I love that CrossPointe has chosen to preach through a sermon series this summer called “Knowing God.” If every purpose you had in life could be distilled down to its purest form - this would be it: to know God. To know him, not just intellectually, but relationally - experientially. For those of you who who claim Christianity, I wonder how many of us would be surprised at what a stranger hears when we talk about our faith. Would they hear measured explanation of theoretical concepts, or would they sense your passion about a Savior who has radically changed your life and whom you know on the most transparent level. Would they hear your philosophical ramblings of a theoretical Jesus or would they hear of Jesus your Friend, your Brother, your Savior, your Lord. J.I. Packer has an enormously convicting insight:

“The puritans were concerned about communion with God in a way that we are not. The measure of our unconcern is the little we say about it (our communion with God). When Christians meet they talk to each other about their christian work, their christian interests, their christian acquaintances, the state of the churches and their problems with theology. But rarely of their daily experience of God.”

“Communion” here refers to relationship. This is hugely convicting for me. And I urge you to let it be convicting for you as well. The weak and small, prideful humanity in us will push back on this saying “these discussions (on the above list of topics) are needed.” To respond like this is to miss the point. The last sentence is the point - “But rarely of their daily experience of God.” I’m not concerned with whether we speak of our Christian work, interests, acquaintances, churches, or theology if there is no telling of the glories of a personal relationship with God. If this element is absent, then exhortation, worship, and evangelism are not happening in their designed senses.

So as we work through “Knowing God” this summer, I encourage you to go beyond the theoretical to enjoy a development of the personal. We have access to the Father, through Jesus and are empowered by his Spirit. Let us not waste this gift, but press to know God in the fullest sense for the sake of his glory, for the sake of our joy, and for the sake of those around us whom we have the pleasure of sharing this with. The songs in this week's setlist are listed below. Although the music won't sound identical to this, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the music so you can participate fully in our celebration of who God is and what he has done. Looking forward to being with you Sunday!

This week’s sermon will address the faithfulness & dependability of God. It seems only appropriate that we should not only learn about these attributes, but sing of them - reminding ourselves and the church gathered around us that we have one perfect and unchanging foundation in Christ. “Great is Thy Faithfulness” is a hymn that was written by Thomas Obediah Chisholm. Shortly before his death, he penned these words:

“My income has never been large at any time due to impaired health in the earlier years which has followed me on until now. But I must not fail to record here the unfailing faithfulness of a covenant keeping God and that He has given me many wonderful displays of his providing care which have filled me with astonishing gratefulness.”

One of the important lessons the children of Israel learned during their wilderness journey was that God’s provision of manna for them was on a morning by morning basis. They could not survive on old manna nor could it be stored for future use. But God had grace upon them and provided them with what they needed for that day. Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

What a great truth for us to rejoice in! The songs in this week's setlist are listed below. Although the music won't sound identical to this, take a moment to familiarize yourself with these songs so you can participate fully in our celebration of who God is and what he has done. Looking forward to being with you Sunday!

I'm sure that I have made a post sometime in the past that has referenced John Piper in Don't Waste Your Life saying "Missions exists because worship doesn't." And if I haven't, there you go. Missions exists because worship doesn't. Of course, "worship" here is in a broader sense than when referring to only our Sunday gatherings, but it most definitely includes them. Worship is the work of aknowledging the greatness of our covenant Lord. The mission of our church exists because, in much of our community, this aknowledgment of God's greatness does not. 

CrossPointe's mission is to point our communities to Jesus Christ. It is very simple and straightforward for a reason. We want people to remember it, buy into it, and take part in it. However, this is not the goal of the church. It is our mission, but our mission is the means by which we achieve a greater goal: the genuine worship of (surrendering of everything to) God. This is what sets a true disciple of Christ apart from an individual claiming an inauthentic form of nominal Christianity. 

