Tag: worship (Page 1 of 4)

The Same Team

October 3, 2023 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

I’m a pretty big sports fan. I love college football. As a matter of fact I will do just about everything in my power to rearrange my life for 14 Saturdays a year just so I can watch what in my opinion is the best sport around. Now you don’t have to agree with me. But it’s not going to change my mind.

I really think we can learn a little from the sport of football. Life lessons. Business approaches. Relationship learnings. And I really think the church can take a lesson or two from the game of football as well.

It really hit me the other day when I was looking at the sideline. Why was the coach on the sidelines wearing that bright green shirt? Then another coach for the same team was wearing a bright blue one. These are not their colors. What’s the deal? Why not wear apparel for the team you’re coaching?!?! It seemed really absurd to me. Until I realized who they were and what role they had. Then it started to make a lot more sense!

You see one of the coaches on the sideline was one of the defensive coaches. He was letting the defense know how they should be lining up based on what the offense was showing. The one in blue? Yeah he had a different function. Not defense but his position on the team related to the offense.

They had to stand out so the men on the field could see them easily enough in the moment. They were on the same team, but they had different methods for achieving the same goal. They both wanted the team to win. They both wanted their team to score more points than the other team. One dealt with a really strong offensive strategy. For them it was all about scoring points. The defense however wasn’t as focused on scoring points. They just didn’t want the other team to score. While their tactics were different their end goal was the same.

Then it hit me. It’s the same way in the church. It’s not about offense and defense but different approaches to accomplish the same goal. What’s the goal of the church? According to the Bible the goal of the church should be to equip the saints for works of ministry and to disciple people through relationships built around God’s promises (baptism) and His commands (obedience).

Nothing in that tells us what color shirt to wear. As a matter of fact there is a ton of flexibility in developing relationships leading to discipleship. And just as much freedom in equipping the saints. As long as the end goal is the same – eternal life in Jesus. It’s about believing and living out the belief that Jesus is the only way to heaven.

He doesn’t tell us to wear special clothes when we preach or teach. He doesn’t tell us what songs are better than others. He doesn’t have a preferred musical styling. It’s almost like Jesus knew that one day we’d have a full team standing ready on the sidelines. It’s almost like Jesus had some kind of knowledge that helped him realize we don’t all learn the same way.

As big of a football fan as I am, I am a much larger fan of Jesus and the way he describes his church in the Bible. I’m not really a huge fan of how the church functions in the world all of the time today however. I’ve been on the receiving end of comments saying you’re not a real pastor because you don’t wear a robe. Or others have told me you’re not really teaching the Bible if your church is growing that fast. You mean that teaching the Bible is a deterrent for growing the local church?! Yikes! Pretty sure someone needs to read the bible a bit!

Look, I know that one size doesn’t fit all. And that’s the beauty of the church. Some of us are wearing the blue shirts of the offensive line coach. While others feel more comfortable in the stylings of the defending the ways we’ve done it approach. Both offense and defense are necessary for a football game! What’s it going to take for us to get this through our thick skulls?

It’s like this – Jesus is the only way to heaven. But my blue shirt or your green shirt are not the only way to Jesus. We’re on the same team, so for the sake of everything holy let’s act like it!

You’re a Saint!

June 6, 2023 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

I knew a couple who were a fairly unique pair of individuals. Each one had their own quirks to say the least. But one of them was less unique than the other. Ok so I’ll shoot straight here – one of them was just a bit much and was a hard person to get along with much of the time. This individual would tend to over share information, and life needed to be their way all the time!

I often said that the less hard to get along with spouse was a saint for how they dealt with the other. A saint in this case isn’t someone who died centuries ago and is now remembered for all eternity. Rather a saint in this usage is someone who was willing and able to put up with a lot of baggage out of love for the other person. They were a good person.

In my experience it seems as if we tend to throw the saint word around a little bit too easily in my book. We tend to miss the point of what a saint really is. I don’t think a saint is necessarily a genuinely good person. That diminishes the real value of what a saint truly is. Instead a saint is someone who has experienced the goodness of God.

Do you see the difference? It’s not about my goodness that makes me saintly, rather it’s about knowing I’m not all that good and still experiencing the goodness of God’s great love for me.

There’s something kind of special about being this kind of a saint. When we can acknowledge our “not goodness,” it makes the grace of God that much more powerful and amazing. When I recognize the tremendous amount of grace I’ve required from so many people, the easier it is for me to see the goodness in others.

