May everyone be able to say amen,
Our goals the same, to glorify your name.
For that, O Lord, I place both life and limb
In your good hands — all that I am, the sum
Of me — do what you must to purify
And make me useful for the News of Christ.
So tear away the dross, tip over the gods,
Rebuild this life of straw, of cheap charades.
Let the Lord Jesus remain, so chip away
At names, traditions, ambitions that betray
The pattern you gave us. Here am I, O God,
The creature in need of your defining touch.
Helpless
Helpless we to save ourselves from a fate
A million times worse than death, this weight
Of sin and crushing guilt and burning shame —
Heavy this burden on this mortal frame.
Hear, O God, this hard confession we make,
Where all our false foundations tremble and shake —
In our distress, deliver us from our chains,
Hands surrendering hearts and hurts and reins.
The blessing of obedience
Heavenly Father of all the saved,
Let us respond to your goodness in gratitude and service.
Shore up your church as we depend upon one another and ultimately upon your power.
Help us to see the white field ready for harvest that Jesus seeks to show us.
Thank you for the gifts from the Holy Spirit for your church. May we use them for your glory.
We seek the blessing from obedience to your commands. Keep us from ignoring any of them.
Protect us from the evil one and deliver us from temptation. Let us not accept excuses for ourselves.
May tongues confess the Lord, and hands work with joy for your kingdom.
Kingdom in second place
Lord God, we have sinned. We plead forgiveness.
We confess that we have squandered our time, our energies, our resources on fleeting things. We acknowledge that your kingdom has been put in second place. We realize that we have failed to obey the Lord Jesus by proclaiming his salvation with every creature in this world.
We admit that we know Disney better than Daniel. We have sought out hilarity more than holiness. Seriousness and dedication are lacking. We’d rather shop the aisles of our favorite store than share the gospel with our neighbor.
Forgive us, Lord, and turn us from our sins.
Amen.
Who Do You Say I Am?
In our Western culture, we’re used to checklists to remember what items we have to buy at the grocery store or to separate out the tasks we must accomplish at work from who we really are on the weekends! We have even made our Christian walk a checklist of things to do to be right with God and in doing so have connect our heads without our hearts. Christianity is a relationship with the Almighty God, and He wants all of us: heart, soul, mind, and strength.
I. Luke 9:18-22. Peter answered the most essential question. In Matthew 16:16-18, Jesus adds that upon Peter’s confession of Him as Lord and Christ that He would build His church. Peter’s confession became a declaration in Acts 2:36-41 and 3000 obeyed and were added to Jesus’ church that day.
II. Philippians 2:9-11. We all must answer the most essential question. Atheism is temporary as every knee will bow to Jesus as Lord. Even those who ignore or avoid the question are answering it in this life. It is better to confess Him as Lord now while still alive than wait until after death to know the truth.
III. Colossians 2:6-12. As we have received Christ Jesus as Lord, so we are to continue to live in Him. This means that confessing Jesus as Lord is not just words we utter. It goes beyond loving Him from the head; we must love Him from the heart as well: heart, soul, mind, and strength in a close relationship of obedience to Him.
Christianity is what we are, not what we do. We ‘do’ from the belief we hold. We must be ‘all in’ for God, so that our every word and deed shows our answer to the most essential question that Jesus asks each and every one of us: Who do you say I am?
You Cramped Our Style
We paint ourselves into a corner, Lord,
And then complain that you have cramped our style.
Aren’t we cute? And cheeky? And perverse?—
Our great transgressions go from bad to worse.
We fall upon our faces, Lord, defiled—
The brush of sin we can ill afford.
You Do Not Cast Us Off
A day for you is like a thousand years,
And a thousand years, a day; above all time,
You do not count the passing hours like man;
Nor sight is lost of promise, but every word
Fulfilled according to your eternal plan.
The power and glories of heaven are fully yours,
But still you see and care for the smallest bird,
And man—of all creation the most sublime.
Awry we’ve gone, our bundle of failures and fears,
My people and with them I as well, a prime
Example—You do not cast us off; your hand
Is ever upon us—hear and forgive us, Lord.
I Most Believe the Fear I Feel
What windows look upon your face,
Through darkest hour and hardest race,
Where can we see the upward turn? —
Your sovereign hand we’d soon discern.
I see the waves and howling wind,
The chilly vale where men walk blind,
And fail, in swelling pride, to heal —
I most believe the fear I feel.
Till Jesus comes, will I have faith?
Or will I be an object of wrath?
My will to endure, O Lord, is small —
Along the way let me not fall.
I Killed a Pigeon
Oh, God, I killed a harmless pigeon,
I heard its bones crunch under my tires —
My car moved slowly, no intent
To harm the creature — he failed to fly.
How many times, in stupor, have I
Been on my selfish passions bent —
To die for feeding on wild desires —
Crushed under wheels of false religion?
In All My Need
Here, O God, I stand in all my need —
I, stripped of strength, no good or perfect deed
To offer up — only a heart impressed
With love’s own gift, with grace unsurpassed,
With mercy’s invitation in my breast —
I throw myself before you, all my past
Mistakes and present sins disowned, confessed.