This is a cheesy example, but Mission: Impossible is a helpful analogy. As the story opens, the agent is given a particular mission or task. The task is specific and focused. However it is almost never the goal itself. The goal is usually something greater - like saving America from destruction. But the mission is the means by which this goal is achieved. So it is with the mission of our church. We share the gospel of Jesus Christ with our community because he is the only one that can redeem them (and us) from sin and we desire to see them become worshipers of the one true God. John Frame says it like this:

"Redemption is the means; worship is the goal. In one sense, worship is the whole point of everything. It is the purpose of history, the goal of the whole Christian story. Worship is not one segment of the Christian life among others. Worship is the entire Christian life, seen as a priestly offering to God. And when we meet together as a church, our time of worship is not merely a preliminary to something else; rather, it is the whole point of our existence as the body of Christ." - Worship in Spirit & Truth

Let that sink in a bit as we prepare to meet this Sunday. Ponder how amazing it is that you have been shown the grace in Jesus Christ to experience the purpose for which you were created: to worship your creator God and know him as your covenant Lord. The songs in this week's setlist are listed below. Although the music won't sound identical to this, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the music so you can participate fully in our celebration of who God is and what he has done. Looking forward to being with you Sunday!

Memorial Day weekend brought with it the launch of our summer sermon series "Knowing God." After dwelling on God's Knowability last week, we pause to reflect on his Beauty & Desirability this week. 

We have all grown to understand beauty in a certain sense: physical attractiveness or visual appeal. The wise have also grown to see it and describe it in ways such as purity, innocence or goodness. Yet, the Bible shows that we cannot not know beauty outside of knowing God; at least, beauty in it's true form. According to scripture, beauty is never divorced from grace. This is why it is helpful to talk about the beauty of two types: beauty in "common grace" and beauty in "saving grace."

Earthly Beauty & Common Grace:

There is a measure of grace given to every human on earth that allows them to experience anything good in life. It is grace given to you that allows you to experience the sun's warmth each morning, enjoy the shape a cloud takes as it forms overhead, or gaze upon blue landscapes from mountain vistas. These earthly pleasures (that are not God) are meant to help us develope language for God. By grace, they are given to us to help shape our understanding and language of beauty as well as God's other attributes. We call this "common grace." Meaning that, in his goodness, God showers this grace upon his entire creation. We all enjoy beauty in life. This beauty helps one know something of what we mean when we speak of God. So, earthly beauty is a result of common grace.

Heavenly Beauty & Saving Grace:

Scripture says that "from [Christ's] fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known" (1 John 1:16-18). Among other reasons, this is a mindblowing passage because of this truth: 

Apart from grace, we could not see or know God. 

To not know God is to not know his beauty. To not "see" him in all his glory. God is the standard by which all pleasure, beauty, holiness, purity, etc. is measured. All good things flow from him. So, the only way we can know beauty in any sense is by some measure of grace (common grace). Yet the only way we can experience true beauty (in the face of God) is by a grace deeper still: saving grace. 

While beauty in this world is only a shadow of something greater, Jesus opens the door for those he has saved to see the real thing: the face of God. We call this "saving grace." Through saving grace (as 1 John says above), God is made known to us in Jesus. We are able to worship in spirit and in truth (as mentioned in last week's post), and we are able to behold true beauty in heaven.

Here is a helpful way to think of the distinction between beauty in common grace and beauty in saving grace. Imagine you are an artist. C.S. Lewis says that as an artist, "you paint because you catch glimpses of heaven in the earlthy landscape. The success of your painting is that it enables others to see the glimpses too (all common grace). But [in heaven] you are having the thing itself. It is from here that the messages came." In heaven, common grace is no more. Earthly beauty is exposed as a shadow of the real thing. The real thing, real beauty is God himself. He embodies the very essense of all good things we experience on earth. And only saving grace in Jesus Christ allows one to take it all in when we come face to face with God (1 John 1:18). Through Jesus we can know the God whose beauty, holiness, worthiness, majesty, graduer, love, greatness, etc. exceed our wildest imaginations. 

The songs in this week's setlist are listed below. Although the music won't sound identical to this, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the music so you can participate fully in our celebration of who God is and what he has done. Looking forward to being with you Sunday!

Jesus says in John 4:23-24, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

What are the implications of these verses for our worship as the body of Christ? Here are a few thoughts for you this week as we look forward to gathering for worship this Sunday.

Mind, Will, and Emotions - Organically Connected.