Being a saint doesn’t mean we have it all together, or even that we’re necessarily all that good of people. It means that we’ve experienced something that not everyone realizes. We’ve experienced the goodness of God in immeasurable ways.

So have you experienced the goodness of God? Then you too my friend are what I call a saint!

Four Must-Haves

May 1, 2023 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

For over 20 years now I’ve done pretty much one thing with my life. Some people say I’ve worked one day a week and it must be nice to have this kind of gig. And well they’re kind of right. Ok not the one day a week bit but it is a pretty nice gig! However, I have to admit, the 20 years have not been all roses and candy, and that’s largely my own fault. You see I had a wrong focus for the first several years that I served as a pastor and that caused me a great deal of grief. It also likely led some people to a bad understanding of who we really were. For that I must apologize.

For decades, we’ve seemingly missed a key point in what it means to be followers of Jesus. It’s evident in the way we talk and how we use some key words in our vocabulary. We’ve changed the meaning of words to fit our comfort levels. We’ve left parts out of the Bible. Maybe we did it because we didn’t know better. Or perhaps it was because we just weren’t comfortable with going that far.

This post is about going that far. I’m growing increasingly tired of lowering the bar to make life easier and that’s exactly what the church has done for decades. We’ve become the lovey dovey, sissified, passive but vocal group that really doesn’t do a lot. There are exceptions but from what I see this is more the norm than the exception.

Warning: What follows is not a lowering of the bar. It’s not an attempt to make the church feel better about itself and tell you it’s going to be ok. Actually it’s just the opposite. It’s not going to be ok. If things don’t shift, and we don’t start to take our calling more seriously then we’re doing a great disservice to the gospel and leading people into a false sense of hope.

Being the church cannot be a hobby for weekends when we’re bored!

Acts 2:42 is a powerful verse that provides insight into the early Christian church and its practices. The verse reads, They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. This simple sentence outlines four key practices that were absolutely critical to the early Christian community and should be seen as vital to the church today. I will even go so far as to say that without all four of these parts we cannot be the church.

The Apostles’ Teaching

The first practice that the early Christians devoted themselves to was the apostles’ teaching. This simply refers to the teachings of Jesus passed down by his apostles. These teachings were foundational to the Christian faith and formed the basis for the early church’s beliefs.

They knew that the only way to truly find meaning and power in life was through the word of God. Just like God created Adam in the Garden of Eden but he wasn’t alive until God breathed into him, so also we aren’t really alive until we have the life-giving words of God in our hearts and minds.

For the church today, the apostles’ teaching refers to the Bible. We need to be devoted to the reading, hearing and talking about the Bible. We need to spend time regularly in the Bible as individuals, couples, families, churches, Christians. All of us need the Bible, especially as we look around at the cesspool of crap the floating in the world today.

A special word of caution for parents: if we are not making the Bible a key part of our family diet, then what will our children do when they are met with challenge in their day to day lives? We should fill our children so full of the truth of the Bible that when the world cuts them, they bleed the word of God.

Fellowship

The second practice that the early Christians devoted themselves to was fellowship. This refers to the act of gathering together with other believers to share their lives, encourage one another, worship, and hold each other accountable. The early Christian community placed a high value on fellowship, recognizing that it was important for believers to be in community with one another.

Unfortunately we’ve watered down the idea of fellowship and simply toss the label on anything the institutional church does as a group. We have dart team fellowship, pickle ball fellowship, trash collection fellowship, fellowship luncheons, fellowship conferences, youth fellowship and the list goes on! But is it really fellowship? Or just a fun activity that we want to pretend is churchy so we throw the label on it to make ourselves feel better?

The concept of fellowship was so vital that it wasn’t about what each individual got out of the time together. Instead the point of fellowship was what you brought to the group. When they devoted themselves to fellowship they didn’t focus on themselves but on the rest of the gathering. They truly had a oneness to their community and it was evident to everyone around them.

The Breaking of Bread

The third nonnegotiable practice that defined the early Christians was the breaking of bread. This phrase refers to the act of sharing a meal together. The early Christian community recognized the importance of sharing meals together as a way of building community and celebrating their faith. They knew that eating together was a great way of building a bond that wasn’t easily broken.

