Worship Devotions

Below you’ll find 93 worship devotions I wrote for our Sunday morning church bulletin. They serve a fourfold purpose:

1. To welcome the people who had come to church that morning. One of these devotions was the first announcement they saw in our church bulletin every Sunday.
2. To give them a fresh slant on the nature of worship.
3. To invite them to prepare their hearts for worship.
4. To join me in the glorious exercise of worship.

WELCOME!

“Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abraham drove them away” (Genesis 15:11).

While Abraham was offering an animal sacrifice to God, impatient vultures descended on his offering. He could have become discouraged and given up. He could have said, “Oh well, I had good intentions of worshiping the Lord, but it didn’t work out.”

Instead, Abraham drove the vultures away. He allowed nothing to interfere with his worship of the Lord.

What “vulture” threatens to devour your offering of praise to Christ today? Maybe anxious cares about your family or distracting thoughts of your business. Guilt from your past, worries in your present, or fears of your future may be hovering, vulture-like, over your attempts to worship the Lord freely today.

These birds of prey are never far from any of us. So let’s do what Abraham did. Let’s drive the vultures away from our hearts. Better yet, let’s ask the Holy Spirit to do that for us.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Abraham said to his servants, ‘The boy and I will go over there and worship’” (Genesis 22:5).

God had recently asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Abraham didn’t hesitate to obey. After he, Isaac, and his servants reached the foot of the mountain, he told his servants to stay behind and explained that he and Isaac would “worship” the Lord.

Abraham could have told his servants, “God has ordered me to murder my son. He must be off his rocker! Don’t you agree?” It took strong faith to resist the temptation to resent the Lord for this. For Abraham, faith made the difference between murder and worship.

Without faith, we can’t worship the Lord, even if we gather in church to sing hymns, bow in prayer, and listen to God’s Word. As we engage in the acts of worship today, let’s not neglect the all-important attitude of worship, which is faith in Christ.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Jacob had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven” (Genesis 28:12)

A ladder from earth to heaven is exactly what you and I need! It will bridge the gap between this sinful earth and God’s glorious heaven and allow sinners to live with God!

In John 1:51, Jesus reminded Nathanael of Jacob’s ladder and told him that it came down on him (Jesus). That implies that God didn’t make this ladder so we could climb up to heaven. Instead, he made it so that Jesus could come down to us. In other words, Jesus is himself the ladder that reaches from heaven to earth.

As a result, when we put our faith in Christ, Jesus carries us straight into God’s forever family.

Aren’t you glad you don’t have to climb a ladder to get to heaven? There must be ten bazillion rungs in that ladder, and we’d run out of strength and fall for sure!

Today let’s worship Jesus, who came down to us when we were unable to climb up to him!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!” (Genesis 28:17)

After hearing a message from the Lord in a dream, Jacob awoke and exclaimed, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!”

We sing, “Our God is an awesome God!” So his presence here makes this an awesome place, and that means our time of worship here can be the gate of heaven.

Many consider church a boring place, anything but the gate of heaven. Yet some do share Jacob’s awe over the house of God. They are the ones who, like Jacob, hear God’s voice in the house of God.

Today our Lord wants to speak to your heart. Open yours to him, and by God’s grace, when you leave here today, you’ll be able to say, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!”

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven” (Genesis 28:17).

These words were spoken by Jacob after God met him in a dream. Maybe like Jacob, you’ll have a surprise here at church today. You expected to see a few pastors, some ushers, some friends, but perhaps you didn’t expect to meet God.

The Lord is here to receive our worship, to hear our prayers, and to speak to us through his Word! He’s here to comfort, strengthen, challenge, and equip us for his service!

Maybe you’ll miss something said in my message this morning. You might overlook the beauty of a song. You may not connect with a friend you thought would be here. But God is here, so be sure not to miss your personal appointment with him!

My prayer is that each one of us will be able to say with Jacob today, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven” (Genesis 28:17).

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8).

The words above are from the fourth of the Ten Commandments. The word Sabbath means “rest.” It’s the opposite of work. Our corporate worship on the Lord’s Day is meant to be more than resting from work. It’s a spiritual rest in the salvation Jesus provides. Instead of working to earn God’s favor, we rest in the finished work of Christ for us on Calvary’s cross. We contribute nothing, and Jesus contributes everything. As an old hymn puts it:

Nothing in my hands I bring,

Simply to thy cross I cling.

As we begin our worship, let’s remember that our presence here earns us no merit with God. Instead, we celebrate the merits of Jesus’ crucified body and shed blood on our behalf.

That’s a cause for tremendous rejoicing, isn’t it?

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped” (Exodus 34:8).

For many people, church brings a spiritual lift. I think the best way to get that lift is to lower ourselves in worship before our Lord. The mystery of worship is that the way up is down.

Are you in low spirits today? Maybe events from the past week have discouraged you, plunged you into depression, or given you a bleak outlook. You need a lift.

You can get it right here. The secret is to humble yourself before our Lord in worship.

Jesus is the supreme example of this. He taught us what humility is all about when he submitted to the cruel cross in obedience to his heavenly Father’s will.

In faith let’s bow low before our God and trust him to lift us up in the process.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Fire came out from the Lord and consumed the sacrifice…And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy” (Leviticus 9:24).

“Fire came out from the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord” (Leviticus 10:2).

In each of the two passages quoted above, God ignited a fire. In Leviticus 9, he lit the fire on a sacrifice that made atonement for the people and so brought them forgiveness. In the following chapter, God lit a fire that killed two priests who were breaking God’s law.

This is a picture of how God deals with sin today. The same divine judgment that fell on Jesus as he became our substitute on the cross and so made atonement for our sins will fall on all the people who reject Christ’s sacrifice yet think they are acceptable to God in their sin.

This morning I invite you to worship with me the Savior who lovingly took the judgment that we as sinners so richly deserved.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“You shall have no other gods except me” (Deuteronomy 5:7).

We human beings are incurably religious. Everyone worships something or someone. There are no exceptions to this rule. Human life and worship are as inseparable as sun and light. There is no such thing as a pure atheist. If we don’t worship the Lord Jesus, we’ll worship money, a house, a reputation, some movie or music star (as in, “American Idol”), or something else.

Someone said that whereas God warned the ancient Hebrews not to have any gods besides him, today he would rebuke our society for having no god at all. But the first of the Ten Commandments doesn’t say, “Be sure to have a god.” Instead, the sense is, “Be sure to have the right God.”

As we celebrate Jesus today, let’s rejoice not merely that we’re worshiping, but that we’re worshiping the right God!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“You shall have no other gods except me…You shall not make for yourselves an idol” (Deuteronomy 5:7-8).

What’s the highest activity we Christians can take part in? Many would say it’s evangelism—the winning of lost people to a saving knowledge of Christ.

As great as evangelism is, it isn’t an end in itself but a means to a greater end. We seek to win people to Christ that they might worship God through Christ. This makes our Lord, rather than people, the benefactor of our greatest activity.

In the first two of the Ten Commandments God tells us to have no other gods except him and not to worship an idol in his place. Both deal with our worship. Here at First Baptist we stress evangelism, all right, but primarily so that people made in God’s image can experience the exquisite joy of worshiping him.

With that sense of fulfilling our highest calling, let’s enjoy worshiping our magnificent Lord here today.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Deuteronomy 5:12).

The word Sabbath means “rest.” This special day of the week reminds us that we must rest in what Christ has done for us on the cross. We can do nothing to earn our salvation.

If you’ve ever been told by a doctor to stay in bed for a few days, you know how hard it is to rest.

In the spiritual realm it’s no different. We want to do something to earn our salvation. But that’s the problem—anything we do falls short of God’s standard, which is perfection.

