Reflections: October 25-26, 2008

This week's "Reflection" by Jeff Taylor, Pastor of Teaching & Youth

Proskineo: It's worship, with options! Joyful praise and adoration, or humble surrender at the feet of our Savior. How amazing it is to know that we serve a God who is there for us no matter what. To know that we can go to Him with our joys and sorrows, triumphs and failures should cause us to proskineo and live our lives as sacrifices for Him.

It is not always easy to worship simply because our moods do not always cooperate, but I want to encourage all of us to allow the act of worship to usher in the mood of worship. I think you will find that once you are in a place of praise that the joy of the Lord will become your strength and you will be glad you went there. Feel free to share some of your praise experiences with us so that we can be encouraged to continue a life of praise. Have a great week.

Reflections: October 18-19, 2008

This week's "Reflection" by Jeff Taylor, Pastor of Teaching & Youth

Worshipping God when you just aren't feeling it can be really tough. We see in scripture that God can be honored even in our laments and in times when we feel "blah." What are some ways that you have brought worship to God while feeling as though you are in a wilderness? Your responses could help others as they go through their own wilderness experiences.

Reflections: October 11-12, 2008

This week's "Reflection" by Gary Keith, Pastor of Teaching & Worship

This weekend ended our series on Habakkuk. (If you missed the service you can watch it online.) How did Habakkuk turn his questions for God into confidence in God? Habakkuk chapter 3 revealed three things he did that we can do this week to help with our difficult situations in life. He prayed, but just not the typical prayer asking God for things. He pondered God, which lead him to trust God more fully. He also praised God in the midst of his difficult life situations.

 

What do you think about these three? Do they seem like the same old things you've heard before? How is Habakkuk's approach different from the usual? Do you think if you do these that you will experience a deeper relationship with God? Send me a note, I'd love to hear how this message has affected your life.

 

Finally, I appreciated Habakkuk's perspective on prayer – I want to try that this week. I want to stop and ponder God more this week. In fact, I'm setting some special time aside to do just that. And Lord help me to praise You in the middle of tough times. God Bless you this week as you grow deeper with God.

Reflections: October 4-5, 2008

This week's "Reflection" by Gary Keith, Pastor of Teaching & Worship

I confess, I just hate it when I see somebody getting away with something that is wrong. This weekend we learned that God answered Habakkuk's questions about the injustices he saw. There were five areas of injustice that God spoke to in the passage this week. God spoke about people who steal things, people who gain wealth dishonestly, people who exploit others, people who betray theirs friends with alcohol, and people who embrace a false religion.

 

We learned that God is not okay with this. We learned that there will be a time when God will deal with these injustices. Do you think this passage covers the topic of injustice? After considering these five issues what questions do you still have for God about the injustices you see? Habakkuk asked God some important and hard questions. What is a question you have for God that is left unanswered?

 

Let's talk about it.