This phrase is also about a very specific meal though – communion. The gathering together for the bread and wine, body and blood of Jesus, was a vital part of what it meant to be the church. When they gathered together, they expected to meet Jesus. They didn’t come to be entertained or given a feel good message. Nope! They gathered together expecting to experience the God of the universe right there in their midst.

When we gather for worship, bible study, small groups, fellowship gatherings and the like do we really expect to see Jesus? Or just have a mildly entertaining time, get a spiritual high, then go back to life as usual? If the church is really going to be the church that God calls out into the world we need to expect to see Jesus when we gather!

Prayer

The fourth and final pillar that held up the early church was a devotion to prayer. They didn’t shy away from the act of praying together whenever they met and we shouldn’t either.

There are so many times when we say we’re going to pray for someone but we just feel like we’re not capable, good enough, adequate in our vocabulary, educated enough and we shy away. But praying together should be like breathing. We need to be able to offer prayers for one another every time we gather. No one is better or worse at this task because we are not the point of prayer…God is!

So there you have it four key things that define what it means to be the church. You either have them or you need to make these part of your life! No time like the present. Being the church isn’t a weekend hobby or something for the faint at heart. God doesn’t lower the bar for us and we shouldn’t either. It’s time to be the church.

Same God

January 9, 2023 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

Have you ever just sat and contemplated the wonder of how big God must be? I mean for those of us who believe in God as Father, Jesus as Savior and Spirit as Comforter, there’s a hugeness to God that is really hard to get our minds around. But not only the idea that God is so big but also that he has so much on His plate that how in the world could he handle my tiny problems?

You know I think this is something that’s pretty cool about the way we understand God in the church where I serve. He’s mighty and majestic and powerful and massive and other worldly. He’s king and savior and creator and Father and all the things for the entire world (then and now). But he’s also that for me today.

There’s a personal nature to God that is something pretty significant. He’s in my corner. He’s for you. He’s in the muck and mire of your crappy day and throwing parties on your good day. He cares about your divorce or your raise. He’s just as present with you today as he has been with anyone, ever!

This week we pause to worship on this Monday morning and reflect that the God we worship is the same God that showed up in mighty ways for Abraham and Moses, Mary and Ruth, Joseph and Paul. He’s the same God who’s been present throughout history. The God of creation is the God present when you are struggling to make it through the day. The God who healed the sick is the same one sitting by your side when you get the cancer diagnosis. The God who raised Lazarus from the dead is the same one standing by your side in your mourning.

The same God is right here with us. The same power, majesty, might, love, presence. All of it. Just as real as it was for the men and women of the Bible, he’s right here and real for you and me today.

As you begin this week, pause and reflect on the God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The Goodness

January 2, 2023 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

To start off a new year we use a familiar name combined with a newcomer to the music scene. The song is The Goodness and it focuses on the goodness of the God who is in the midst of every part of our lives.

It’s typical to want all sunshine and roses in life. We like the sun to rise with the beautiful pinks and purples. We like the soft glow of full moon. We like the warmth of the sun or the crackle of the fireplace. We love all of these great parts of life! Who wouldn’t right!? And it’s super easy to sing and praise and see God in the middle of these really cool moments of life. But what about the dark days?

The song Goodness shows that even in the darkness and rain God is still active and vibrant and worthy of our recognition and praise. Even in the challenge and pain God is still just as present and doing what God does best – working for our good.

One part of God that’s easy to forget is the fact that he knows what we don’t know. He sees what’s coming around the corner and he often will do things to prevent us from hitting catastrophe head on. Sometimes however that detour is an unwanted illness or day that just flat sucks.

But take time to see that God has used this detour, no matter how terrible and life altering, to shape you for what’s around the next corner. He sees what you don’t only the Goodness of God can do that!

A Lutheran Psalm?

November 22, 2022 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

Now there really isn’t such a thing and that’s something of which I am fully aware. But if a Lutheran were around in the Old Testament, I’m pretty sure this is something they would have written.

Psalm 46 is pretty well known for many reasons. It has some very familiar parts to it. From the refuge and strength section to the ever famous be still and know that I am God line, this psalm is packed with some pretty powerful hidden gems!

As we start looking at this psalm, we need to start with the stage notes for this psalm. That’s what I call the details given in the heading of a psalm. It starts with some details that help us understand what this psalm is all about. Here are the details: For the choirmaster to the sons of Korah according to the alamoth, a song. So the first and last parts are simple to understand. I mean a song for the choirmaster is pretty self explanatory. But what about this whole sons of Korah and alamoth bit?

