Church this morning was great, even if I did manage to muck up the bible reading by starting to read the wrong passage. I started in 1 Thessalonians instead of 2 Thessalonians. I kept thinking,‘Gee this sounds different to what I read earlier in my New American Standard Version at home’ Good reason for that! Anyway, I was gently corrected and started on take 2.
I was thrilled with the songs we sang this morning. We started with
By the Cross which has long been a favorite of mine. I love the jazz feel of the tune, not to mention the great words, reminding us that is it what Jesus has done that saves us.
Then two others – Christ Alone and He is Holy, both of which I like.
Before the sermon we sang Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) I hadn’t heard this version till the other night when we met for practice but I fell instantly in love with it.
The sermon given by a friend, who is a retired navy chaplain was excellent and stressed the importance of keeping on till ‘The Heavenly Cavalry arrives’ – that is, till Jesus returns with his heavenly host. In the meantime we’re called to grow in faith, which really follows on from the comment made on the blog I wrote about Time and the Wind and the Holy Spirit.
The last song re-enforced the truth that our faith rests on. ‘My Redeemer lives’ – this most important truth is what makes Christianity different from other world religions. We have a living Savior who we are waiting for to return.
That doesn’t mean we sit idle in the meantime but seek to do those things that will please him, that will help others and help them come to know Jesus too. And we also need to make sure we are not standing still, or worse still going backward in our faith, but are moving steadily ahead and growing in faith. We will only do that as we take time to listen to and study the Bible and spend time in His presence.
That’s why this morning was so good because we were in the presence of God. But I am also in the presence of God here in my study or when I’m out on the beach. I love the way God is always with us wherever we are and whatever we are doing. Surely that fact should affect our behavior.
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