• In order for true worship to take place, our mind, will, and emotions must move together. We miss out on enjoying God fully when we allow only one aspect of our inner selves to be affected by God and neglect the others.
• In an article called "Worship Worthy of the Name,” Tim Keller has this to say: "Merely learning a truth about God is intellectual education, not worship. For example, I can know intellectually that God is good but still be worried silly about something that's coming up this week. If the morning's sermon is on the sovereignty and goodness of God, I haven't worshiped unless that truth descends from my mind and touches my emotions and my will."

Truth Moves From Your Mind to Recapture Your Heart

• We worship in response to truth about God and the stirring of deep spiritual affections by that truth. When (confronted with the truth) I take my affections away from the other things that I have been trusting in – and cast them upon God, my emotions will be affected. My heart is reoriented to pursue satisfaction in God. My spirit is refreshed.
• In Psalm 119:10 the Psalmist says, "With my whole heart I seek you; 
let me not wander from your commandments!" And again in v. 20, "My soul is consumed with longing
 for your rules at all times."

Individuals Worshiping in Harness

• On Sunday, when Jamie preaches on a particular attribute of God, I meditate on that attribute in concert or in harness with the rest of the congregation. My job as worship leader is then to use scripture, exhortations and music to encourage us to respond to God together based on that truth. We encourage one another to worship in spirit and in truth.

God Seeks Such Worshipers

• God desires that we respond to him in this way and has given us his Word to instruct and inspire us. Passages such as John 4, Psalm 119 and Colossians 3:15-17 are extremely effective in conforming us to be the kind of worshipers that God seeks.

John 4 is such a rich passage on worship, it would take much more than a simple blog post to cover all of it. But for now, think about these implications and how it should shape our Sunday gatherings. The songs in this week's setlist are listed below. Although the music won't sound identical to this, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the music so you can participate fully in our celebration of who God is and what he has done. Looking forward to being with you Sunday!

 “… but YOU SHALL REMEMBER that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.” (Deuteronomy 24:18)

We humans are a forgetful bunch. When I set out to leave the house it’s pretty much a given that I’ll be reentering that door within 20 seconds to grab something that I forgot. It’s just how it goes, and there doesn’t appear to be any sign of my condition improving any time soon. While forgetting a wallet or phone may not be of much consequence, God knows that this condition can and will lead us to forget things that are significant; eternally significant. Hence, the three words for this post come from Deuteronomy 24 where God gives the Israelites a somewhat odd, yet incredibly important, command: YOU SHALL REMEMBER.

To give a bit of back story on this text; the Israelites served as slaves in Egypt for over 400 years under the brutal hand of a succession of Pharaohs. Their situation was not good and they needed a Savior. Badly. So God in his mercy heard their cries and rescued them from out of the hand of Pharaoh. He freed them. They were now free. So why the command to remember? You would think that a redemption this miraculous, this incredible, this life-giving would not soon be forgotten. You would think. But as you read through the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament) you see that time and time again the people complained and bemoaned their circumstances; even saying that they wished they were back in Egypt. They were a forgetful bunch.

So what about us? It is easy to read the story of the wilderness safely removed by 3,500 and shake our heads in disbelief at the chronic myopia of the early people of God. Before we judge the Israelites too harshly, however, let us first stop to examine our own hearts. We are not so unlike them after all. We too were once slaves; slaves to sin. And God in his mercy performed an act of redemption infinitely more glorious than the physical exodus of the Israelites. He saved our souls from the power of sin and death through the death and resurrection of Jesus. It would seem that a truth so incredible would be ever present in our minds. But sometimes we are a forgetful bunch.

I believe one reason we are so prone to forget is because we are emotional creatures, and sometimes feelings can be very, very convincing. So convincing, in fact, that they can somehow make a temporal circumstance seem more significant than the glorious rays beaming forth from the light of the Gospel, almost like storm clouds in our souls. It is true that emotions are a wonderful gift from God; they give dimension and depth to our experiences and beautifully reflect an aspect of the image of God. But the reality is when we fell our emotions fell with the rest of us. God is our Father and he knows us better than we know ourselves. So he commands us to remember precisely because He knows we will forget and forgetting the truth is the same as believing a lie. Lies bring death but the truth brings freedom (John 8:32).