If you do a little bible exercise, you’ll see that the sons of Korah were responsible for the music in the temple. It’s like they were the temple musicians or what we today call the praise team. Don’t shoot the messenger here just read the books of Chronicles and you’ll see for yourself. Then there’s this whole alamoth thing.

Here’s where we learn a little bit about how to understand the Bible. It’s something called principles of interpretation. In this case the best rule of thumb is to let the verses we do understand help us with the ones we can’t. So again back in the books of Chronicles there is a reference to the alamoth as being an instrument. Some scholars have said it was probably something stringed. The image I tend to get is of a very early version of a crude guitar of sorts. So there you have it. This psalm is a song that was used in worship by a group of people called the sons of Korah and played on a special instrument, just like our modern praise teams.

Now for the meat of the psalm. There are a couple key thoughts that we should look at. First there’s the idea of refuge and strength. This is super cool because the psalmist tells us of some pretty nasty circumstances. It seems as if he’s pretty much describing what we call tornados, earthquakes and hurricanes. In the face of these horrific catastrophic events, the psalmist says the he knows something that changes how we react to them. He won’t be afraid because he knows that God is always around. He’s right there in the middle of the tornado. He’s riding the waves of the hurricane. He’s holding the ground firm in the shakiness of the earthquake.

As the psalmist continues, we move from devastation to provision. The very things that should have brought fear and peril are now turned to strength and sustenance. Instead of things falling apart and the world crashing to bits, here we see God bringing rest and peace upon the earth. The powers of the world are warring with one another but all God does is open his mouth and the world melts into a situation of pure calm.

As the psalm, aka song for worship, comes to a close we’re reminded of this amazing phrase to be still. But I think we might have heard this phrase with less power than probably should be there. If we look at this verse within the context of the whole psalm, it’s less calming a baby with a quiet lullaby. Rather, this is a direct command to stop. Rest. Calm. Let God be God. It’s a powerful statement. It’s God taking the lead and telling us to sit down and back off. You can hear his voice raise and get stronger.

You see the psalm here is a reminder that God is always with us which means we don’t have to fear. But we still do. We let the world around us dictate how we live and what we think and how we act. So God has to stop us in our tracks. He raises his voice and tells us to knock it off and be still.

There you have it. A praise song from the Old Testament reminding us of God’s power and might and provision. And a strong reminder that God will put us in our place whenever needed to let him do his role as God.

A Different Way To Worship

November 14, 2022 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

I should probably start this post by admitting that I tend to live outside the box in a lot of areas. I do things different than some would like. Not everyone will agree with me and that’s ok. Not everyone will like what I have to say and again, you’re welcome to your opinion. If your skin is thin and can’t handle a little challenge, then you’re welcome to stop reading and close this page.

As a pastor, part of my job is to lead worship. What I call worship is the time we spend together as a church family or congregation. We sing songs, read Bible readings, pray, encourage one another, and share life experiences in an effort to grow stronger in our lives as followers of Jesus. I’m writing this from my over 20 years of experience as a pastor. I truly value the many differences we have in the way we go about worshiping but even in our differences I feel something is lacking.

l recently preached a message about worship from the perspective of Psalm 98. I’ve included the message in the YouTube link below. But the point of this post is to summarize the key points of the message. I would argue that worship has three points for us to check off. I refer to them as looking, lifting and surrendering.

Looking

When we begin our time together in worship we start by looking up. This is a recognition that all of our time together finds its meaning from God. We look up to the God who created all things, sent His son to save all of mankind, and now lives in the world through His people. We look up because we are looking to the one who saved us. According to Psalm 98, we look to God for has already worked our salvation. Even in the middle of the Old Testament, even before Jesus was born the writer to the Psalms says that Looking up is great but it’s often where many of us stop in our time together. But worship is about more than just on looking even if it’s at the God of all.

Lifting

When we fully encounter God in this moment we are then left with an option. We can let that be the end of our worship or we can lift up in praise to God. Worship has two key points that are like a good dance. God is the lead. He’s the primary actor in worship and we are called to faithfully respond. After hearing, seeing and experiencing all that God has done for us, we lift up praise to him. And this is where I feel we miss something pretty key.

