Singing is an expression of emotion. 

When you are in love, suddenly love songs not only make sense, but you also find yourself singing right along with the lyrics. Suppose you are feeling angry; that is when the thrash of a heavy metal guitar and hostile words seem to fit. If you are feeling loss and grief, there is a song for that. There is also a song for joy and happiness. All music touches on emotions with lines and phrases explaining what we feel.

How do you sing when it comes to worship?

The best singing when the Church worships together is always from people who have been serving the Lord throughout the week. The joy, heartache, love, pain, and strength we find in living for Jesus bubbles to the surface, and the music gives expression to our faith. 

Worship never sounds right when sung by people trying to force feelings toward God that have not existed before the leader begins to play and the words appear on the screen. Praise and worship are the words of people who are living for Jesus. 

Being a local church leader is not passing trays for communion. It is not about opening offering boxes or passing offering baskets. It is not about counting people, so our attendance records are correct. It is not about sitting on a committee or a board, discussing topics, and making decisions. 

Jesus gives us a picture of a Godly leader in Mark 10:42-45 (NIV 2011). Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Leaders in the Church are people who selflessly serve other congregational members. It is not about position but a willingness to help others on behalf of God. Sometimes, it might involve passing trays or sitting in on a ministry team meeting. But those things are an extension of your serving as a leader, not an indicator that you are one. 

A man and I were discussing some issues in his life when he paused and said, “I am not worried; God’s got this.” 

I have heard the phrase used several times by believers, which always perplexes me. What do they mean by it? 

His application seemed to be, “I am not going to do anything because God will do all the work.” If that is what he was thinking, then there is an error being made. 

God does not work independently from our actions. So, for example, I cannot ignore my wife and expect God to build a deeply connected relationship for us. I cannot spend money frivolously my whole life and expect God to have a significant retirement secured for me. I cannot drink and smoke for forty years and then want God to make no side effects on my body. 

The world God created is not set up that way. Sure, God can break in and do a miracle at any time. I firmly believe that. But it is called a miracle because it is outside the realm of ordinary interaction. Most of the time, God works with and through our actions. 

I do agree God has got this. If you put in your maximum effort, He will give you the best results imaginable. But saying “God’s got this” while your efforts produce a contrary result is not faith. Faith is doing what God desires to the best of our ability and trusting Him for a positive outcome. 

King David ordered a census of Israel and Judah, which made God angry. He did this to enroll men into the army. The problem was that the advantage of the Hebrews was never the size of their army but the size of their God.

David eventually sees the error of his ways and cries out to God for forgiveness. God responds in a fascinating way. He tells David to pick one of three options. The first choice is three years of famine, the second is three months of fleeing from their enemy, and finally, three weeks of plague from the hand of God.

In the following verse, David tells the prophet, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.” (2 Samuel 24:14 – NIV 2011)

God sends an angel to bring a plague on the land. For three days, something awful comes over the people of Israel and Judah, and 70,000 people die. But as the angel turns toward Jerusalem, the Lord says “Enough,” and he withdraws his hand of punishment.

This story is interesting in several ways, but I find David’s decision to be the most amazing. He chooses God’s wrath over the armies of his enemies because God is great in mercy. He understands that people are not very gracious. They can be mean and cruel. But God is far more gracious than any human can imagine. And David is correct in his decision; God relents from destroying Jerusalem and his people entirely in his overwhelming mercy.

One of the overarching themes of the Bible is that people who obey God have a tough life to live, but we also have a gracious God. One far more gracious and kind than you and I will ever be.

I read a book about preaching as a college student that still impacts my sermons today. The book is called “Preaching the Connects” by Mark Galli, and while I do not remember much of the book, there is one section that inspired me. He wrote that one of the maxims in newspaper writing is “show, don’t tell.” And the concept was that a good writer would use word pictures, anecdotes, and illustrations to explain what they are trying to communicate. So out of that, I developed a simple question I ask myself when preaching, “What does that look like?

Reading a Biblical passage, developing a thesis, and a few points supporting it is relatively easy as a preacher. You can take a text and clearly outline what it says, but that is only half the work. The next question must always be, “But what does that look like?

What does it look like today if someone were to take this passage seriously? How would someone’s life look if they truly loved God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength? How might a person love their neighbor as themselves on social media? What actions would come from a person trying to encourage other believers? There are a thousand ways this plays out in our minds.   

This question is essential because aphorisms are easy to affirm and complicated to apply. People don’t just need more Christian teaching and advice. They need to know how to implement it into their lives. What does it look like to live that way? Show me, don’t simply tell me. 

Since most of you are not preachers, I would ask you to apply this concept in two ways. One, whenever you read your Bible and see a lesson being taught, stop and ask yourself where you have seen this idea implemented. What stories and people have embodied this truth? Use it as a bridge to application in your life. 

Second, take the question with you whenever you hear someone preach or teach. Listen closely and write down the main concepts and then ask it for yourself?

The Bible is not only for learning about God and the work of Jesus. It is for transforming our lives into the people of God. With the proper study and questions, you can become the kind of person who embodies what it means to follow Jesus. You can look like what you are learning. 

