'worship' Tagged Posts (Page 3)
Daily Devotions
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully.” vss. 3-4 Psalm 24 These verses are likely a fragment of a liturgy that was used at the door of the temple as Israelites came for worship. A priest would ask a question, “Who shall stand in the holy place?”…
Daily Devotions
Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts…” vss. 18-19 Ephesians 5:18-20 Passages like this provide a window into the life of an early Christian community and give a glimpse of those practices that brought strength and joy to believers. Evidently their culture, like ours, offered options for those who wanted…
Daily Devotions
I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.” vss. 48-49 John 6:45-51 In the first century there had been a struggle between those Jews who had embraced Jesus as messiah and those who clung to the old traditions. Ultimately that conflict led to a split and the separation of church and synagogue. As John writes his gospel he wants his readers to know that in Jesus they will find the pathway…
Daily Devotions
A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, ‘Give it to the people and let them eat.’” vs. 42 2 Kings 4:42-44 The giving of first fruits is standard practice for all those who have been touched by the Light of Christ. It’s a recognition that everything we have comes from God and is intended to be shared…
Daily Devotions
so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.” vs. 12 Ephesians 1:8b-13 Early Christian communities had to deal with a variety of issues as they began to consider how to live as Christ’s people in a culture teeming with alternatives. The process wasn’t easy and leaders struggled to offer prescriptions that aligned with the gospel and the traditions. There were obviously many disagreements, just as there are…
Daily Devotions
And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’” vss. 34-35 Mark 3:28-35 Promoting the nuclear family wasn’t part of Jesus’ platform as his ministry continued in Galilee. In fact, he realized that what he was teaching could actually threaten family unity–at one point he told his followers, “I have come to set a man against his father and…
Daily Devotions
Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.” vss. 5-6 Psalm 98:5-9 The psalmist gives us a glimpse of temple worship and makes us wish we could have been there. While arrangements likely varied from season to season there were plenty of opportunities for musicians to pull out all the stops. They spared nothing in…
Daily Devotions
The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’” vss. 23b-24 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Paul’s account of the Last Supper was written before those found in the gospels and shows that followers of Jesus practiced Holy Communion in their congregations from the very beginning. And the words that he…
Daily Devotions
Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.” vss. 37-38 Mark 15:25-39 According to Josephus, a Jewish historian of the first century, the curtain of the temple was a Babylonian tapestry, a blue veil embroidered with a panorama of the heavens that kept the Holy of Holies from being seen. After Jesus’ death, it was said by some that at the very moment of…
Daily Devotions
Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.” vs. 15 John 2:12-17 According to the gospel of John, Jesus took his family and disciples to Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover toward the beginning of his ministry. When he came to the temple for worship he was outraged. The whole outer courtyard had…
Daily Devotions
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.” vs. 2 Psalm 50:1-6 For the psalmist God was anything but hidden. He believed that the Lord daily summoned the people of Israel, from the rising of the sun to its setting, to acts of worship and sacrifice. And more than that, he was convinced that Jerusalem itself, holy Zion, home to the temple of Solomon, was the dwelling place of God on earth. True worship took place there, and…
Daily Devotions
Psalm 89:19-24 “Happy are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance;” vs. 15 Only a week or so until Christmas–three candles are lit on our Advent wreaths and final plans are being made. For some the cancelling of family gatherings will accent the already present pandemic loneliness. Others will find it strange not to be able to sing carols in a crowded sanctuary on Christmas Eve. Nominal churchgoers are being…