So fellow Christian, let us be quick to remember God’s faithfulness to us, even while we were yet sinners. And when you are on the spiritual peaks be sure to set up bright beacons in your mind that you can look to during the storms. Search the Scriptures armed with a highlighter and seek out the rock solid promises of God. Do whatever you need to do to remember. I’ll close this thought with a text from Deuteronomy 8 which echoes and expands this point beautifully. I encourage you to take a moment to meditate on it:

“And YOU SHALL REMEMBER the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you...

“Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.” (Deuteronomy 8:2-5,11-16)

(Theology in Three Words will be an ongoing series where we take just three words from the Bible, and reflect on the glorious truth about God they reveal.)

This week we wrap up our preaching series on Ephesians called "Who Do You Think You Are?" with the spectacular passage in Ephesians 6 that emphasizes one final element of our identity in Christ: victory. Its always easy to think militaristically with language like this. That's why Paul uses the analogy of the armor of war in this passage. He does so because is he is acknowledging that there is a real war. He is clear about it:

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." (Eph. 6:12)

This is different than the type of "war" we are familiar with as Americans. One that poses two great dangers to our peace and steadfastness in the midst of battle. My good friend Lance Olimb recently preached on this passage and was helpful in directing our focus to that which Paul is focused on. 

"It is a spiritual war. It is probably best to take his statement of not wrestling against flesh and blood to mean not only against flesh and blood... clearly we wrestle our own flesh which wars against our sanctification and clearly institutions and individuals opposed Paul, as his chains attest. It is amazing to consider then the emphasis Paul places on the spiritual battle... even as he feels the tightness of scar tissue from a back laid bare by whips... as he considers being left for dead and being shipwrecked... imprisoned and falsely accused. He says, we wrestle not against flesh and blood. I think he emphasizes this aspect of the war for a few key reasons but I'll focus on the one I think is most textual here in Ephesians 6:18... we must remain alert. Our alertness to the spiritual war is often abysmal. In my experience, this reality of spiritual warfare is tragically ignored at best and systematically downplayed and/or denied at the worst."

This, I believe is the first danger in our spiritual battle - neglecting that it exists. However, it is not the greatest danger. The greatest danger we face is our own tendency to engage in this battle on our strength alone. No armor, no God to fight for us... simply our own pathetic attempts to strong arm our way to unattainable victory. But here is the truth:

"The only hope we have for success in a war against spiritual rulers and powers... the only hope we have against the schemes and lies of the accuser... is resting in union with Jesus Christ. The worst mistake we can make is to believe that we are capable in our strength to defeat Satan. There is a reason the gospels records Jesus being tempted by and overcoming Satan... and it isn't because you could do it."

Now, one more thing - because the last thing I would want would be for you to finish reading this post and think "I just need to let go, and let God." No. No. Let's finish this. Yes, we are to "be strong in the Lord in the strengh of his might." But that is not all that it says. It could be tempting (this is how subtle this war can be) to think that this removes all sense of responsibilty or action on your part. Paul calls us to "stand," to "take up," and to "put on" the armor of God. We are called to action. This is not at odds with our call to rest in the strength of God. Paul himself was a man of action who also trusted that God wouldn't allow his foot to slip as he faithfully and obediently engaged in the spiritual war and followed Jesus who gave him strength in the Spirit. Lance says, "The Christian life is not sentimental passivity but grace-enable, Spirit fueled activity."

This is an immensly helpful concept that should lead us to prayerful alertness, strength in Christ, and courage to take action. As we do so we are given opportunity after opportunity to see God work in us, through us, and for us. These opportunities are reason to worship. Even in the pain and chaos of war, we have peace and rest in God who has assured our victory Jesus. The songs in this week's setlist are listed below. Although the music won't sound identical to this, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the music so you can participate fully in our celebration of who God is and what he has done. Looking forward to being with you Sunday!

I loved this scripture saturated blog post this week by Kristen Gilles and can't help but repost it for you all this week. Enjoy ::

"The Psalmist David realized that God’s unfailing love for him was the key that unlocks the door for sinners to enter and worship in God’s house. Psalm 5:7 doesn’t say, “Because of the intercession of the priests” or “Because of the blood of bulls and goats” or “Because of my good works and how much I love You, God, I can enter Your house.” It says:

Because of Your unfailing love I can enter Your house;
I will worship at Your temple with deepest awe.