The way we praise is often restricted. It feels as if we have some sort of fear over how someone else will react to the way in which we praise. But worship is not about our neighbor’s reaction, it’s a recognition of our salvation. So why do we let what someone else might think change how we worship?

Ok so hear me out. I think humankind was built for worship. I think we worship all the time and probably don’t even realize it. Some worship food with a simple yum that’s delicious after a meal. Others worship their favorite sports team as they gather in the stadium. Others worship while they watch the sunrise or the sunset. Still others worship their career or family or friends. We all worship something, someone, all the time. Our worship has degrees. We don’t bow down to the perfectly cooked burger but we sure to make a big deal out of the pregame rituals for our favorite team! You see worship is all around us.

I think the more we know the one we’re worshiping the more intense our worship becomes. Imagine going to a football game to watch a team you’ve never heard of, in stadium you never seen. You probably wouldn’t go head over heals as they take the field. It’s just not the way it works. But if a Buckeye fan walks into the Shoe and hears the band taking to the tunnel, marching across the field, sees the team come crashing through the end zone – that fan will erupt in joyous accolades! I know I do.

But what about worship? We seem content to let worship be so sterile and so somber that it’s devoid of life. From the invocation to the benediction, from the opening song set to the sending message we are in the midst of people who are worshiping the same God. When we look up and take in all that God has done, we really can’t help but explode into some volcano of praise. Instead in our institutional worship settings it’s almost as if we suffer from some form of constipated praise. Refusing to let the praise come forth.

Maybe it’s a hand raised. Maybe it’s an amen in the middle of the message. Maybe it’s closed eyes and a head bowed low in recognition that we’re not worthy of His presence but grateful for it! I’m not saying there’s one way to worship that’s better than another, actually just the opposite.

Worship is about recognizing the goodness, mercy and grace of God. We look up in awe of all He’s done. Then if we truly encounter a God that big and that mighty, then we sure as hell ought to raise our voices and our hands and throw caution to the wind as we give Him the praise he’s due.

Surrender

As we close this out, I want to say a couple words about worship as surrender. When we recognize the goodness of God, lift up our praises to Him, we must also take a moment and set our agendas aside. It’s about surrender. Worship is the recognition that we are not God. He died to save us, without our help. He rose to grant us eternal life, with a word from us. We return in praise for all He’s done then we surrender. We lay our pride aside to follow His will for our lives.

If our worship is lacking any of these parts, regardless of how they look, are we really worshiping a God as great as we think?

What’s Our Purpose?

July 25, 2022 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

It’s really no secret what I do for a living. I’m a pastor of a church in a small town in north central Ohio. As a pastor I’ve seen many amazing and wonderful things, witnessed significant challenges, walked with people through some dark moments, sat with people in their sadness, challenged people when their witness and lifestyle weren’t matching one another and lost some friends in the process. But with all of these seemingly varied activities with the wide range of emotions attached to them, what are we really here to do anyway? What is the purpose for our calling?

As followers of Jesus, as churches, and as gatherings of Christians what is our end goal?

I feel that for many in this world, the end goal has shifted and we’ve started to major in the minors so to speak. This means that we’ve made a big deal out of little things and a lesser deal out of bigger things. What follows is my honest, heartfelt assessment of some of the things we are missing the point on altogether.

One of my favorite things that Jesus never said but we pretend he did is spur one another on toward perfect attendance and passive observation.

When speaking of why the church exists and what we’re supposed to do as we gather, the Bible teaches that we’re to spur one another on toward love and good works not worship attendance. Jesus is far more concerned with how we live out what we say than he is how often we sit in our assigned seat at church. But for so many churches it seems as if we care more about how many are seated and less about how many are sent (more on that later).

The emphasis of the church should be to equip the saints, that’s the believers gathered, for works of service. But how often does that really happen? When we care more about attendance than actual participation and ownership of ministry life, we do a grave disservice to the gospel. If we’re truly supposed to spur one another on toward love and good works and to equip one another for works of service, then we have a long way to go.

These things really don’t take place in the corporate worship setting. Now, as I say often, don’t get your undies in a bunch! I am in NO way saying to throw corporate worship out the window. What I am saying is that we can’t put all of our proverbial eggs in the worship basket. And that seems exactly what the church is doing more and more of lately. So shifting our thinking from mere gathering to actually engaging in works of ministry together is critical as we move through some unsettled times in church history. But how do we do that?