That’s where grace comes in. God sent his Son to do for us what we never could have done for ourselves—to purchase our salvation while we were bankrupt because of our sin.

As we worship today, let’s rejoice in all that Christ has done for us on the cross by God’s grace.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God” (Judges 7:15).

God had just told Gideon to take a mere 300 men and wage war against thousands of Midianites. That command sent a chill down Gideon’s spine, but here in Judges 7:15 “he worshiped God,” as if to say, “Lord, I’ll trust you.” That same night Gideon and his 300 men routed the army of Midian.

Today God will speak to us in his Word. Let’s agree even before we hear it to trust everything he will tell us. Then when we leave, we can say we’ve truly worshiped God.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“The Lord came and stood and called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’

“Then Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening’” (1 Samuel 3:10).

Did you hear about the husband who complained to his friend, “My wife says I never listen to her…at least, I think that’s what she says”?

Some husbands are miles away from their wives.

It can be the same here in church. Our presence here is no guarantee that we’re listening to God. So let’s make a conscious effort to listen to the musical lyrics, the prayers, the sermon, and one another. And in all of that, let’s also listen for the Lord’s voice. He wants to speak to us today!

When God spoke to Samuel, he was quick to reply, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” God honored that in Samuel’s life, and he’ll honor the same listening heart in our lives today.

So let’s dare to echo Samuel’s words to the Lord: “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions, and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped” (2 Samuel 12:20).

This verse occurs right after David received the news that his one-week-old baby had died. All that week David had refused to eat, prostrated himself on the floor, and prayed for the Lord to spare his baby. We know from the Psalms, most of which David wrote, that he could pray powerfully.

But the child still died.

The amazing thing is that David did not question God, he felt no bitterness toward God, and he even “worshiped” God.

That’s unconditional worship. No wonder the Bible calls David “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14)!

Maybe you’re in a crisis today. Your marriage is falling apart. Your children are going astray. You’re losing your health. You feel depressed.

May God bless you! And I invite you to experience the joy of being a person “after God’s own heart” by giving him your unconditional worship here today.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD So the LORD put him to death” (1 Chronicles 10:13-14).

Saul was the first King of Israel, and the Lord put him to death for the sins he had committed.

In the Gospels we read of another king whom God put to death—Jesus. But Jesus wasn’t put to death for any sins he committed, because he lived a perfect life. Jesus was put to death for the sins other people had committed.

After King Saul died, his followers were soon executed and his kingdom came to an end. But after Jesus died, his followers received eternal life in his indestructible kingdom.

Saul failed as the king of God’s people and died for his sins. Jesus triumphed as the king by dying for sinners.

That’s what I call “amazing grace.”

I invite you to join me this morning in worshiping our triumphant and amazing King, Jesus!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name! Bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord” (1 Chronicles 16:29).

The verse above tells us to “bring an offering” when we worship the Lord. It’s easy to think of worship as receiving something—good music, warm fellowship, an inspirational message. But more than just receiving something, worship is giving something.

What do you have to give Jesus today? Thanksgiving? Praise? Love? A financial offering?

Maybe the only contribution you can give the Lord is a heart burdened with sin. Don’t despair! You’ve come to the right place! A cross on Mount Calvary stands as testimony that Jesus will accept even that. Whatever you have, give it in worship to the Lord Jesus, and he will gladly receive it—and you!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:1).

Some people come to a worship service as if they were attending a play. They consider the people on the platform “the performers,” God “the prompter,” and themselves “the audience.”

That’s the way it works in the entertainment world, but in the church the roles get reversed.

You in the congregation are the actors, the people who are responsible for worshiping God.

God is the audience who receives our worship. Everything we do here is for his pleasure.

The people on the platform (worship team, pastors) are the prompters. We prompt you, the actors, to express your praise and worship to God.

In this celebration of worship I invite you to leave behind the “entertainment mindset,” become more than spectators, and give your best for the pleasure of the true audience, our Lord Jesus.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together” (Psalm 34:3).

Whoever heard of a solitary celebration? When your joy overflows, you can’t help sharing it with others.

Jesus’ three parables in Luke 15 illustrate this. After the shepherd found his lost sheep, he called his friends and neighbors together and said, “Rejoice with me!” After the woman found her lost coin, she also summoned her friends and neighbors and said, “Rejoice with me!” And when the Prodigal Son returned home, his father killed the fattened calf and threw a party. His joy was so great, he had to share it with others.

That’s why we come together here at church. Worship is a celebration of Jesus, and when you celebrate, you just can’t do it alone.

So I extend to you the psalmist’s invitation when he said, “Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.”

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Taste and see that the LORD is good” (Psalm 34:8).

Dr. David Larson, research psychiatrist at the National Institute for Healthcare Research, reports, “We studied the elderly who had hip fractures. Christians got out of the hospital twice as fast, because faith prevents depression.” He also cited lower levels of blood pressure for church attendees than for those who stayed away from church.

How does Dr. Larson account for this? He says, “God is good!”

That’s what David said in Psalm 34:8! We must be careful, however, not to put God on the level of an aspirin tablet. In worship we magnify our Lord not just for the benefits he brings us, but more for who he is.

We know from experience that God is good to us, but we know from Scripture that God is good—period. He has no flaws, and therefore, we can place our lives in his hands.

Then, whether our blood pressure is high or low, whether we spend little or much time recovering from surgery, we can trust this Lord to meet all our needs.

I invite you to worship with me that awesome God!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“So that your ways may be known on earth, and your salvation among the nations, let all the peoples praise you” (Psalm 67:2-3).

In the Scripture above, the Psalmist prayed for converts and worshipers. He wanted the nations to come to the saving knowledge of the Lord and then to praise him as a result.

Maybe you’re a Christian. Great! So now it’s time to be a worshiper. Jesus is the Lord we worship today. We’re here not just to enjoy the experience but to give God the pleasure of our praises.

So in our worship today, let’s do more than seek our own blessing. Let’s give God the glory he deserves.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!” (Psalm 103:1)

We usually think of a blessing as something God gives us. He blesses us with health, relationships, food, an income, salvation, etc. But did you ever stop to think that we can bless God in return? In Psalm 103:1 the psalmist told himself to bless the Lord.

Just think—we can bless the heart of God by loving him from our own hearts. That’s what worship is all about, and that’s why we’re here.

So let’s dare to ask the Lord to make us a blessing to his heart today.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so” (Psalm 107:2).

I know it’s important to you when you come to church to hear a message from the Lord. But I want to remind you that he also wants to hear from us, for Psalm 107:2 says, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.”

That implies that worship is a two-way street. It’s not only listening to God through his Word but also speaking our own messages of adoration to him in song, prayer, praises, and the deep feelings that words cannot explain that the Holy Spirit lifts to heaven for us.

During this time of worship, let’s all tell the Lord how much we love him. If you’re redeemed, say so today from your heart, and God will be sure to hear you!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name be the glory” (Psalm 115:1).

It’s tempting to come to church with an attitude that asks, “What’s in it for me? Will I like or dislike the music? Will the sermon feed me spiritually or center around something I can’t relate to?”

When people’s felt needs go unmet, they sometimes change churches or quit altogether.

I do want God to meet your need here today. But let’s also remember that biblical worship is meant for our Lord far more than for us. Psalm 115:1, quoted above, reminds us of this.

This morning as we worship together, let’s ask, “What’s in it for our Lord?” Then let’s answer in personal ways as the Holy Spirit leads.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’” ( Psalm 122:1)

A newspaper article once described a church worship service as follows: “An old person greets you at the door and hands you a badly mimeographed bulletin. You sit in an uncomfortable pew, stare at the back of someone’s head, sing 400-year-old songs, and listen to a lecture on theology. Then they ask you for money and kick you out.”

Doesn’t sound very desirable, does it? Then why do we come here?