Over the last several years, Churches have been focusing on community service. The goal has been to shine the light of Jesus into the local neighborhoods that surround the Church. There is additional hope that it will open doors for people to attend Church and hear the gospel message.

There are several reasons people have gotten into this type of serving, most of which are positive. However, occasionally its popularity is produced by something negative. Some people like to serve outside of their local Church because the people are always an arm’s length away. And people at a distance are always easier to love. 

Within the Church community, there are often those few people we do not get along with, or we disapprove of their life choices. We don’t talk to them and always move in different circles. We sit on the other side of the auditorium and generally avoid conversation. Whenever the situation arises, we will fake smile and try to be nice, but we definitely would not go out of our way to serve them.

In Luke chapter 6, Jesus says, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.” (Luke 6:32-33 – NIV 2011)

Being kind to people who you like is easy. I would say that serving people you do not know is easy too. Even non-Christian sinners can do that. But loving, serving, and being kind to that person in the Church who annoys or aggravates you is tough. 

One measure of our spiritual maturity is serving others. A second level is our willingness to serve that one Christian we don’t like. Believers do good to others, no matter how we feel about them. 

Whenever anyone asks me to perform a funeral, I inform them that I have no standard thing called a funeral. I have a general outline of what will happen and what I will say, but the details are what the family provides.

For the sake of discussion, let’s say you have passed away, and the family wants me to lead the funeral and provide a eulogy. 

I sit down with them, and they tell me about your life. They walk me through your likes and dislikes. Often the family will share their favorite stories. I will ask about your faith in God and participation in Church. We will usually talk for over an hour about your life and personality. 

Then I take my basic outline and plug in all the details of your life. This is a way for people to remember and say goodbye simultaneously. For those who did not know you well, it will be a pleasant walk through your life.   

I wonder, what kind of stories will they tell about you? What would you want people to say?

Maybe it is time to write some new tales about your life before that day? 

That day is coming, and my outline is ready. I just need the stories to make it complete. 

There have been several families who attended Churches I have led who were addicted to Bible studies. By that, I mean they loved to be a part of every small group or Sunday school we offered. They would come early and usually carry a large leather Bible with a notebook. No matter what we were talking about, they attended and rarely missed a session. 

These people loved sitting with a group of other believers. They enjoyed the fellowship of Christians and the possibility of learning something new about the Bible. Many of them really felt good when they were able to share some nugget of information with the group.

Please don’t misunderstand me; these were good and Godly people. They loved Jesus and wanted to grow in their faith. But sadly, something was missing. They had failed to become fully rounded, mature Christians. 

Being a follower or disciple of Jesus is more than attending Bible studies with other Christians. It includes teaching new believers and giving our time, talent, and treasure to the work of the Lord. It involves serving other Christians along with your neighbors who have needs. Worship in all its forms is central to the faith as well. Evangelism, outreach, and inviting people to Church are also essential to discipleship. 

There is always so much to learn in the Bible, and most Christians are wonderful people, so it is easy to fall in love with Bible Studies organized by the Church. However, know that being a part of every one offered may be hindering your spiritual growth.     

Yesterday we celebrated Independence Day as a nation. One of the primary topics of conversation around this day involves freedom. 

Freedom for so many means “the ability to do whatever we want.”

Unfortunately, whenever we do what we want, the side effects are often guilt, shame, remorse, and pain. We make poor choices that hurt ourselves and those around us. Our so-called freedom makes us slaves to our mistakes and failures. Doing what is right in our own eyes seems like fun until we are trapped in an empty prison of unhappiness. 

It seems contrary to modern thought, but genuine freedom is only found in following Jesus. The life he calls us to lead is filled with love and support. There are no stains left over from the choices we make. He meets us with mercy and grace even when we fall short of his desire for us. 

The story for many of us living in the United States is a sad tale of using our freedom for evil, which can send us down the hole of shame into addiction and escape. 

There is another way to live, and it sounds like you are giving up your freedoms. But the things we are leaving behind are only the things that hurt us. 

Living the Jesus way is different from what most people want, but it gives us a story with a happy ending, which is what we really desire. 

Monday is the Fourth of July, and I know numerous people have a long weekend to enjoy. Three, four, and five-day weekends are the norm, and a few people will take the whole week for vacation. This Sunday will be one of the worst attendance days of the year. 

Don’t worry; this is not a post to make you feel guilty about this. Actually, I want to encourage you to keep God on your long weekend. 

This weekend would you still take time on Sunday to do four things.

1. Read a Bible passage together
2. Pray together
3. Share communion
4. Talk about what & who you miss when you are away from Church

Our Church will have the sermon video online by 6 pm on Sunday; I am sure thousands of others will also. Of course, it would be nice for you to listen to or watch a sermon to keep you connected, but if not, I am okay with that. 

I totally understand taking advantage of a long weekend. My only encouragement is to keep Jesus in your Sunday by setting aside a time for some family worship. It will keep you connected to your faith, and you might grow closer as a family simultaneously.