worship

The Gift of Provision

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.“ – Luke 2:6,7 Today, as we draw closer to Christmas, I have a thought I want to share — God always provides sanctuary for us. Even our beautiful church building here at Shepherd’s Grove is a place of rest and divine provision when we come to worship. Like shelter on a rainy day, a sanctuary reminds us that we have a safe home in the Lord. Interestingly, as we ponder the arrival of Jesus, we see that part of the miracle was God providing protection and a safe place for His Son to be born. Though His birthplace was less than glamorous, the manger in which our Lord

December 23, 2022 1 Comment

Adoration Expressed Through Music

“Jesus answered, ‘It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’ “ – Luke 4:8 As we conclude our series on adoration, consider how adoration is expressed through music. If this were a seminary class, I’d ask you, “What are ways in which you worship God?“ The most important one to me personally, and perhaps you too, is music. Often it’s hard to see how embedded music is, even in the Bible, and what music does for the soul. There’s never been a great movement that didn’t have its own music, or a thriving church that didn’t have wonderful musicians and singers. Music changes our minds and souls, and it can draw us to great experiences. In every culture, there is a love of music and singing. The Lord has always invited music into the temple, synagogue, church, and your home. In some ways, the distraction of

December 19, 2022 2 Comments

Work is a Privilege

“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” – John 6:27 Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “Within every language there is a philosophy.” This is something that I think really makes sense with regard to the Hebrew language, which expresses over and over again that God loves our work. As we apply ourselves with all our heart and do our daily tasks as though they have eternal value, something changes in the Lord’s great plan! In Jewish culture, going to work was just as worshipful as raising your hands in a church service or reading the Bible. How different this is from our segregated American view that says our job is what we do Monday through Friday. Worship is what we do on

April 3, 2022 No Comments

Excuses Don’t Cultivate Excellence

“Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.’ Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to the field.’ While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.” – Genesis 4:6-8 Yesterday we looked at the story of Cain and Abel and how we can learn what it means to give God our best and not our leftovers. Today, I want to talk about one more thing from their story that can help us to excel in our work — don’t make excuses. Interestingly, after God rejected Cain’s sacrifice, he gave him a chance to do better — to

March 31, 2022 No Comments

Lessons from Cain and Abel

“Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering…” – Genesis 4:2-4 Many of you are familiar with the story of Cain and Abel. In addition to teaching us some things about our hearts, I believe this account teaches us some important lessons about our attitudes towards our work. As you may recall, Cain was a farmer and Abel was a shepherd of some sort — those were their jobs. Cain brought a portion of his groves and trees before the Lord as an offering and Abel brought the fatted portions of his flock. While we don’t know the exact details, the Bible says that

March 30, 2022 No Comments

You Are Made to Work!

“God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’” – Genesis 1:28 We talked a few days ago about how the norm in our society seems to be to worship the idea of doing nothing. We are always rushing to get through the next project or the next day of work, or the next class so we can reach a place of simply being idle. However, the truth is that we were made to do things and when we do, we find our greatest satisfaction! Did you know that part of the blessing of the Garden of Eden was the work that God gave Adam and Eve to do? As opposed to being drudgery, they were designed

March 28, 2022 2 Comments

Give it all to God

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” – 2 Corinthians 10:31 When I think about my life before going into ministry and the job that I loved the most versus the one I hated, it’s interesting how pay and prestige had absolutely nothing to do with my level of satisfaction! When I was a 17 year-old young man, I was employed as a handyman on my Dad’s ranch. I worked for a guy named Tim and he would coach me and teach me how to do things like build staircases and make master keys (because he was a locksmith). Even though I was only getting paid minimum wage and had to be up every day at the crack of dawn, the work that I did there was totally fulfilling and exciting to me. I contrast that with the job

March 27, 2022 No Comments

God Loves the Work of Your Hands

“Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:10b-12 Have you ever thought about the fact that Jesus had already lived 30 out of His 33 years before He went into vocational ministry? The Messiah spent the first part of His life as what the Bible calls a technoy, or a builder or maker. Though we’ve traditionally thought of His trade as that of carpenter, and He probably did work with wood, He may also have worked with stone and metal. Regardless of the specific job description, we know that Jesus obediently and patiently

March 25, 2022 No Comments

Three Attitudes About Work

“Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord, Christ.” – Colossians 3:23-24 Yesterday, we introduced the concept of avodah, or the fact that our work is both worship and service. Today, I want to give you three common attitudes that our society holds about work that get “turned on their head” when we begin to let Jesus infiltrate our thinking about our jobs! First of all (and we alluded to this one yesterday), there is the person who just lives for work to be over. We see this play out frequently, maybe even amongst our friends and family, when someone exists only for the weekend or for their next vacation, and they feel a sense of dread every time Sunday afternoon rolls around. Why? Because their next

March 24, 2022 No Comments

Avodah: Hebrew for work, worship and service

“Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord, Christ.” – Colossians 3:22-24 Did you know that surveys suggest that roughly 65 percent of Americans really dislike their jobs and that at least 15 percent hate them? I know, hate is a strong word. Considering that you typically work eight hours a day, five days a week, this can be a problem! To help us change the way we view our careers, we’re going to begin a series of devotions dealing with how God works in and through us to cultivate a joy that brings new meaning to our work-life. When you think about your favorite job, what comes to mind? Were you ever employed in a place that, although you may have worked hard, you felt satisfied

March 23, 2022 No Comments

The Gift of Provision

Adoration Expressed Through Music

Work is a Privilege

Excuses Don’t Cultivate Excellence

Lessons from Cain and Abel

You Are Made to Work!

Give it all to God

God Loves the Work of Your Hands

Three Attitudes About Work

Avodah: Hebrew for work, worship and service

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