Because we know God through his Son, Jesus. If not for that, church would be as tedious as that newspaper reporter described.

In the verse quoted above, the psalmist said he was glad to be invited to the house of the Lord. I hope you’re glad to be here today. If you are, that’s good evidence that you know Jesus, who takes what the world regards as drudgery and transforms it into a delight.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“I stretch out my hands to you” (Psalm 143:6).

In a worship service, some people like to express themselves openly. For others, that’s not their style. Here at First Baptist we have room for both types of worshipers.

If, for example, lifting your hands to our Lord Jesus helps you draw near to him in spirit, then by all means do that. It is a biblical form of worship, for Psalm 143:6 says, “I stretch out my hands to you.”

If the lifting of your hands is not your style, don’t feel forced into it. It’s not really the art of our worship that counts with God but the heart of our worship.

As long as our worship comes from our hearts, it will touch God’s heart. So relax and be yourself!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet! Praise him with the harp and lyre!” (Psalm 150:3)

Many people attend church for the excellent music they hear. The psalmist said that was a valid part of worship when he wrote, “Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet! Praise him with the harp and lyre!” (Psalm 150:3).

But we must be careful not to come to church merely for what we get out of it. Someone said, “The pastor may be as dry as chalk, the worship leaders may sound like a rusty hinge, the organ may have a case of asthma, and there may be a sanctimonious hypocrite in every pew. This is beside the point. We attend church not merely to receive; we come to give” (Love Carved in Stone, pp. 64-65).

Well said! The real music of worship comes from our hearts, not from manufactured instruments. Still, those who play the instruments here do a good job of tuning our hearts to sing our Lord’s praises, and we’re very grateful to God and to them!.

So let’s sing notes of love and praise from the bottom of our hearts as we worship Jesus today.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150:6)

The book of Psalms is all about praise to God. The word praise occurs 240 times in Scripture, and 153 of those are in the book of Psalms. The last psalm, number 150, uses the word praise 13 times in its six verses. Its closing sentence, which is also the closing sentence in the book of Psalms, is, “Praise the Lord!”

This is what worship is all about. Not so much asking God for something or even thanking him for things, but just praising him for who he is.

Here on Easter Sunday we praise Jesus for being the death-conqueror, not just in his own experience, but in our experience, too!

I’d say that makes him deserving of our infinite praises!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10).

The book of Proverbs is chock-full of practical wisdom. In Proverbs, wisdom is the ability to grasp who God is, to acknowledge him in all our ways, and to live accordingly. And this wisdom is a gift from God, not something our human nature can manufacture. No one learns godly wisdom by going to school or by growing old or by living on the streets. We become introduced to wisdom when we know who God is and then respond to him in worship.

I invite you to grow with me in wisdom here this morning by worshiping our risen Lord, Jesus Christ!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!’” (Ecclesiastes 1:2).

If you try to find a meaningful life apart from Christ, every road will become a dead end.

The reason that life apart from Christ is “meaningless” is that we live in a fallen, broken world that is under God’s curse. The proof of that is that death is waiting for everyone.

But through Christ’s death and resurrection,

· death has lost its sting (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

· death cannot separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39)

· to live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21)

As a result, “our labor in the Lord is never meaningless” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Thus, the curse of Ecclesiastes 1:2 is broken by Jesus!

This morning let’s worship this Lord of ours, who makes life meaningful!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Your eyes will see the King in his beauty” (Isaiah 33:17).

Picture this scene: Moments after the wedding, the new bride is admiring her wedding ring. She can hardly believe it’s hers! But what would you think if she spent so much time cleaning and polishing her ring that she began to ignore her husband?

That’s what we do when we spend all our time enjoying the things God has given us—the beautiful creation, our hobbies, our possessions—and neglecting the Lord himself.

Let this worship service today remind you that the Giver is more important than his gifts. This is our opportunity to put our priorities in their proper order.

Isaiah 33:17 says, “Your eyes will see the King in his beauty.” We do that with the eye of faith as we worship our Lord Jesus. And as we do, the things of this world lose their attraction.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just” (Daniel 4:37).

Charles Wesley was converted to Christ on May 21, 1738. With joy spilling out of his heart, he told a friend, Peter Boehler, how Jesus had made him new. Then he added, “But I suppose I should hold my tongue.”

Boehler replied, “If I had a thousand tongues, I would use them all to sing God’s praise!”

Those words sank into Charles Wesley’s heart. Later, he went home and penned the words of a hymn still famous today:

O for a thousand tongues to sing

My great Redeemer’s praise!

The glories of my God and King,

The triumphs of his grace!

In Daniel 4:37, even Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar said, “I praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just.”

If a pagan king could say that, how much more should God’s own children praise him!

In today’s worship service, I invite you to join me in praising our Lord Jesus with both your tongue and your heart.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Break up your unplowed ground, for it is time to seek the Lord” (Hosea 10:12).

In the context, the “unplowed ground” in Hosea 10:12 is the hearts of the people. The New Living Translation brings this out by saying, “Plow up the hard ground of your hearts.” And the New International Reader’s Version renders it, “Your hearts are as hard as a field that has not been plowed.”

This reminds me of a stabbing quotation from Charles Spurgeon: “We are told that men ought not to preach without preparation. Granted. But, we add, men ought not to hear without preparation. Which, do you think, needs the most preparation, the sower or the ground? I would have the sower come with clean hands, but I would have the ground well-plowed and harrowed, well-turned over, and the clods broken before the seed comes in. It seems to me that there is more preparation needed by the ground than by the sower, more by the hearer than by the preacher.”

Wow! What an eye-opener!

God bless you as you prepare your heart to worship our Lord Jesus today!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him” (Habakkuk 2:20).

For many of us, silence is embarrassing. We feel awkward when we have nothing to say or don’t know what to say.

When it comes to worship, however, silence can be golden! It’s similar to the speechlessness that overcomes you when you watch a lightning storm, feel a powerful earthquake, or gaze at the stars on a clear night. No words can describe the awesome power of God you sense in times like those.

In worship, silence leads to meditation, a sense of wonder, and humility before God. It also enables us to hear him speak, to see him act, and to let him have center stage.

As you prepare for this morning’s worship, I invite you to take a few moments to quiet your heart before your God.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

The verse above shows us that the name Jesus means “Savior.” Here is an acronym for the name Jesus:

Jesus Exactly Suits Us Sinners

The reason Jesus exactly suits us is that we’re sinners and he’s the Savior. In this Christmas season, when we think of Jesus’ birth, let’s not forget his death. Those tiny hands that reached out to Mary in Bethlehem would later be stretched out and nailed to a cross at Calvary. The baby placed in the wooden manger would grow up to become the Savior nailed to a wooden cross.

With Christ’s love for us that great, doesn’t that make it easy for us to love him in return?

O come, let us adore him!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“The virgin will give birth to a son, and they will call his name ‘Immanuel,’ which means, ‘God is with us’” (Matthew 1:23).

After attending church with his family one Sunday, a little boy asked permission to say grace before lunch. “Dear God,” he prayed, “we had a good time at church today, but I wish you had been there.”

God is here—in the person of Jesus. Part of the original Christmas news was that Jesus was given the name “Immanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” God was with his people physically when Jesus walked this earth. Today God is with us spiritually, but no less truly.

So let’s celebrate his presence with us today. May everything we do in this worship service reflect our awareness of God’s presence with us in the person of Jesus.

Immanuel—God is with us!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Wise men came from the east and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him’” (Matthew 2:2).

The wise men had traveled hundreds of miles, and they knew exactly why they had come—to worship the newborn King of the Jews. They were unashamed to tell even King Herod their intentions.

Do you know why you’re here today? Maybe in all honesty you don’t. Perhaps you’ve come to church merely because it’s Sunday. Or it’s the Christmas season. Or you wanted to see your church friends. Or you enjoy the love this congregation shows. Those are valid reasons for attending church.

