Today's title is the caption that is on our sign out by the road in front of our church building. This Sunday we launch a new format into our order of worship service entitled: Children @ Worship. This approach will be more intentional to help our children (and youth and adults) to understand the concepts of worship; and that children have the same capacity to worship and experience God as youth and adults do.
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these" (Matthew 19:14). Children @ Worship will purposely create a space within the time of our Sunday morning order of service for everyone, through the eyes, ears, actions and hearts of children, to experience God on a childlike level. After all, the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.
I find that there is almost a command to be intentional toward this end. Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Change is the key here! We don't do a very good job to intentionally help children understand worship; and if they can't understand worship, it will be much more difficult for them to fully experience the holy presence of God.
We are here (youth and adults at worship) for the children, and not just for ourselves. According to Matthew 19:14, to simply send children off to do something else so adults won't be disturbed during worship is not an acceptable thing to do. Children have the same capacity to experience God and should be given the opportunity to do so. Children @ Worship will hopefully accomplish this at New Life Worship Center.
If you are interested in this new approach to include as part of your morning (or evening) worship service check out Young Children and Worship by Sonja Stewart and Jerome Berryman.
Please pray for God's blessing on this effort. We are trying a six week trial run for the purpose of evaluating before making a full implementation.
Blessings,
-Leo
Friday, March 9, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
You are an Aura of the Power of God's Grace
Last night's Bible study lesson focused on Philemon verse seven: "Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord's people."
Wow! What a great verse. The apostle Paul (author of Philemon) was intentionally aware of a great leadership quality within Philemon. It was an incarnational quality to say the least.
1 Corinthians 12:7 says, "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." Paul recognized Philemon was given a special spiritual aura of God's power in grace. It was as if God so manifested Himself in the person of Philemon that his mere presence among the fellowship represented and permeated the presence of God.
This is the stuff that church leaders should be made of - to be incarnated with the same manifestation of the Spirit as Philemon. Leaders should bring a sense of ease and peace by their very presence in the room. How sad it is when leaders are confrontational by nature and people feel uneasy around them. This type of approach to leadership can only have longlasting ill effects on the life and ministries of the church.
Paul was greatly encouraged by the manifestation of the Spirit upon Philemon. He stated that Philemon "refreshed the hearts of the Lord's people." The word refreshed has an interesting translation in the Greek; anapauō, literally meaning to set at ease. It's likened to when a situation is very tense but at the last minute danger is diverted and a peaceful calmness is restored.
A few years ago my doctor told me that recent blood work showed my iron levels extremely low. I asked him what was the cause. He named a few possibilities, but I stopped listening when he mentioned the word cancer. For days I walked around in a daze of shock at the possibility that I had cancer. In the meantime he sent me for bloodwork again to double check my iron levels. He called my cell phone one Friday evening and with elation stated, "Leo, it was a lab error! Your iron levels are completely normal." The sense of ease that came over me at that moment was nothing short of being phenomonal.
The Bible says that we should pray for the manifestation of the Spirit's gifting; and the manifestation of the Spirit upon Philemon is a must prayer for every leader in the charge of a fellowship. Are you refreshing the hearts of God's people?
Blessings,
-Leo
Wow! What a great verse. The apostle Paul (author of Philemon) was intentionally aware of a great leadership quality within Philemon. It was an incarnational quality to say the least.
1 Corinthians 12:7 says, "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." Paul recognized Philemon was given a special spiritual aura of God's power in grace. It was as if God so manifested Himself in the person of Philemon that his mere presence among the fellowship represented and permeated the presence of God.
This is the stuff that church leaders should be made of - to be incarnated with the same manifestation of the Spirit as Philemon. Leaders should bring a sense of ease and peace by their very presence in the room. How sad it is when leaders are confrontational by nature and people feel uneasy around them. This type of approach to leadership can only have longlasting ill effects on the life and ministries of the church.
Paul was greatly encouraged by the manifestation of the Spirit upon Philemon. He stated that Philemon "refreshed the hearts of the Lord's people." The word refreshed has an interesting translation in the Greek; anapauō, literally meaning to set at ease. It's likened to when a situation is very tense but at the last minute danger is diverted and a peaceful calmness is restored.
A few years ago my doctor told me that recent blood work showed my iron levels extremely low. I asked him what was the cause. He named a few possibilities, but I stopped listening when he mentioned the word cancer. For days I walked around in a daze of shock at the possibility that I had cancer. In the meantime he sent me for bloodwork again to double check my iron levels. He called my cell phone one Friday evening and with elation stated, "Leo, it was a lab error! Your iron levels are completely normal." The sense of ease that came over me at that moment was nothing short of being phenomonal.
The Bible says that we should pray for the manifestation of the Spirit's gifting; and the manifestation of the Spirit upon Philemon is a must prayer for every leader in the charge of a fellowship. Are you refreshing the hearts of God's people?
Blessings,
-Leo
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