Hope Church Prayer Book seeks to promote a worship culture from Monday to Saturday by conveying worship resources from Sundays. Worship is not a thought, but an action; not a concept, but a practice. And the more we practice, the more in shape we get - in the shape of Jesus. So sing out loud or read a responsive prayer before dinner. Each month’s prayer book will now be available on Hope’s website under the resources tab!
Following Jesus is an every day affair, and so is our tendency to want to do otherwise. Worshiping Him with singing, with prayers, and even with laments – out loud – helps fight against the tendency to behave as if we are God and God isn’t. It’s the great and perpetual reset. And it’s not a concept to ponder, it’s an act to practice. So here are some practice exercises:
Calls to Worship
Samwise
Over the break we watched the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, where the unlikely hero, Frodo, must destroy the Ring of Power before it destroys him and all of Middle earth. It’s a tall order for a short little hobbit, but he has a companion on his journey: Sam. I’ve seen this trilogy more times than I care to admit, but this time I watched it with fresh eyes because I read somewhere that Tolkien viewed Sam as the “chief hero” of the tale.
I think this is important for us as we begin our time of worship and as we begin our year of worship. We live with a Disney gospel that says follow your heart, but the true gospel says follow Jesus. The Disney gospel says be the hero of your own story, the true gospel says follow the hero as He tells a better story. That is the most heroic thing we can do with our lives.
This Spanish song is a prayer along these lines. It’s one of my favorite songs we’ve never done at Hope, but now that our Spanish-speaking church-planting pastor is here, we have an excuse to sing new praise in a new-to-some tongue. The song is called Arraigado, or Rooted. The chorus, in English goes:
Keep me firm and rooted
In You, Jesus, in Your love
All my life overflowing
With gratitude and adoration
I can do nothing without You.
May this be our song throughout the day and throughout the year
What was it like having God live in you?
Pastor Andy and I were talking a couple of weeks ago about heaven and that when you get there that all of the saints will be there. We will live with them for eternity. It is very possible that someday you may find yourself face to face with any one of them, like…, Moses. Can you imagine how cool that will be? I can see myself saying, “hey Moses, what was it like when the Egyptian Army was closing in on you and suddenly God showed up, tells you to lift up your rod and He parted the Red Sea”. Wow! that must have been amazing. Or what if you bumped into Daniel, and you could ask him, “hey man, what were you feeling when they lowered you into the lion’s den? Were you like totally freaked out and scared?” As you can imagine, there’s a lot of people from the Old Testament that you’ll get to ask questions too.
But now, here’s the twist, they will get to ask us questions too! How would you answer the question, if Moses, or Abraham, Joseph, or Daniel asked you, “tell me, what was it like having God live in you all the time? You were filled with the Holy Spirit. God was guiding you, teaching you, praying for you, speaking to you all the time. Were you always listening? Every time you got in trouble, He was there for you, showing what to do. Showing you how to love a person like He loves them, or how to forgive like He forgives. What was that like?
In Christ, we are new creatures. The old things have passed away and new things have come. And we have God living in us through the Holy Spirit. This song, “New Name written Down in Glory” talks about one of the main functions of the Holy Spirit: to give us the mind of Christ, which in turn is our identity.
“I am who I am because the I AM tells me who I am.”
Worship as the go-to field medication
I was talking with some first-responder friends of mine and asked if there was a go-to treatment that they administered, one that gave the greatest help to the greatest amount of symptoms. They both agreed that oxygen fit that description. They said, “…the effects are immediate – a person can go from having a really tough time breathing to being relaxed and able to breathe.” “[it] enables our bodies to handle all kinds of emergencies at a higher capacity. We are able to compensate for blood loss, lack of air flow, neurological deficits, etc. better with higher concentration.”
For the Christian, worship is the go-to treatment for a plethora of ills. It doesn’t solve all our problems, but it’s the natural state in which to face them: directly connected to God in deliberate enjoyment and submission: It’s the posture in which life makes the most sense. It fills our lungs.
So that’s what we’re doing now, nothing short of it. This distinct act is ultimately the best response to however you walked in the room today. Keep this response in your pocket like an epi pen all throughout the week, and make worship your go-to treatment. Let’s do it now.