But the best reason is to worship Jesus Christ. Let’s say with the wise men, “We have come to worship him,” and then, like them, we’ll find a blessing in being here.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).

We read about “the wilderness” often in the Bible, and it’s linked to the conflict God’s people have with temptation and sin.

Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and doubted God the whole way through.

John the Baptist lived in the wilderness, where he preached a message of repentance to the Jews.

Jesus, quoted in the verse above, went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

You have your own personal “wilderness” experiences, too, don’t you? The gospel proclaims that if your faith is in Christ, your “wilderness” won’t punish you but only craft you into the image of Christ.

How can that be? Because Jesus suffered through the ultimate “wilderness” experience when his fellow Jews nailed him to a cross and his heavenly Father forsook him. There he defeated sin once and for all. As a result, our “wilderness” experiences here on earth guide us into the “heavenly” experience, not just in the next life, but even in this life.

I invite you to join me in worshiping Jesus today for leading us through that wonderful transformation.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“This, then, is how you should pray...” (Matthew 6:9).

The most famous prayer in the Bible is the one we refer to as “the Lord’s Prayer.” It’s found in Matthew 6:9-13. An amazing thing about this prayer is that the singular pronouns I, me, and my are never found. But the plural pronouns we, us, and our occur nine times.

Count them: “Our Father…give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

A simple lesson in this is that Jesus wants us to care for one another. He says to us, in effect, “Don’t be selfish in your prayer life. Remember you’re part of a family, so get involved with other believers.”

That’s why we’re here today. We need each other. Together as a family of brothers and sisters in Christ we come to praise our heavenly Father. Our unity in worship gladdens his heart and glorifies his name.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

Maybe you know that your heart just isn’t into worshiping God. As a result, for you church is tedious, and you think it’ll always be that way.

Think again. In Matthew 6:21 Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” We’d expect him to reverse that and say, “For where your heart is, there your treasure will be also.”

But he didn’t. His order is significant.

Jesus was saying we can choose where we want our hearts to go. Whatever we choose as our treasure, our hearts will follow.

So how do we make worship our treasure?

By giving Jesus first place in our lives. By serving him in some tangible way. By telling Jesus we love him. By singing his praises.

We can do those things right here in this worship service. Then our hearts will follow, and we’ll be “into” worship.

We have Jesus’ word on it!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).

A newspaper reporter asked a successful businessman what he believed in.

“God, my family, and my business,” he replied. Then he added, “And when I get to the office, I reverse the order.”

Many churchgoers put God first—on Sunday mornings—but the rest of the week they reverse the order. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus told us to seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness. Jesus meant that to apply not just to our church life, but to our careers, our leisure time, and our family life.

So let’s put God first in this time of worship and in every area of our lives. Isn’t that the least we can do for the Lord who sought us first and foremost when we were lost in sin?

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“God has trained children to offer perfect praise” (Matthew 21:16, Good News Bible).

No doubt we’d all agree that our praise to God is far from perfect. Worship is something we must continually work at. In this life we’re always “in process.”

Yet in the verse quoted above, Jesus said, “God has trained children to offer perfect praise.” If we would perfect our praises, we must make them more childlike.

We can do that by cultivating childlike faith. Children trust the Lord with no ifs, ands, or buts. In their minds, nothing is impossible for him. We believe that too—intellectually—but our hearts easily get hung up on doubts.

Today let’s choose to worship God with childlike faith. Let’s give him our undivided attention, our unspoiled faith, and our unrivaled love—just like children would do.

That will put us on the road to “perfect praise.”

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“When Jesus was accused by the chief priests, he gave no answer. Pilate asked him, ‘Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?’ But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of Pilate” (Matthew 27:12-14).

The trial of Jesus was a kangaroo court and made a mockery of justice. Jesus could have said, “I’ve never sinned, so how can you say I deserve to be nailed to a cross?” He also could have rebuked the chief priests for the lies they were telling about him. Again, Jesus might have complained to his heavenly Father of the injustice he was suffering.

But he did none of those things. He remained completely silent through all the false charges. Why?

Because Jesus had chosen to carry our sins on the cross, and there’s no excuse for sin. Second Corinthians 5:21 goes so far as to say that Jesus “became sin for us,” and that stripped Jesus of any defense.

There’s a lesson for us in that—we shouldn’t make excuses for our sin—but for now let’s just worship Jesus, who became sin for us so that we might become right with God when our faith is in him.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

In the Old Testament, the people of Israel worshiped idols, in defiance of the first of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3). For centuries God was patient with his people, but eventually he expelled them from the Promised Land. The people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel went into captivity in Assyria in 2 Kings 17, and the people of the Southern Kingdom of Judah were exiled to Babylon in 2 Kings 25.

Sadly, this discipline from God did not cure his people of their sin. So what did God do?

He sent another person from among his people to be expelled from his presence, and that person’s righteousness would atone for the sin of the Jews.

That “person” was Jesus. While dying on the cross, Jesus was forsaken by the Father and so expelled from his presence. Unlike the Jews after their expulsion from God’s presence, Jesus came out of his expulsion with no trace of sin.

You and I are just as sinful as the Jews. Now, because Jesus was expelled from God’s presence for us, we can live forever in God’s presence if only our faith is in Christ!

In this worship service, let’s refresh our faith in Jesus, who took the ultimate punishment for us so that we could enjoy the ultimate salvation!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“The Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27).

One of the gifts God has given us is the weekly Lord’s Day, when we come together to worship. In the verse quoted above, Jesus announced that God made this weekly day of worship for us!

By forgetting our own worldly pleasures on this day, our pleasure in Christ increases. Far from trying to make our lives miserable when he gave us this day of rest, God was helping us rest and heal. As we rest in Christ on this day of worship, our fellowship with God and each other is refreshed, and we become spiritually renewed.

Each Sunday, as we enjoy our day of worship and rest, it reminds us of the rest we find in the gospel, in which Jesus worked for us on the cross and convinced us once and for all that we don’t have to labor to earn our salvation.

I invite you to join me this morning in worshiping Jesus and resting in his finished work of salvation!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).

One thing that makes worship joyful is that we express love to God in it. In Mark 12:30, quoted above, we find four elements that make up our worship.

Loving God with all our hearts means we can be emotional in worship. It’s okay to let your heart spill over in tears and to let your face beam with a joyful radiance.

Loving God with all your soul means that worship is spiritual. It’s far more than attending church, singing songs, bowing in prayer, and listening to a message from the Bible. God wants us to get in touch with him through the Holy Spirit.

Loving the Lord with all our minds means worship is mental. We need to think through the tough questions of our faith in our quest for God’s truth.

Loving God with all our strength means worship is physical. Without apology we may raise our hands in adoration to our Lord and express ourselves in other physical ways.

Mark 12:30 reminds us that there is more than one way to worship. Each of these four ways pleases God.

I invite you to worship Jesus today in these four ways.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Mark 15:34)

Because of our sins and failures, we all give God a reason not to listen to us.

Jesus, by contrast, had no sins and failures, so he deserved to be heard by God. But Jesus’ prayer in Mark 15:34, quoted above, he wasn’t heard. The Savior’s prayer went unanswered, so that the sinner’s prayer can be answered.

On the cross, Jesus took our place—the place of judgment, where God refuses to hear cries and prayers.

Now, when our faith rests in Christ, we can enter the place of salvation—where God grants our prayers for forgiveness that we utter in Jesus’ name.

Prayer is one of the elements of all our worship services. Let’s worship Jesus today with all our hearts!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Jesus said to them, ‘Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be in my Father’s house?’” (Luke 2:49)

The verse above gives the first recorded words of Jesus.

