Worship Workshop: Recapitulation

Sunday morning retuning:  Forgiveness.  It lies at the heart of our relationship with Christ, available to all who will believe, and ultimately is a crucial practice if we want to maintain the quality of any other relationships, yet for so many it seems so elusive.  Are you walking on forgiveness, or is the mustard seed of faith required to activate it a source of constant irritation?  If you are ready to take the next step, check here for resources to help.

If you asked me to describe our recent Worship Workshop in a word, and some have, it would have to be “WOW!”, and not because I really like alliteration.  I was hopeful for a solid event with good attendance and response, but God exceeded my expectations.  AS I debriefed with Adreanne and Julia last Monday, we agreed that our first was a great success, even as we dreamed about the next.  But before I get ahead of myself, allow me to recap, or recapitulate.

Recapitulation from Haydn’s Sonata in G Major

A recapitulation you see is a summary at the end that repeats the substance of a longer discussion.  A recapitulation, musically speaking, is the repetition of themes introduced earlier, especially as one is composing the final part of a movement.  I am hoping our movement, or rather the movement of God we are experiencing, is far from over, but I want to briefly revisit the themes from the workshop so we can be on the same page as we move forward together with Him.

The main theme was One Thing, inspired by Psalm 27:4.  “One thing have I asked of the Lord,/that will I seek after:/that I may dwell in the house of the Lord    all the days of my life,/to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord/and to inquire in his temple.”  David’s one thing is ours as well, to live with a constant awareness of God’s presence, but for us as temples of the Holy Spirit.  As we began, I asked every attender to listen to God for “one thing” that they could do in response to our sessions together that would improve their service to our King.

Then, in addition to two times of musical worship, and fellowship around our meals, we enjoyed sessions where we focused on different aspects of our 1. Worshipper, 2. Leader, and 3. Musician paradigm.  We spent Friday night learning and practicing “spiritual song” [Colossians 3:16-17, Ephesians 5:18b-21], developing this ability so we might be better Leaders.  The breakout sessions Saturday morning gave us a chance to learn and grow as Musicians.  [Thanks to Adreanne Zeleny, guitars, and our guest clinician Tony Brower, bass and drums.]  Before lunch we considered a few factors that impact the quality of our “Private Preparation for Public Ministry” so that we could zero in on growing as Worshippers.  We concluded with a quick listening session for the upcoming recording.

If you were present, I want to remind you of my challenge.  What One Thing are you doing to grow and improve?  If you have not acted on that yet, do it this week before you lose the impetus to do so.  If you were not present, I hope you will join us for our upcoming Night of Worship, Friday, June 13 as we continue to endeavor to stay one step behind Jesus!

Just a quick reminder...At the workshop I mentioned a training site we have access to which provides a lot of great resources for continued individual growth.  See details for that below in my NOTES!!

Jesus, help me to take that next step in growing in my worship leadership.  Whether as a worshipper, leader, or musician, show me what to do, and give me the courage to step out and follow You.  I want to be faithfully following and helping others do the same.  Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Timothy

Rhythm of Prayer

Sunday morning retuning:  We examined Luke 17:11-19 on Sunday.  Pastor Myron challenged us to examine our hearts to determine if we are grateful like the 1 leper, or ungrateful like the 9.  If you are ready to develop a heart of gratitude, check here for resources to help.

Prayer changes things because prayer changes us.  Have you been a part of one of these huddles lately?  Even better, have you ever been at the center of one, being prayed for?  It is a sacred moment.  Hundreds of people gathered around you to ask God’s blessing on what lies ahead of you.  It is inspiring.  And yes, as an introvert I will confess it can be a little unnerving, but I do believe it is worth doing.

This was the most recent one, this past Sunday for an International Worker family

We regularly gather like this to pray as a way of modeling that we are with those leaving, and as a reminder for us to prayer for them while they are gone.  I think it is a good thing, but especially as it gives us a chance to heighten our awareness of God’s presence in our going.  It is that idea of regularly cultivating such an awareness that I want to call the rhythm of prayer.

Much like the idea of staying one step behind Jesus, learning to live a lifestyle of prayer requires some discipline, but the product is worth the attention it demands.  You see, prayer can easily be relegated to the activity of the hyper-spiritual, or limited to a certain context, but rather it is to be constant by all believers.  I know this is a challenging standard, but it what the Scripture declares in Ephesians 5:16-18.

It was this kind of passage and others which speak of whole life worship that caused me to wonder where to go beyond having a daily devotional time.  I wanted to do more than beat my drum once a day, I wanted to develop a rhythm I could march to, if you will.  I wanted to have more of a cadence to my prayer life.

Several years ago, while I was wrestling to incorporate this rhythm of prayer into my life, I heard someone teach about the Daily Offices of prayer as practiced in mainly litugical churches.  The Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Church is a good example.  The idea is to set aside set times throughout the day to rekindle this heart of prayer, in an effort to make it more and more of an ongoing practice.