Although David worshiped the Lord under the rules of the old covenant, he understood that God’s unfailing love for sinners was the means by which he was able to come and worship the Lord. “Because of Your unfailing love I can enter Your house.”

The same is true for us. Our worship is not what leads us “into the throne room.” Worship is our grateful response for having been led to the throne room by God’s unfailing love in giving His Son to die for our sins. It’s true for worship leaders, it’s true for pastors, it’s true for everyone in the assembly.

And what was David’s response to God’s love? Worship. Deepest Awe. He was floored by the unfailing love of God and compelled to worship God with deepest awe. He wasn’t awed by the work of the priests or the blood of the animal sacrifices or by his own good works and love for God. David was awestruck by his merciful, loving God who had made a way for him, a sinful man, to come and worship in God’s house. Why wouldn’t he be? And why would we feel this way, even more so today? STOP. Clear your mind. Now, consider these short passages, as if reading them for the first time:

“Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure.” (Eph. 1:4-5)

“But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)” (Eph. 2:4-5)

“God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” (I John 4:9-10)

Mind blowing.

But many times the posture of my heart is something other than reverence and awe when I come to worship God. It’s easy for all of us to forget the reasons why (and the means by which) we worship the Lord. We still bring offerings of our own merit to atone for our sins. We promote the good deeds we’ve done, or we condemn ourselves for the wrongs we’ve done and the good deeds we’ve left undone. We discount the unconditional, unfailing and liberating love of God, forgetting the perfect sacrifice of Jesus in our place.

Consider again what worship was like under the old covenant (before Jesus died and rose again):

“Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins.” (Heb. 10:11)

Now consider and marvel again at what Jesus has accomplished for us:

“But our High Priest offered Himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then He sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. There He waits until His enemies are humbled and made a footstool under His feet. For by that one offering He forever made perfect those who are being made holy.” (Heb. 10:12-14)

Oh the great love of God who offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins that we might have access to Him and be made perfect and holy as He is!

Our response to God’s unfailing love should be nothing less than David’s: we should go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts, fully trusting Him and His finished work (not fiddling around with offerings of our own merit); and there we should worship with deepest awe the Savior who cleansed our guilty consciences and bodies with His innocent blood.

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By His death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a Great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting Him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise.” (Heb. 10:19-23)

“So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.” (Eph. 1:6-8)"

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The songs in this week's setlist are listed below. Although the music won't sound identical to this, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the music so you can participate fully in our celebration of who God is and what he has done. Looking forward to being with you Sunday!

5 PRIORITIES IN GATHERED WORSHIP :: 

There are a number of elements I love about our Sunday gatherings. I look forward each week to seeing my friends, singing with the worship team, hearing good preaching, meeting new people, etc. These are all great. But it can be a constant struggle to remember the focus of our gathered worship. At a very fundamental level, worship centers on God and the story of what he has done, is doing, and will do in Christ and his church by the power of the Holy Spirit. So both: who God is, and his acts in history (the storyline of God's goodness that centers in the gospel). These two elements should comprise the focus of our worship - both on Sunday and everyday. 

In last week's post I mentioned that it can be easy for me to prioritize my friends, my percieved connectedness, the music, the pastor, or the service style over God himself. While the following list isn't exhaustive, stressing these 5 priorities have been helpful for me personally in engaging in focused worship of God.