People often tell themselves, “I can worship God at the beach or in the mountains or even in my home. I don’t have to be in church.”

But Jesus said he had to be in his Father’s house.

Why? I think it was because he knew it was important to worship God together with other people, and he also loved doing that. Of course he worshiped his Father many times when he was alone, but he couldn’t be content to limit himself to solitary worship.

If Jesus needed to worship God in fellowship with others, you and I need to do that, too. So I’m glad you’re here. And I’m glad I’m here with you!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Jesus…was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days” (Luke 4:1).

Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, and that’s where Satan tempted them. Yet that perfect paradise didn’t shield them from eating the forbidden fruit and so sinning against God the first time they were tempted.

Unlike Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. The first couple were tempted once, but Jesus was tempted nonstop for 40 days. Adam and Eve said yes to their one temptation; Jesus resisted his countless temptations.

This contrast helps us appreciate the substitutionary nature of Jesus’ work for us, because Jesus’ death on the cross could earn our forgiveness only if he were sinless. Otherwise, he would have had to die for his own sins.

You and I are just like Adam and Eve—sinners who deserve the judgment of God. And Jesus’ substitutionary death for us encourages us to show him a profound thanksgiving for his willing sacrifice in our place.

I invite you to join me in pouring out our loving thanks to Jesus in today’s worship service.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Jesus prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me. Yet not my will but yours be done’” (Luke 22:42).

The “cup” Jesus dreaded drinking was the cup of sin. Murder was in Jesus’ cup. So were rape and child-molestation. Kidnapping, wife-beating, ethnic cleansing, and Hitler’s holocaust were in Jesus’ cup. All the sins of Charles Manson and O.J. Simpson were in that cup. And your sins and mine were also in Jesus’ cup.

Imagine the human race lined up single file, each person holding his or her cup full of sin. When we get to the front of the line, we pour the contents of our cups into the cup of Jesus, who then drinks the sins of the human race as he dies on the cross. Now, because Jesus has drunk our cup of sin, we can drink his cup of salvation and have it overflow with joy. As David said in Psalm 23:5, “My cup overflows!”

God the Father did not take the cup of sin away from Jesus. If Jesus was going to be our Savior, he had to accept the punishment for our sins by drinking to the dregs our cups filled with sin.

Doesn’t that make you ready to worship this wonderful Savior? Me too!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom’” (Luke 23:42).

In the gospel accounts, everyone who spoke up during the crucifixion reviled Jesus—except for one person—the repentant thief on the cross. After insulting our Lord, this thief changed his mind and said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Why didn’t the Jewish religious leaders say that? Because they would have had to take Jesus down from the cross to prove their repentance, and their pride wouldn’t let them do that.

Surprisingly, the dying thief knew more about worship than the scribes and Pharisees did. He alone reached out to Jesus as his gracious, loving, and personal King.

Unlike the dying thief, we don’t have to ask Jesus to remember us, but we can ask him to help us remember him as our gracious, loving, and personal King.

To get the most out of our worship today, let’s follow this man’s humble example.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

In the biblical story of the Passover, God required his people to sacrifice a lamb that had no defect (Exodus 12:5). This was the only way they could make the judgment of death pass over them.

When we come to the New Testament, God himself, in the person of Christ, becomes the Lamb with no defect (no sin), and his sacrifice takes place on the altar of the cross.

Now, if our faith is in Christ, the judgment of death will pass over us, too! Second Timothy 1:10 goes so far as to say that for believers in Christ, “Jesus has destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

This morning I invite you to worship with me our magnificent Lamb of God, who takes away not just the sin of the world, but all our sins!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in spirit” (John 4:24).

God wants us to worship him “in spirit.” Another name for “spirit” is “our innermost being.” It’s the opposite of our superficial self. When we fail to worship God spiritually, we do it mechanically. We come to church, mouth the songs, and listen to the message, but our hearts aren’t really worshiping God.

Our heavenly Father isn’t content to see us go through the motions of worship. He insists that it be a spiritual experience for each one of us.

Therefore, I invite you to surrender your spirit to the Spirit of God as we begin our worship now.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship him... in truth” (John 4:24).

Have you ever come to church and left your heart at home? Maybe you’re here today because a family member dragged you. You’d much rather be somewhere else. If so, simply confess that to God, then ask him to change your heart. That’s the first step toward worshiping God “in truth,” and it’s a prayer request he delights to grant!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“I will never drive away anyone who comes to me” (Jesus, in John 6:37).

What have you come to this morning? To church? Okay, but hopefully, you’ve come to do more than sit in a building.

Have you come to a worship service? Again, yes, but even that is meaningless if you consider it a mere ritual.

Jesus wants us to come to himself today. Maybe you’ve failed the Lord miserably this past week and wonder if he’ll accept you now. Yes, he will! Just make sure that your worship today is an act of coming to Christ in renewed faith, love, and commitment. Jesus has promised, “I will never drive away anyone who comes to me” (John 6:37).

I invite you to walk with me as we come to Jesus during this worship service.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“…the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23).

The gospel of John speaks of “the disciple whom Jesus loved” several times, and no other gospel writer refers to this disciple that way. Scholars generally agree that “the disciple whom Jesus loved” was John, who penned the gospel of John.

Maybe that bothers you. because it sounds like John is saying, “Jesus loves me and not the other disciples.” That would be both proud and untrue.

The Greek word translated “loved” in this verse in its noun form is agape. It’s different from several other Greek words for “love” in that it describes unconditional love. It’s consistently used of God’s love, and it’s also used in the great “love chapter” in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13.

So what John was really saying when he called himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved” is, “I don’t deserve Jesus’ love, and I haven’t earned Jesus’ love, but he loves me anyway! Jesus loves a sinner like me!”

You and I are just like John, aren’t we? As sinners, we don’t deserve Jesus’ love, but he loves us anyway. This morning, let’s worship Jesus for his unconditional love!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“I am the way” (John 14:6).

When God saved the people of Israel from Egyptian slavery, he made a way for them by dividing the Red Sea, and they walked across it on dry land (Exodus 14).

Forty years later, when Israel entered the Promised Land, God again made a way for them by dividing the Jordan River, and his people walked across on dry land (Joshua 3).

Those two ways that God made for the people of Israel prepare us for the way God has made for us through his Son, Jesus, who himself walked on water as if it were dry land (Mark 6:49).

The way to salvation is through Jesus. That’s why Jesus could say, “I am the way” (John 14:6).

So this morning in our worship let’s refuse to trust in our own ways to God—through our good works, the promises we make, the money we donate, the service we give—and let’s trust in Christ alone, whose perfect life and substitutionary death qualified him to be our only Savior from sin.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“This is eternal life—that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3).

In his book Knowing God, J. I. Packer writes: “What were we made for? To know God. What aim should we set ourselves in life? To know God. What is the ‘eternal life’ that Jesus gives? Knowledge of God (John 17:3). What is the best thing in life, bringing more joy, delight, and contentment than anything else? Knowledge of God. Once you become aware that the main business you are here for is to know God, most of life’s problems fall into place of their own accord” (p. 29).

Do you find it boring to worship God? If so, maybe it’s because you don’t know him well. Worship is simply responding to who the Lord is. The more personally you know him, the easier it becomes to praise him.

So let’s join together in our quest to know God and to worship him for the great God that he is.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Pilate asked them, ‘Do you want me to release the King of the Jews?’ They shouted back, ‘No, not him! Give us Barabbas!’ Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion” (John 18:39-40).

God wants us to see ourselves in Barabbas. You and I have three things in common with him.

First, we are guilty of rebellion against God. Barabbas was a rebel, and so are we.

Second, Barabbas was released from the judgment he deserved. This is true of every believer in Christ. There is “no condemnation” waiting for us (Romans 8:1), even though we’re sinners.