I prayed about this and decided to incorporate this idea in my task list.  I have “Daily BIble Reading and Prayer” at the top of my list each day before this, and I think I had even begun to include a reminder to pray at the end of my day “Evening Prayer and Journaling”.  What I added was two other reminders as tasks, “Late Morning Prayer” and “Afternoon Prayer”.  As opposed to set prayers crafted by others, I vary these times each day, while keeping some of my focus similar.  

Please do not misunderstand me.  I fail to be as regular about this as I would like.  I have a long way to go in growing a constant, faithful rhythm in prayer, but this practice has added intentionality to my quest.  The recurring reminder to pray has helped me, and it might help you.

Another little reminder...whenever you walk through a door, pray.  We all go through numerous doors each day.  It also helps us to prepare for that next thing, whatever it may be, as marked by our entrance into another area or place.

For those who may wonder, this is the door to my study

Jesus, help me develop a rhythm to my prayer life.  I want to be faithful in prayer, like a soldier marching into battle, like a farmer planting his crops, like a runner running his race.  Show me what I need to do to take that next step.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Timothy

Next Step in Prayer

Sunday morning retuning:  Praying, giving, transforming, sharing.  Four things that will be a part of being on missions with God according to our international worker who was with us Sunday.  What is your next step?  Are you ready to follow Jesus, even if it requires you to lose your life?   If you are ready to take the next step, check here for resources to help.

During one of the sessions at our recent Worship Workshop I challenged participants to grow in their personal worship.  The reason being that the quality of our personal worship has a direct correlation on the quality of our public ministry.  Like so many other things in our Christian walk, and many things in our service to God through music, small incremental progress is the best way to grow.  To this end, I asked each person to consider what might be the next step for them as they grow in this area.

Last week I had a conversation with someone who admitted that for them prayer is difficult.  There are other ways they feel closer to God, but expressed a desire to me to grow in prayer.  I told them I would be praying about that and would come back and inquire as to their progress intermittently.  That got me thinking about a few of tools I use to aid my prayer.

On my calendar when in the morning I have a block of time labeled “Preparing for My Day”.  The note on that appointment includes my version of a simple prayer I came across several years ago.  It reads, “God, whether I get anything else done today, I want to make sure that I spend time loving You and loving other people--because that's what life is all about.  I don't want to waste this day.”  This reminds me that loving is the most important thing I will do.  I need to pray this more often.

Even before the appointment is another one titled “Time with God”.  It contains at the bottom a short list of people I pray for regularly.  Before it are the words of a prayer written primarily by Paul Baloche which I personalized.  This prayer has shaped me over the years in a number of areas. It reads like this.

I cry out to You, Lord, to restore a sense of awe toward You and Your Word.  Fashion a childlike heart in me that I might be continually preoccupied with You, Father.  Cultivate in me a sense of wonder at who You are and what You do.  I need a fresh revelation of You, Jesus.  I need to see You more with the eyes of my heart.  I ask You to reveal more of Yourself to me on a daily, even moment by moment basis.  Soften my heart and deliver me from any religious and cultural cynicism that may have crept in.   Fill me Holy Spirit.  Free me to express my worship to You in a way that You are worthy of. Let my life be a sacrifice of praise to You, through Jesus Christ my Lord.  Amen.

The words are not magical, but faithfully praying these has allowed me to increase my awareness of God’s presence in my life.  They help me to cultivate my walk with the Lord by intentionally asking for more of Him every day.  They are remind me to offer my life in worship, living as a sacrifice of praise.  I do pray them as often or as fervently as I need to, but every time I do, they help me to move closer toward the Lord.

One last thing I have done over the years is pronounce a blessing on our boys at night.  Though I have not been as faithful to pray with them at other times, the Lord has enabled me to be faithful in this, to the extent that they will ask for it if I should happen to forget while tucking them in at night.  I simply pray, “I bless you [First and middle name] in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  I pray God will help you to grow to love HIm with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.”  I generally customize it from there, but I almost always start with this blessing.

I know that my boys have grown accustomed to it because it is a good habit, but beyond that, it has had an impact on me.  It has reminded me of my responsibility before God to point them to Him.  I often fail to do this in other ways, but this simple practice has carried the benefit of allowing me to redeem other mistakes by faithfully asking for God to bless them.

I will share next week a few other habits in prayer that I have tried to develop, but please know that my intent is simply to encourage you to do something to grow in your practice of prayer as a crucial part of your worship life.  The point is not the words or the ritual, but the training of the heart to stay in a humble position toward God.

What’s your next step in that direction?  Answer that question today, and act on it, maybe even before the sun sets.

Jesus, help me to grow in the discipline of prayer.  I want to commune with you constantly and I confess this is an area of my personal life of worship that could use some attention.  Draw me close and show me what that next step is for me and I will take it.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Timothy