Genesis 1:1-9, Isaiah 40:1-8, Hebrews 4:12-14, John 1:1-14, 2 Timothy 3:16-4:5 Our worship is centered around the word. We gather around the word, the proclaim the word, and we respond to the word. That’s the basic structure for our ‘normal’ worship service. The word can be the text of Scripture. It can be those words that we read from the Bible.…
I John 1:5-10, Hebrews 4:14-16, I Timothy 1:15-17, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Matthew 13:13-16, John 6:52-69 Confession carries two meanings in our worship. It is the sense in which we own up to our wrong doings and our failings and shortcomings. It is also the sense in which we say what we believe. In both…
Psalm 146, Psalm 150, Psalm 117, 2 Corinthians 1:1-5 Each of our worship services starts with praise. We call ourselves to worship by praising God. For what do we praise God? What words do we use to praise God? What stories do we tell to praise God? What is the tone of our praise? This will be a ‘praise service’ that…
Malachi 3:6-12, Acts 4:32-5:11 And now, we come to the “or else.” Except it really isn’t an ‘or else.’ It’s more of a ‘follow through.’ In Malachi God wants to know why we aren’t following through on our giving. God asserts that we’re actually robbing God of what is God’s (and it’s all God’s). God asserts that we’re shortchanging God by…
Micah 6:6-8, Matthew 23:23, Deuteronomy 14:22-29 What we return to God isn’t all tangible goods, though. Everything doesn’t have a value that fits on a 1040, or that we can make an insurance claim for. What does God expect of us? Even if we tithe spices, what does God want us to offer from…
Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4 There is a huge church debate about how much we’re supposed to give to God. Usually this debate circles around the idea of tithe and 10%. Is that 10% before taxes? Is it gross or net? Does it include gifts? Is it 10% of everything, or just 10% of our salary? You’ll notice that this discussion…
Genesis 14:17-24, Genesis 28:10-22 If giving isn’t really giving, then why would we give? If it’s all really God’s, and we’re just giving back to God, then why would we give? These two passages give us some insight into why. Abraham responds to what God has done for him. Jacob responds to what he hopes God will do. Both have…
Psalm 24, Psalm 50 God makes some things very clear in these passages. God considers it all to belong to God. We are God’s, the earth is God, everything is God’s. God is not apologetic about it or shy. God doesn’t need our offering. God will accept no bull from our houses. If God wants what we have, God will just…