Third, Jesus was condemned in the place of Barabbas. In the same way, Jesus took the judgment we deserved when he died on the cross in our place. The only reason Barabbas went free was that Jesus did not go free. And the only reason God gives you and me forgiveness is that God gave Jesus judgment.

After Jesus died for us, God raised him from the dead. So let’s worship our risen Savior today!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Thomas said to Jesus, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John 20:28)

You know what Thomas’s nickname was, don’t you? Doubting Thomas, because he doubted that Jesus had come back from the dead, as the other disciples had reported.

I guess Thomas deserved his nickname, but only for one week. That’s when Jesus showed himself to Thomas, and Thomas exclaimed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). He’s the first person in the Bible to call Jesus “God.”

From that point on, he became believing Thomas. Church history tells us he went to India as a missionary and died as a martyr for Christ in a shower of arrows.

The name Thomas means “Twin.” I think of him as my twin, because I so easily doubt Jesus, too. Maybe you feel the same way.

Here on Easter Sunday let’s be the twin of believing Thomas. Let’s make our faith personal as we worship our Lord and our God—the risen Christ!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“They devoted themselves to the fellowship” (Acts 2:42).

An old Scandinavian proverb says, “Joy shared is double joy; sorrow shared is half a sorrow.”

As Christians we know the joys of forgiveness, peace with God, a personal relationship with Christ, and a purpose for living. These joys are too great to keep to ourselves, so we share them.

We’ve also experienced the sorrows of death of a loved one, a family member who is far from Christ, declining health, etc. Our sorrows are too painful to keep to ourselves, so we share them.

In Acts 2:42 we read that the early Christians “devoted themselves to the fellowship.” The word fellowship means “sharing.”

If you’ve come here today with a heart bursting with joy or breaking with sorrow, you’re in the right place! Jesus cares, and so do we. So share your joy, and watch it double. And share your sorrow, and watch it become half as large.

That’s the miracle of fellowship, and I want you to enjoy it!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“An Ethiopian eunuch…had gone to Jerusalem to worship” (Acts 8:27).

Have you ever left a church worship service feeling you had not worshiped? You experienced no fellowship with Christ. You heard no message from God. You were unable to give any genuine praise to the Lord.

In the eighth chapter of Acts, an Ethiopian eunuch traveled over a thousand miles to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. We’d think God would honor him for that, but the Ethiopian was returning home unfulfilled.

Why? As the story goes on, we learn that he didn’t yet know Christ.

Attempts to worship God apart from Christ are always futile, mechanical, and frustrating. Jesus is the only one who can bring us to God, because he’s the only one who brought God to us.

As we begin our worship service, let’s be sure to approach God through the one acceptable channel—the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35).

Jesus is the one who receives our worship. That makes him the “audience” in the worship service. We are the “actors” or “performers”—the ones who do the worshiping.

So our job is the give, not to receive. And according to Jesus’ words in Acts 20:35, we’re going to enjoy a greater blessing by giving than by receiving.

If you’ve ever been an actor in a play, you know that role gives you more satisfaction than if you were in the audience. When you’re in the audience, you “receive” the entertainment, but when you’re a cast member, you “give” yourself to the part and experience the greater joy of knowing you did your job well.

Maybe the reason some people find worship boring is that they think of themselves as members of the audience (the receivers) when in fact they’re among the performers (the givers). To get the most out of our worship this morning, let’s put the emphasis on giving to the Lord rather than taking something for ourselves.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life to make us right with God” (Romans 4:25).

Many times in the Old Testament, Satan tried to kill someone in the Messiah’s line and so make it impossible for Jesus to become our Savior.

Adam and Eve had two sons, but Cain killed Abel, so God brought Seth into the world as a substitute. Abraham’s wife, Sarah, was barren, but God gave them Isaac as their miracle baby. Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, was also barren. Later, Pharaoh ordered all the Hebrews boys to be killed at birth.

As the New Testament opens, Herod kills all the boys in and around Bethlehem in his attempt to murder Jesus. Finally, on Mount Calvary, God the Father sends his Son to die. But this time no substitute was given and no miracle was performed to save Jesus.

With Jesus dead, it looked like Satan finally had done away with the Messiah. But again, God came to the rescue, this time by raising Jesus from the dead. By that resurrection Jesus secured for us our right standing with God, as Romans 4:25, quoted above, declares.

On the surface, Satan’s battles with God may look suspenseful, but God is always in control and working out his plans.

I invite you to worship that awe-inspiring God with me today.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Where sin increased, grace increased all the more” (Romans 5:20).

No matter how much the sins of God’s children increase, they cannot stop God from showing them grace. Charles Spurgeon once put it this way: “Our sins are like the highest mountains, but God’s grace, like Noah’s flood, covers them all!”

Our sins do not separate us from the love of Jesus; Jesus separates us from the love of our sins.

That’s what grace is all about. And that’s why Paul could write in Romans 5:20, quoted above, “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.”

I invite you to join me this morning in worshiping our heavenly Father and his sinless Son for the grace they have poured out on us!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“The Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what we should pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).

Maybe you’re new to Jesus and the church. Perhaps you’re unsure of yourself when it comes to worshiping God.

That’s okay! If you’re a believer in Christ, you have the Holy Spirit in your heart, and he takes over when you’re at a loss to express yourself to God. That’s the encouragement we find in Romans 8:26, quoted above.

So by faith just turn your heart over to the Holy Spirit during our time of worship here. Then he will take over and make your worship acceptable to God.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

What gives us the right to speak with the confidence expressed in the passage above?

The resurrection of Jesus. That’s what we celebrate here on Easter Sunday! Jesus was punished for our sins when he died on the cross, and the cross proves that God loves us (Romans 5:8). Then when God raised Jesus from the dead on Easter Sunday, he proved that nothing can ever stop his love for us.

You and I still have to experience physical death, but the death and resurrection of Jesus promise us that our death will not be a dead-end. It will be the gateway into the eternal presence of this God who proved his unconditional love for us on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

In our worship service today, let’s give back to Jesus our own undying love.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“I urge you therefore, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God. This is your spiritual service of worship” (Romans 12:1).

It’s customary to speak of a church worship service. This is biblical, for Romans 12:1 mentions “your spiritual service of worship.” Yet we aren’t serving in the traditional sense. We aren’t feeding the hungry or giving shelter to the homeless. We’re just sitting here. From all outward appearances, it doesn’t look like we’re serving.

But in worship we celebrate what God is doing and has already done in our lives and in the world. The spotlight is on him, not on us. Servants are people who put their master first in everything. Ironically, we serve God best when we glorify him for his acts of service to us.

In that spirit of service, let’s begin our worship.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“I urge you therefore, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God. This is your spiritual service of worship” (Romans 12:1).

William Temple said, “To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to cleanse the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, and to devote the will to the purpose of God.”

In brief, we can say that worship is a spiritual matter. It involves far more than the outward acts of bowing our heads, singing songs, and listening to the teaching of Scripture. Romans 12:1 speaks of “your spiritual service of worship.”

Let’s be careful today to make our worship a spiritual matter between our Lord Jesus and us.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:17).

When Solomon built the original temple, God told him that it would be the symbol of his presence and he would live with his people. But there was one condition—if the king became disobedient to God, God would remove his presence from his people (1 Kings 6:12-13). Sadly, Solomon and all the kings who followed him proved disobedient, and as a result, the temple was later destroyed in 2 Kings 25.

Today, believers in Christ are the new temple, as 1 Corinthians 3:17, quoted above, shows. And God has promised to live in us as his new temple. But the one condition of obedience by the king still applies.

Because Jesus is the King and his obedience is perfect, we can be sure that God’s presence with us will never be withdrawn. We have the right to feel secure in our salvation because of our faultless King.

How then, does our obedience play a part? It becomes not a means of earning God’s salvation but simply a loving response to God’s grace.