Deep Breath
Let’s begin this moment with a deep breath. Breathe. Let those shoulders fall.
We look around us and we see that life is pretty constant in its changing nature. It ebbs and flows, cycling between what is bearably light and what is devastatingly hard. Right now in our lives we hold in our hands, in our world around us, cycling between what is too, too heavy and what is light.
What if we shift our gaze from what’s around us, even from what’s inside, and look up? Look up at the One who is constant. Who, in His unchanging nature, is Holy. In His holiness He is unable to lie to us, and therefore, is trustworthy. And since He is trustworthy, we can look to His Word and it can bring actual courage to our lives.
You may find yourself in need of that reminder as often as I am. The reminder that our God who is Holy, and Good, can be trusted. May we live our moments and days returning to that truth and responding to it.
Baptisms
Baptisms are an ordinance. They are not merely a tradition of the church but a command of Jesus to strengthen the faith of believers by giving them a ritual by which they declare their official beginning as disciples. Witnessing these declarations reminds us all that our journey had a beginning and it takes us back to it. Like it says in Colossians 2:6-7
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Take a moment to watch this baptism video from January 25th. If you think of it, pray for these new believers: that even as they grow, they would remain right where they started.
Prayers of the People
Generosity
Generosity is evidence of the heart aligning itself with Jesus. It’s an aspect of worship!
Pray with me as we ask God to form us to this end.
This prayer was taken from the website of Church in the City New York
Holy Father, there is nothing I have that You have not given me. All I have and am belong to You, bought with the blood of Jesus. To spend everything on myself, and to give without sacrifice, is the way of the world that You cannot abide.
But generosity is the way of those who call Christ their Lord; who love Him with free hearts and serve Him with renewed minds. Who withstand the delusion of riches that chokes the word; Whose hearts are in your kingdom and not in the systems of the world.
I am determined to increase in generosity until it can be said that there is no needy person among us. I am determined to be trustworthy with such a little thing as money that You may trust me with true riches.
Above all, I am determined to be generous because You, Father, are generous. It is the delight of Your daughters and sons to share Your traits, and to show what You are like to all the world.
Amen.
Take a brief moment of silence to ponder those ways in which God may be calling you to give generously of our resources
Laments
The only difference between lament and complaint is the direction we’re facing when we do it. In the latter our backs are turned towards God, in the former we’re facing Him. Makes all the difference. About 40% of the Psalms are lament. It is so important to face reality instead of trying to skirt around it with a tight smile. It’s crucial, in fact, to a genuine connection with God, which is the whole point.
A Lament from Ecclesiastes
“Vanity of vanities, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” – Eccl. 1:2
We lament the futility and frustrations of life in this world.The world is broken. We are broken. Our brokenness often leads us to wonder about the meaning and purpose of life. God, we confess that we often question your decisions, plans and even character in the face of the vanity of the world.
We lament the futility of toil and achievement (2:17-23)
Our days are filled with labor, yet our hands are empty. We chase meaning that is as fleeting as the wind. You have given us work, yet toil exhausts the soul. We rise early and lie down late, but satisfaction remains beyond reach. You have given us wisdom, yet wisdom increases sorrow. Even wisdom, pleasure, and great works leave one empty, as they pass to others who may squander them.
We lament the injustice and oppression (3:16–4:3; 8:14)
We see injustice in the place of justice, and oppression where righteousness should dwell. The wicked prosper while the righteous suffer, leading to despair: The preacher says “I said in my heart… that the dead who are already dead [are] more fortunate than the living… but better than both is he who has not yet been.”
We lament the presents of death
There is a time for everything, you say—a time to be born and a time to die, a time to weep and a time to laugh. We lament the uncontrollable and fleeting nature of life. We lament our confusion: we cannot see the whole from where we stand. You have set eternity in our hearts, yet we cannot fathom your work from beginning to end.
Conclusion:
We turn toward you. Lift our eyes, God. Build our faith, deepen it, make it stronger. Help us to trust you in the face of the vanity and meaninglessness of the world. Fix our eyes on Jesus, the one who is and provides true, lasting, eternal meaning