One of those silly church cliches is that we need to focus more on sending capacity and less on seating capacity. But no matter how cheesy that is, there is massive truth in it! The more we focus on numbers in worship and who’s here and who isn’t here, the less we see what Jesus really called us to be. And the less we see what he is already doing in our midst.

Now don’t use this as a license to not participate in worship! The Bible also says that we should want to come and worship. We should not neglect coming together! As a matter of fact the more we grow in our service and sending natures, the more powerful our desire to be in worship. And the more we really are present in worship, the more desire we have to be serving and being sent. It’s a cool cycle where one feeds the other. Not being a part of a worship gathering is the result of not being sold out on the heart of being a follower of Jesus. And not allowing yourself to be sent out is a result of not being transformed by the message of Scripture.

We must have both and approach to ministry together. We need to meet together. So invite one another to join for worship, bible study, small groups, fellowship gatherings, outings of all sorts! But don’t stop there…take those worship moments, bible study or small groups and do acts of service. Encourage one another in how they serve. Move one another out of their comfort zones to do something significant in someone’s life that forces them to rely on God.

What’s our purpose? Sure our purpose is to worship, but it’s so much more than that. If all we do is worship, we miss a huge part of what it means to be the body of Christ! If all we do is serve, we miss what it means to find real rest and healing at the feet of Jesus. We need both!

Welcome to the Table

March 21, 2022 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

My family has a tradition that formed several years ago. Once a month we gather for a family dinner. I think it started when we all kind of had established lives that took us in a variety of directions. Being from a larger family where everyone is busy with work and other functions of life, it’s hard to be together on a daily basis. And my parents didn’t want us to drift apart as a family. Hence family dinner.

I will admit sometimes those family dinners roll around and it’s just hard to make the time. Maybe it’s my schedule that’s too full or the fact that I rarely have a weekend free or I just don’t want to make the drive? But whatever it is sometimes it takes a little effort to get me out the door to one of these gatherings. Now before anyone (yes even you mom and dad) get upset or hurt by this hear me out.

It’s always worth it. Yes I said it. Giving up what I want to go to one of these family gatherings is always worth it. Even if I don’t get the living room painted or the lawn mowed or the you fill in the blank. It’s always worth it. But why? The purpose of coming to one of these family dinners is to keep us connected and enjoy the feast that’s been prepared.

Ok buckle up because we’re about to take a bit of a turn to hit a parallel road.

This is a lot like gathering for worship. We often don’t want to attend because well there are many things we could be doing instead. Things like sleeping for instance. Or maybe taking a slow morning for a good hearty breakfast. Or heading out for a calm, quiet Sunday walk around the park. Whatever it is, there are a million things that we could be doing on a Sunday. But we’ll never know what we’re missing until we show up.

So are you still with me here? Family dinner is like regularly gathering for worship. No we don’t worship our families or even have a worship service at a family dinner, but there’s a lot that happens when we gather with family that should resemble worship and vice versa.

If your worship experience isn’t like one of those family gatherings, then maybe you need to rethink what worship really is. And yes I know comparing a worship gathering to a family gathering is dangerous because every family has one of those people. Some people can’t stand gathering with family because they don’t really enjoy being near those people. That’s a shame for starters, but I really think life in the church is the same way. There are those people who say things without thinking, come across a little harsh, are just too loud, seem stuck on themselves, are just kind of annoying, and the list goes on.

But why do we gather? We don’t gather for family gatherings or a time of worship because we like everyone in the room. We do it because we’re a family and better together than apart. If we can’t handle the hard times of being a family then we really need to check our own hearts but that’s a post for a different time. So putting aside what I want for the sake of the gathering just might be worth it. You should try it!

Another similarity between these family dinners and worship is the meal. It’s great to sit down and feast on the meal. But one of the cool parts about gathering as a family is that often it’s not the parents who get the food for their kids. It’s one of the uncles or aunts. We kind of share the responsibility of preparing the plates of food. But everyone feeds themselves.

Think about it for a minute. How cool would it be if every person in church thought of it as their responsibility and even privilege to help everyone else grow in their faith! I love helping my nieces fill their plates as they get their food. (I don’t have young nephews on my side of the family or I’d help them too.) Could you imagine what the church would look like if men and women would share what they were learning with other people throughout the church, both young and old? Could you imagine how different things would be if not only the pastor was the one doing the teaching but every person who was growing in Christ found it their responsibility to ensure the Bible was taught and shared?