As we worship Jesus this morning, we can be sure God’s presence is here.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

The Passover took place in Exodus 12. The Jews were slaves in Egypt, and in judgment God was going to take the lives of the firstborn in every home in Egypt.

God told his people how they could escape his judgment. Each family would sacrifice a male lamb without blemish and put its blood on the doorposts of their home. That night, when God moved through the land of Egypt in judgment, he would pass over the homes of his people when he saw the blood of the lamb on their homes.

Every year after that, the Jews celebrated that event with a Passover festival. It was a memorial day in which God’s people remembered his great salvation.

All of this was a prophecy of Christ, as 1 Corinthians 5:7, quoted above, shows. And we, too, have a memorial in which we remember the shedding of the blood of Jesus, our Passover lamb. It’s the Lord’s Supper.

As the Passover predicted the Lord’s death until he would come, in the Lord’s Supper we “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” again (1 Corinthians 11:26).

That’s why we’re here today—to remember and celebrate the death of Jesus, our great Savior.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31).

In World War II, Japanese “kamikaze” pilots flew their planes into American battleships, sacrificing their lives to kill American troops.

On 9/11, Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial American planes and killed thousands of people by crashing those planes.

Lenin once said, “A communist is a dead man on furlough.”

The apostle Paul said, “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31).

The common denominator in all these stories is this: A person unafraid to die is dangerous.

Jesus wants us to be dangerous in a positive way, for he told us that any follower of his “must take up his cross daily” (Luke 9:23).

On this Memorial Day weekend, we honor and thank God for those who have died in our country’s military service.

And for us who follow Christ, we have a “spiritual” Memorial Day every day, because our Lord calls us to die to self and live for his glory.

In this worship service let’s die to self—and become dangerous to Satan.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5).

How does preaching fit into worship? Some look upon it as nothing more than a learning experience. If that’s all it is, it may be good for the head, but it won’t change the heart. It may call attention to the preacher but not to Christ.

Preaching is an act of worship when it magnifies Christ as Lord. When the preacher, like Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:5, quoted above, takes the place of a servant and proclaims the lordship of Christ, the goal will be to help the listeners know Christ personally, love him fervently, and serve him faithfully.

So pray about the message you’re going to hear this morning. Ask God to use it to make you a servant of others for Jesus’ sake. In this way you’ll receive the preached message in a worshipful way.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“God made him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

God deals with sinners in one of two ways—he gives them the justice they deserve or the grace they don’t deserve.

When God gives sinners the grace they don’t deserve, he still satisfies his justice. The reason God can show grace to repentant sinners is that he dished out his judgment on Jesus at the cross. When Jesus died, he not only paid for our sins, he became sin for us. As a result, when our faith rests in Christ, we not only receive the righteousness of God; we become the righteousness of God.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“In Christ Jesus circumcision and uncircumcision are nothing, but faith expressing itself through love is everything” (Galatians 5:6).

What’s the first impression that comes to mind when you hear the word worship? Some people think of stained-glass windows, an altar, rows of pews, a pulpit, or a choir. But these are nonessential parts of worship.

Galatians 5:6 tells us that it doesn’t matter whether or not a man has the religious mark of circumcision, but what does matter is “faith expressing itself through love.”

We could apply that to ourselves by saying, “The outward trappings of worship mean nothing, but a loving faith means everything. If you don’t have that, even though you sit in church, you will miss out on worship.”

Does your faith rest in Christ, and does your faith express itself in loving ways? If so, you have all that God requires to come to him in worship.

What if your faith isn’t in Christ? Then let this worship service encourage you to take that all-important step.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God‘s people and members of God’s household” (Ephesians 2:19).

I’m so glad you’re here! Wherever you are in your journey of faith, and whatever questions you may have, we want to be a place where you’ll find grace, hope, and love. My prayer is that you’ll experience our Lord Jesus Christ in a fresh way today!

If you came here in response to Back to Church Sunday, we have a guest gift packet for you. It contains

· a copy of my book What Believers Must Know to Grow.

· a certificate good for a free dinner for your entire family at any of our Wednesday night dinners.

· our church brochure, outlining all of the ways we can minister to you and your family..

· a list of all our Sunday morning classes.

· A Starbucks coffee cup sleeve. Any teenager who turns this in to our youth pastor at any of our Wednesday night youth group meetings will receive a gift card to Starbucks.

· a pamphlet from National Back to Church Sunday.

Please pick up your guest gift packet in our lobby this morning.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“You are rooted and built up in Christ, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:7).

In the verse quoted above there are five characteristics of disciples:

1. They are rooted in Christ.

2. They are built up in Christ.

3. They are strengthened in the faith.

4. They are taught.

5. They overflow with thanksgiving.

That last trait follows naturally after the first four. We can put it in this formula: The more we grow in Christ, the more we’ll overflow with thanksgiving.

Have you ever felt out of place on Thanksgiving Day, as if your reservoir of thanks to God had dried up? Maybe that happened because you had stopped growing spiritually.

Today let’s sink our roots deeply into Christ, learn of him, and build our faith on his promises. Then with confidence we can expect God to make us overflow with thanksgiving.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Does the command in that verse sound like a tough assignment? Because God is at work in all circumstances and has a purpose in everything that happens, we can give him thanks, even if it’s only by faith. We can thank him not only for the things we enjoy but also the things we don’t enjoy that he in his wisdom has allowed. We can thank him that in every situation, he’s near us, he cares about us, and he loves us.

In our worship today, let’s give God our songs of thanks, our prayers of thanks, ears that listen thankfully to his Word, and hearts willing to obey him thankfully. These are practical ways we can fulfill the scriptural command to thank God in all circumstances.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (2 Timothy 1:5).

Timothy was spiritually blessed by his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. They modeled sincere faith for him, and it rubbed off on Timothy!

No doubt Lois prayed for her daughter Eunice when she was a little girl, and Eunice prayed for Timothy when he was young. And God honored the prayers of both mothers!

On this Mother’s Day, it’s our turn to honor our mothers, and a great way to do that is to follow in her steps of “sincere faith” in Christ.

I hope you have a godly mother’s influence that you can remember and give thanks for on this special day. Whether she’s still alive or now in heaven, I encourage you to show “sincere faith” in Christ, just as she did.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award me on that day” (2 Timothy 4:8).

“The crown of righteousness,” mentioned above, is just one of the blessings believers in Christ receive, and in each case, the reason we receive the blessing is that Jesus was deprived of the blessing.

We get to wear the crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8) because Jesus was crowned with thorns (John 19:2).

God cleanses us from our sins (1 John 1:7) because Jesus became filthy sin for us when he died on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21).

God clothes us in “garments of salvation” (Isaiah 61:10) because Roman soldiers stripped Jesus of his clothing (Matthew 27:28).

We are declared “not guilty” of sin that was really ours (Romans 8:1) because Jesus was found guilty and nailed to a cross for the sins we committed (1 Corinthians 15:3).

God calls us “saints” (1 Corinthians 1:2) because Jesus “was considered one of the sinners” (Isaiah 53:12).

This is the wonder of the gospel. This is what makes Jesus such a glorious Savior. And this is why we worship Jesus today.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“The Word of God…judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

That verse sounds scary, doesn’t it? It sounds like spiritual open-heart surgery, in which the scalpel of God’s Word cuts away at the calluses that desensitize us to God. But if we need open-heart surgery, we’d be unwise to avoid it.

We need the spiritual heart surgery that only God’s Word can perform. Without it our hearts will grow hard toward the Lord we love. We can thank God that there’s hope for our depraved hearts.

So let’s open our hearts today to the Great Physician and the scalpel of his Word. It will only do us good!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing” (Hebrews 10:25).

