Psalm 113
Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
2 Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore!
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised!
from this time forth and forevermore!
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised!
4 The Lord is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens!
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!
and his glory above the heavens!
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!
1 Timothy 2:1-7
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers,
intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings
and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and
quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it
is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people
to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is
one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the
testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a
preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a
teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
~~~~~~~~
A young child was asked to say the
prayer before dinner. The child began, asking God to bless Mommy and
Daddy, siblings, and friends, each person at the meal, naming by
name. Then the child thanked God for the meal, for each food, the
roast, the potatoes, the gravy, bread & butter, the milk and
juice, and then there was a long pause. Very LONG pause...and the
child whispered to her parents, “If I thank God for the broccoli,
won't he know I am lying?”
Paul is doing some teaching here on
prayer. This is part of a lesson on correct worship.
2:5 there is one God. This is the
fundamental affirmation of the Jewish religion
The phrase "there is only one God"
echoes the Shema which is the central tenet of faith in Judaism:
"Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD" (Deuteronomy
6:4). Here Paul uses this language to compare the oneness of God with
the plurality of all-the “many” of humanity.
one mediator between God and men.There
is One who arbitrates between God and humanity and reconciles them.
the man Christ Jesus. Paul’s focus is
on Christ’s humanity, perhaps because the false teachers had denied
that Christ was truly human. The full humanity of Christ is essential
to His serving as Mediator of the covenant of grace. Jesus MUST be
both fully human and fully divine in order to be the bridge for us
who are only human, and God who is only divine.
Paul is teaching on worship and
specifically here on prayer. Interesting that he specifies to pray
for “kings and those in high positions”
he specifies 4 types of prayer.
supplications, a request, sense of
urgency
prayer- to pray earnestly -sincerely,
also a place to pray-set apart
intercessions-literally means to come
together. intercession." Paul uses the verb form in Romans 8:27
to denote the intercessory role of the Holy Spirit and in Romans 8:34
to describe Christ's intercession for believers
To pray means to turn toward God. A
deliberate act..to turn our attention, thoughts and desires to God!
Psalms help us with the turning towards
God process. That is why I generally use a Psalm as the basis for our
call to worship each week.
When we pray, sing, “bless the lord”,
we are not 'blessing” God, but we are giving recognition,
Love and honor, giving God the glory, thanks and praise!
This comes right out of the hebrew
tradition of saying a 'blessing prayer' of thanks for everything.
thanksgivings―giving of thanks, Greek
word is Eucharista -from Charis-meaning grace..God's grace.
And Paul says to pray with
thanksgivings for all people! The word in the bible for people is
also translated nations, it is the word Ethnos...from which we get
the word ethnic...we are to pray for ALL kinds of people aren't we!
So why pray? We are not going to change
God with our prayers? God already knows our hearts, God knows our
needs, why pray?
Prayer is part of our relationship with
God. It is like when a small child tells parent what's on his/her
mind through the day. Don't you sometimes feel better when you talk
out something with a loved one? Prayer is like that too. Prayer does
not change God, but it helps us in our relationship with God.
Henri Nouwen,
It
is important to nurture constantly the life of the Spirit of
Jesus―which is the eternal life―that is already in us. Baptism
gave us this life, the Eucharist maintains it, and our spiritual
practices―such as prayer, meditation, bible reading, and spiritual
guidance―can help us to deepen and solidify it.
“to deepen and solidify it” that is
our goal, to help our faith life which is what gets us through the
daily life.
Do we NEED to deepen our faith life?
Well, think in terms of what is going on around us in society....
Richard Foster
We are always being formed by
something. If we remain passive, we are being formed in the likeness
of our surrounding environment. That thought alone should give us
pause before dismissing the importance of disciplined effort.
To follow Jesus, we need to nuture His
Holy spirit within, through prayer, bible reading, other ways of
'spiritual formation'. We will talk about these over the next few
weeks. The churches that are bearing fruit these days are all about
this spiritual growth. It all comes out of a deep desire to follow
Jesus.
THIS is how we as a church will determine our future together. This is how we will perceive our vision, move forward into our next chapter. I suspect right now many of us feel adrift, as tho we are on the water, but not moving with purpose. Maybe even without an anchor.
Personally, I don't see it that way. I
see us reaching out to our community as we always have! And reaching
out well, very successfully. Because of our people! You all!
Recognizing a need and taking care of it. Helping to take care of
each other and of our community! We are making a difference in lives
of people here in Beloit and elsewhere through our mission and
outreach! I see new folks coming to worship. I go to meetings,
introduce myself and hear, 'Oh you are from THAT church! Tell me
more!”
We are 'That church!” and we are
doing a lot of things well!
There's a story about prayer...
When a nightclub opened on Main Street, the only church in a small town organized an all-night prayer meeting. The members asked God to burn down the club. Within a few minutes, lightning struck the club, and it burned to the ground. The owner sued the church, which denied responsibility.
After hearing both sides, the judge said, It seems that wherever the guilt may lie, the tavern keeper is the one who really believes in prayer, while the church doesn't. {-Herb Miller, Connecting With God: 14 Ways Churches Can Help People Grow Spiritually }
When a nightclub opened on Main Street, the only church in a small town organized an all-night prayer meeting. The members asked God to burn down the club. Within a few minutes, lightning struck the club, and it burned to the ground. The owner sued the church, which denied responsibility.
After hearing both sides, the judge said, It seems that wherever the guilt may lie, the tavern keeper is the one who really believes in prayer, while the church doesn't. {-Herb Miller, Connecting With God: 14 Ways Churches Can Help People Grow Spiritually }
ouch...
do we believe in the power of prayer? I
am NOT advocating that sort of prayer. but do we believe that it
could happen!? I do! Do you!? How about if we pray to see more people
here in our community, fed, clothed, sheltered, living in safety
instead of fear & violence....and we pray to be part of that
solution?
Now, please know that I do not always
find prayer to be easy. There are times I have no idea what to say
and take great comfort in the knowledge that God DOES know what is on
our hearts and that the Holy Spirit does interecede for us! That we
do not have to be articulate and use 'correct' words or say 'thee and
thou” to make our prayers heard. Because sometimes all I can think
to say is God, You know all things...you know how my friend is
hurting, please, help!!! and God has shown me that a lot of times,
words aren't even necessary....the best prayer can a hug, and maybe
even to cry together.
Remember, Jesus wept.
I think that one sentence --that one
verse, John 11:35, Jesus wept, is one of the most powerful sentences
ever composed. Jesus wept, with his friends, sharing in their
anguish...taking on their pain, as he would later take on our sin.
We love and follow Jesus not simply
because of what he said, but because of the way he lived, died, and
was resurrected. Jesus does not ask us to agree with him but to
follow him. He takes us on a journey, toward truth, toward a Kingdom
we would not have entered without his saying, "Follow me"
(Mark 1:17).
Prayer is one of the ways we follow
Jesus more closely. Today, tomorrow, this week, please make a bit
more time for prayer. Pray for (5 finger prayer) those closest to
you, for those pointing you in the right direction (including your
pastor and church leaders!) pray for those in leadership of our
nation and world, pray for those who are weak, ill, grieving, in
economic straits...and pray for yourself, to follow more closely, to
learn how to reach out in His love!
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