Sure someone has to prepare the meal. Sure someone has to make sure the pantry is stocked and the table is set. But when it all comes down to it, even my young nieces are able to pick up their utensils and feed themselves. They feed themselves the very food that we put on their plates. They feast on the meal that was prepared.

The long and short is this. Make time to gather most certainly with your family but also with your church family. Give up a little bit of you for the sake of those who haven’t seen you in a while. Help those around you navigate the food on the table. Show them the menu. Serve them the food. Then feast. Feast on the meal that’s been prepared. Enjoy the fellowship around the table while you fill yourself with all that’s been set before you.

Welcome to the table. It’s time to feast.

A Different Approach To Lent

March 18, 2022 / Derrick Hurst / 0 Comments

May be an image of 6 people and people standing

The months of February and March are typically marked in the church by a season called Lent. Lent is that 40 time period that takes us from Ash Wednesday to Easter. Lent is a time of thinking, praying, and being a little more contemplative. Churches add worship services on Wednesdays for an extra time of gathering to remember all that Jesus did for us.

As a pastor, I’ve typically served churches that have done this very thing – gathering on Wednesdays for midweek Lent worship. The services have always looked the same too. We start with a song, read a reading, pray, a short message is preached, sing another song and then go home. All in all it is a mini version of what we do on a Sunday. But this year we’re doing it different.

This year, instead of a message being preached, we’re facilitating a conversation about a new set of Bible verses each week. We turn to the section of the Bible. I read it aloud and everyone follows along in their own Bibles. Then I turn the group loose to interact with the text. We’re using this as a time of training one another on how to eat all the words of the Bible. Kind of like teaching a child how to use their fork and knife, except here we’re teaching how to use the bible and some of its tools. Here’s what it looks like.

Know your tools

The first thing we do, before being sent off to work on some study questions, is unlock a tool. Better yet, we show how to use the tool that’s already in our hands a little more efficiently. You see, your bible is a great tool to access all of the goodness of God. But the problem is that many people don’t know how to use it to its fullest. So this Lent we’re giving people some fun tips and tricks for how to use the Bible to its fullest.

Throughout Lent we’re asking everyone to bring their bible to church. And I don’t mean bring a phone with a Bible on it but an actual paper Bible (yes they still make paper Bibles). The paper copy has some fun little extras inside that many might not be aware of! The goal is to help you learn how to best use your Bible so you can get the most out of it. And a side benefit is that you won’t have to rely on me to do the work for you because you’ll know how to dig into what the Bible says. The goal is simply to empower you to become obedient to God’s words, to eat on your own, to become mature in your following of Jesus.

This week we looked at the simple things. These tools are nothing earth shattering, but they’re really great things that can help a person in their study of God’s word. Our two tools this week were the little section headings and those mostly overlooked cross references.

The point of the headings in your Bible is to help you better navigate through reading. They weren’t part of the original text. They were added as little tools to make reading the Bible easier. We used them to help track down the same passage in multiple books of the Bible.

The second tool we highlighted was the use of cross reference notes. These are really useful additions to the Bible to help you see how the rest of the Bible talks about a given topic. If you trace those cool cross references around the Bible, you could gain a significant insight into what the Bible means when it says a given word or phrase and why it might be important still today.

Talk about it.

After we read the text and introduce people to the tools available to them, we literally turned them loose to answer a few simple questions and have a healthy discussion about what they read. It was totally different than anything we’ve done before, but it was great to watch and even listen to the various conversations happening. A normal worship service is so one way and the congregation is largely quiet. The style we are using through Lent is very much like what the New Testament book of Acts describes when the church was first formed.

I’m not sure what your routine is with the Bible, church or Lent; but it’s ok to try something new. It’s ok to do things a little differently in an effort to gain a little deeper understanding. The focus of the church should really be about raising people up and empowering them with the right tools to be able to grow in their faith on their own.

It’s called discipleship. It’s what Jesus commanded the church to be about in Matthew 28. It wasn’t a suggestion or a good idea. It was a command. It was a command given to the disciples to make more disciples. Not to the pastors. Not just the apostles. Not just the seminary educated *because they didn’t have seminary educated people back then! It was for the everyday follower of Jesus who was being transformed by the renewing of their minds.

So, what new approach can you take to your time in God’s word that will stretch you and allow you to feast on what God has put in front of you?

Tag: worship (Page 1 of 4)

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