In speaking of our “meeting together,” Hebrews 10:25 has in mind our church worship services. The Greek word translated “meeting“ here in Hebrews 10:25 is found in only one other New Testament verse—2 Thessalonians 2:1, which speaks of our “meeting” with Christ when he returns.

Here is an exciting truth: Our meeting to worship Christ today is a foretaste, a miniature preview, of the time we meet him in the air when he returns! We are taking part today in a rehearsal of the rapture!

In that spirit of joy and excitement let’s worship Jesus now!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably” (Hebrews 12:28).

Hebrews 12:28, quoted above, implies that worship without thanksgiving is unacceptable to God. In worship we thank our Lord for who he is and what he has done. But if we’re unthankful, our worship is a mere recital of cold liturgy. Thanksgiving gives warmth to our worship.

God deserves our thanks, because he gave us heaven’s greatest treasure—Jesus. So let’s make up our minds to worship God here today not merely with our lips but also with hearts overflowing with thanks.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“God has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5).

After Adam and Eve sinned, God expelled them from his presence in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:23). Since then, God has been working to restore his presence to his people.

God did that when his presence—signified by the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night—led the people of Israel through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land (Exodus 40:34-38). But the people of Israel, just like Adam and Eve, sinned against the Lord, and for that reason God expelled them from the Promised Land when he sent them into exile.

God was teaching his people that for them to live in his presence, the problem of sin had to be removed. Jesus alone could solve that problem, and he did it by dying on a cross. With his shed blood he removed the sins of us who trust in him. By his death Christ has now made the presence of God secure in our lives.

That’s how we know that God is here today. And that assurance inspires us to worship him.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Through Jesus let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that give thanks to his name” (Hebrews 13:15).

A “sacrifice” is something that costs us, something we surrender to God. It’s easy to understand the concepts of sacrificing our time, our money, or our lives. But in what sense is “praise” a “sacrifice”? What do we give up when we praise God?

Our pride. In our praises God receives all the glory. The end of Hebrews 13:15 equates “the sacrifice of praise” with “the fruit of lips that give thanks to his name.” When we thank God for his salvation, his wisdom, his guidance, and all his other gifts of grace, we say to him, “Without you I’d be lost, helpless, and hopeless.” That requires humility.

As we give God our heartfelt thanks in this time of worship, let’s make it more than words. Let’s humbly offer up to him our “sacrifice of praise.”

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“You are a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5).

There are two prominent mental moods in which people come to church. One is a consumer mentality. This attitude says, “What’s in it for me? Will I enjoy the music? Will the sermon feed me? When I leave this worship service, will I regret that I came?” The emphasis is on yourself.

The other attitude that some bring to church is a ministry mentality. This attitude says, “How can I serve the Lord here? How can I show him my love? How can I bless him? How can I serve his people? Whom can I pray for?” The emphasis is on satisfying the Lord Jesus.

First Peter 2:5 says we are “a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

So let’s put aside the consumer mentality. Let’s come before our heavenly Father today with a ministry mentality. Through Christ we can bless God our Father! I can’t think of a greater blessing for us.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18)

This verse calls Jesus “the righteous,” person and sinners “the unrighteous.” Jesus was the only righteous person ever to walk the face of the earth. But when he died on the cross, he took the place of unrighteous people so that we unrighteous people could become righteous. This is what grace is all about.

As “righteous” people, we are now “right” with God. This is not because God tolerates our sin or because we sinners deserve God’s grace. The answer is that Jesus, the sinless and righteous Son of God, absorbed the judgment of God for us on the cross and so paid for our salvation.

Jesus was judged so that we could go free. He was forsaken by God so that we could become friends with God. He was cast out so that we could be brought in. All because of grace. All that God asks of us is that we lay aside our efforts to earn our salvation and embrace by faith Jesus’ work for us. That is our gospel.

I invite you to join me this morning in worshiping Jesus, our substitute on the cross.

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, both now and forever!” (2 Peter 3:18)

Why are we here today? Partly to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” according to 2 Peter 3:18. That verse goes on to say that when we do that, Jesus receives “the glory, both now and forever.”

Isn’t it exciting to think that what we’re about to do will have eternal significance? Today we’re going to worship our Lord musically, utter prayers, and listen to a Bible message. Those things will last only for the time of worship, but the spiritual fruit resulting from it will last forever!

Join me, then, as we invest in eternity!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ” (1 John 2:1).

The Greek word translated “Advocate” is used of the Holy Spirit several times in the Gospel of John (John 14:16, 26, 15:26; 16:7). So we have two Advocates—the Holy Spirit inside us and Jesus Christ at the Father’s right hand in heaven. We have an earthly Advocate and a heavenly one.

An advocate is someone who comes to our side to help us. We need these two divine Advocates when we worship. God has given us the Holy Spirit to help us pray, praise, and understand the Bible. And he has given us Jesus, whose blood washes the traces of sin from our worship before he presents it to the Father.

The Holy Spirit and Jesus are our double guarantee that God will accept our worship. So let’s not hesitate to offer it to him this morning!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“God is love” (1 John 4:8).

“God is love” (1 John 4:16).

Anger isn’t always sinful. There is such a thing as “righteous anger.” God showed it in Deuteronomy 32:15-22, and Jesus showed it in Mark 3:5. God will reveal his righteous anger again on the Judgment Day (Revelation 19:11-16). All sins must be judged by the anger of God—either at the cross or in hell.

But the Bible never says, “God is anger.” It does say, “God is love” in the two verses quoted above. We have to provoke God to anger by our sins, but we don’t have to provoke God to love us. Love is God’s natural response to us, and his loving heart is slow to anger.

I invite you to worship this loving God with me this morning!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Revelation 4:11).

Our word worship comes from an old English word meaning, “worth-ship.” In our worship of God we tell him how worthy he is to receive our praise. Our Father God wants us to enter into the same spirit of worship here today that the twenty-four heavenly elders expressed in Revelation 4:11.

It’s easy to think of worship as entertainment, learning, or personal uplift. But today let’s focus not on ourselves but on Jesus. Let’s give him the praise of which he is worthy. Let’s worship him not for the fringe benefits of blessings it brings us but simply because our Lord Jesus deserves it!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:12).

In one sense, we’re as perfect as Jesus—not in ourselves, but only because God has dressed us in the righteousness of Christ when we placed our faith in Jesus.

But Jesus’ righteousness is original. Because of who he is and what he did for us on the cross, he’s worthy in himself to receive all the praise of heaven. There isn’t one flaw in the wardrobe of Jesus’ righteousness, and he’s perfectly worthy to wear it.

As our hearts overflow with thanks to Jesus for making us acceptable to our heavenly Father, let’s join the heavenly chorus in giving Jesus great praise today!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns!” (Revelation 19:6)

There is one prominent word in the Bible that is common to all languages and never changes its pronunciation. It’s the word hallelujah. It’s found in the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament. Today we who speak English still say, “Hallelujah,” and so do people who speak other languages. The word means, “Praise the Lord!”

Revelation 19:6 records the last time the word hallelujah is found in the Bible. It tells us that heaven’s song will be, “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns!” There we learn that even in heaven this word will continue to be used.

Let’s give ourselves a taste of heaven today as we lift our hallelujahs to our Lord!

Pastor Tom

WELCOME!

“And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, and he was tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10)

This prophecy had its initial fulfillment when Jesus died on the cross. Colossians 2:15 says that while dying, Jesus canceled our debt of sin, nailed it to his cross, disarmed the devil and his demons, made a public spectacle of them, and triumphed over them. By those acts, Jesus defanged Satan and silenced his accusing voice against us.

The damage Satan does to us now is only the angry outbursts of a doomed and dying enemy, whose final punishment is right around the corner.

I invite you to join me in worshiping our victorious Lord Jesus Christ!

Pastor Tom