1. REMEMBERANCE :: Mike Cosper had an incredibly helpful Resurgence Blog post a couple weeks ago that hits this one well. Without going into great depth (I suggest you visit the post for that), it is important to know that one major reason for gathering each week is to remember what God has done for us in the gospel. "Remember" is one of the most frequent commands in scripture. God knows that we are such forgetful creatures and need constant reminders of who we once were and who we now are in Christ. We offer songs that sing of it, we preach sermons that proclaim it, and we partake in a meal that makes it tangible. What better way to remember the gospel than by singing it, hearing it, feeling, smelling and tasting it.
2. SERVICE :: Partaking in one of the various Sunday teams pokes at our heart motivations and stretches our view of worship. Do you gather with the church each week as a consumer or a worshiping servant? Is your worship localized in singing your favorite song or hearing your favorite teacher? Or can you worship while caring for an upset child in CrossPointe KIDS? Jesus washed his disciples feet the night he was betrayed. To joyfully follow Jesus' lead and serve the needs of others shows that you value what God values because you value God himself. This points those around you towards Jesus. 
3. EXHORTATION :: The idea is broad here. Reflecting the agenda of Ephesians 4, we are to equip one another for active ministry. We encourage one another to fix their eyes on Jesus. We commit to the continuous upbuilding of one another into the body of Christ. We exhort the church and the community to taste and see the goodness of God (Psalm 34:8). We admonish one another with songs that speak truth and urge us to value the Lord (Eph. 5:18-19). In the absense of this element, commitment to the rest of these priorities often falters.  
4. PARTICIPATION :: This is massive. Worship is an activity for the whole people of God. It must be developed to promote maximum participation, rather than becoming a "professional" function or a spectator sport. I am called to participate in the celebration of the gospel. Just showing up to church doesn't qualify. God wants my heart, my voice, my hands and my mind to be fully engaged. This is part of the reason for these weekly posts. If you have a chance to hear the music prior to Sunday morning (via these posts), that's one less barrier to your active participation in the worship celebration. Sunday gatherings are meant to emphasize the "collective" element of worship. 
5. SELF-FORGETFULNESS :: Tim Keller says in his essay "The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness" that "True gospel-humility means I stop connecting every experience, every conversation, with myself. In fact, I stop thinking about myself. The freedom of self-forgetfulness. The blessed rest that only self-forgetfulness brings." Instead, your Sunday worship experience is about connecting your experiences, conversations, thoughts and feelings, with God and his story. Your story is tied up in his story. When this is your posture in gathered worship, suddenly you are free to remember what God has done, you joyfully and "self-forgetfully" serve others, you are focused on exhorting others, and you can fully participate in worship that is completely God-centered.

When I make each of these a priority in gathered worship, it places the center and focus of worship on God and his story of redemption. The songs in this week's setlist are listed below. Although the music won't sound identical to this, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the music so you can participate fully in our celebration of who God is and what he has done. Looking forward to being with you Sunday!

IT'S THE GOSPEL THAT UNITES US :: 

A common way to describe a church is to describe it by it’s “style.” Imagine your friend attends a new church this weekend and was pleased with their experience.

“What’s this church like?” you ask.

It would not be uncommon to hear a response similar to this:

“The pastor was really good. Very laid-back and approachable. People were dressed casually and the music was very contemporary. They had a great band that did a lot of songs you would hear on the radio. The worship leader had a great voice and the drummer was excellent. It also didn’t feel much like “church” as I remember it - very welcoming and comfortable.”

Now, my goal is not to blast this type of response. Many of us have found ourselves in these conversations. You may have even been the one describing a church this way. I know that I have. It’s not even bad to be a church with a style like this. All church’s should have “really good” pastors. All churches should strive to make people feel welcomed and comfortable. However, there is a great temptation to allow the “feel” or “style” of our Sunday gatherings to be the driving force that unites our congregation. People tend to follow their preferences when it comes to regularly attending a church and, for many, these preferences can be narrowed to prioritize things such as music style and dress.

Here, it is important that we remember one massive biblical fact: IT IS THE GOSPEL THAT UNITES US. Ephesians 2:14-16 says, “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.”

It is Christ that is the unifying factor among a group of Christians. I love the people in my church not because we are the same or have the same preferences, but because Jesus has broken down all walls and brought us all into one body. Revelation 5 paints a picture of heavenly worship where all tribes and tongues are worshiping Jesus on the throne of heaven. What style of music do they sing? It doesn’t say - it doesn’t matter. What does matter is the focus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!” Only the gospel can unite the orphaned child, the widowed woman, the successful business man, your local barista, the foreign exchange student, the college athlete, the single mother of 3, etc. in one body - proclaiming one truth - “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain!” It is true that culture shapes a church’s “style” or “feel.” But don’t mistake contextualization for unity. These things are not what brings us together to joyfully worship Sunday after Sunday. Jesus does that.

The songs in this week's setlist are listed below. Although the music won't sound identical to this, take a moment to familiarize yourself with the music, as it becomes easier to sing along with songs you have heard. Looking forward to being with you Sunday!