldview. We like to see the evidence.and when there isn’t any evidence.we sometimes doubt!

Consider the landing on the moon. There are people out there who say it never happened. However, we know that such talk is foolishness because we’ve seen the proof! We’ve seen the pictures and video! We have seen the rockets shooting off into the sky and landing in the ocean! However, just suppose that we didn’t have any image or sound recording devices. If that were the case, the naysayers might think they have the upper hand. After all, we would simply have to rely on word of mouth and TRUST that reporters and government officials were telling us the truth!

In the same way.when we find ourselves in an impossible situation (much like Moses and the Israelites) it can sometimes be hard to simply stand firm in your faith. When matters are COMPLETELY out of your hands it is hard not to squirm at the thought of standing firm and trusting in God. After all, there APPEARS to be no hope in sight!

However, the cool thing about God is that He delivers on His promises. As those Israelites stood, trapped, on the shores of the great sea..God delivered on His Word. He saved them!

And guess what.God STILL delivers on His promise to save His people.

Look to the cross..there you will see your salvation.your deliverance in action!

Peace!

Pastor V.

SOTL is a solid Christian school option for kids in Brighton, Michigan area.