Worship | In Prayer by Travis Sinks

We don’t often think about prayer being in worship to God, but that’s because we so easily forget the true meaning of worship which is an “expression of reverence”. Think of it this way: By praying to God, we are telling ourselves, and those around us, that God is Someone we need. Someone we desire. Someone we revere with great honor, and respect.

However, by God’s design, our prayers represent something even greater than the words we speak: they symbolize the aroma of incense around God’s throne.

Psalm 141:2 says: "May my prayer be counted as incense before You; The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering."

Our prayers represent the incense that was ordained by God to fill the temple and be both a sacrifice to God and also to set the mood for us. The temple is a holy, special place, where there is peace, calm, and God Himself. This is the environment our prayers are meant to create.

When God ordained how the incense would be prepared and taken care of on a daily basis, He said: "There shall be perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.” (Exodus 30:8)

Just as God’s holiness and presence never cease, neither was the incense to end. It was to represent the presence of God to the people.

And similar to incense, we have found this same calling in prayer.

Prayer is to fill our lives as our bodies are now the temple of God (1 Corinthians 6:19). By having prayer fill our lives, we are not simply asking for God’s power to work, but we are filling our lives with the reality of God’s presence just as incense filled the temple.

Our prayers are meant to be ceaseless (1 Thessalonians 5:17), meaning that we are to have prayer be our 1st response to every situation in life - good, and bad. This embodies the entire purpose of God’s plan of redemption for all people: to have a personal, and constant relationship with God Himself.

In the days of the temple, only the priests had the privilege of lighting incense and giving sacrifices. However, now we are all made priests and have the privilege of praying directly to God and enjoying His presence. Even better than extending that privilege to all people, God has also allowed this to be done in all places! We see in Acts that disciples would praise and pray to God in all circumstances and locations - and God would be present.

This doesn’t mean that setting aside a special place or time is not useful. Although God has made Himself available in all places and times, we, as people, aren't well suited to enjoy meaningful prayer in all circumstances. It is wise for us, as people, to set aside the time, and place to pray to God, as well as have prayer be our first response in everyday life. We see this example in Acts when the it says that “They [Christians] devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:42). “The prayers” refer to the standard daily times of prayer that the Jews had. There is nothing wrong with having time set aside to pray, this discipline is actually of great benefit to us.

So take this privilege of prayer and enjoy it! We get to speak to the God of all creation. The One Who created us, and knows everything about us. The God Who is above everything and yet still cares for us. The God Who not only knows our present, but desires to work in our lives today! Let’s not take this for granted, but enjoy it to the fullest.

For when we pray, we are giving reverence, honor, glory, and worship to God.

Meals as Ministry (pt1) by Daniel Williams

Once you have known the love and mercy of Jesus in your life, there is no greater joy than sharing His love with someone. Jesus commands us to go into all the world and make disciples, and nothing brings greater fulfillment than stepping out and helping a person grow in their relationship with Jesus. (Matthew 28:18-20, John 20:21) I want nothing more than to obey my Savior and tell someone else about how much He loves them and what God has already done for them! But have you ever found yourself feeling ill-equipped or maybe you just don’t know where to start when it comes to discipling someone or even sharing Jesus? 

When my family came to Florida to start a church, we did not know anyone. We had no team, no church to invite people to, and wanted a way to form relationships and share Jesus with people who so desperately need Him. We had always loved having people over to our house to eat, and we decided to continue using this approach to building relationships and see what God would do through it! 

Meals are a practical and powerful means of connecting with people. 

Jesus used meals as an opportunity for ministry throughout His life. Robert Karris said, "In Luke's Gospel Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal.”

Luke 7:34-35 says, “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by all her children.” 

God is constantly using the everyday world around us to show us things about who He is. So, it makes sense that Jesus used every opportunity to teach those around Him, including meal times. It is amazing to note the number of times we hear some of the greatest teachings of Jesus come from a time sitting around a dinner table. 

The act of inviting someone into our home is becoming more rare as people are busier and connecting more and more through social media and texting rather than face to face. We have had many people tell us that our home was the first “real home” they had been to in years! Tim Chester wrote a book on this subject called “A Meal with Jesus.” “Few acts are more expressive of companionship than the shared meal….someone with whom we share food is likely to be our friend, or well on the way to becoming one.”    

We eat an average of 21 meals per week. 

It is a reasonable and attainable goal to plan out 1-2 of these meal times each week to connect with someone for the sake of discipleship! In a natural setting, eating a meal is an intimate and comfortable environment for real conversation.

So be encouraged that this is something you can do! Sometimes we may feel like what we are doing is not enough, or we feel at a loss in how we can better pour into someone’s life. This is a great starting point. Just as Jesus used meal times to pour into those around Him, we can begin to look for ordinary opportunities to do the same!

Be blessed,

Pastor Daniel 

Recommended Resources:

Recommended Reading: “A Meal with Jesus” by Tim Chester

Listen to a message I taught at Redemption Church on this subject: “Be On Mission with Meals”

MY STORY by Natalia Snelling

Kidsfest 2015 (photo essay)

What It Takes For A Miracle by Alesha Sinks

“In order for God to do miracles in our lives, we have to be in a place where we need a miracle."Pastor Daniel Williams

We all want to live by faith, but no one wants to feel completely overwhelmed and unsure of how things could possibly work out.

We all want to step out for God and do whatever He asks, but no one wants to obey when God only shows them the first step down a long and scary path.

We all want a miracle, but no one wants to be in the place of desperate need that necessitates a miracle.

We all want to see miracles. But no one wants to be in the place that makes a miracle possible.

Because you can’t have a miracle without the need for one. Because miracles aren’t normal or expected or natural or easy.

So if you are finding yourself in a hard place today, a desperate place, an overwhelmed place, or a seemingly hopeless place, remember...you are in a place where a miracle can happen. And we serve a God of power. We serve a God of miracles.

It won’t be easy. It won’t be normal. It won’t be expected. It won’t be planned. It won’t be on your time schedule. It won’t be in your control. It won’t be the way you thought it would be. But God can work miracles in your hopeless situation.

Sometimes His miracles may look incredibly natural, like using people to help provide for you. Sometimes His miracles may be very intangible, like giving you salvation. Sometimes His miracles may not seem like miracles, like stripping away things you think you need. Sometimes His miracles won’t come when you need them, because the real miracle is happening on the other side of the tragedy.

But I believe in a God of miracles. So let’s not be afraid of the hard places, the scary places, the places where we don’t have control of what happens. But let’s begin to look at those places as opportunities for God to show His power...for Him to do a miracle.

Let's reset our perspectives with the truth that God can show up in the midst of our desperate situations. Let's remind ourselves that He is powerful and that He desires to show Himself strong in our weaknesses. Let's preach the power of the Almighty God to our frightened and anxious hearts remembering that He is a God of miracles.

The Best Trick To Wake Up Earlier by Travis Sinks

Sleep Is Necessary.

I was so disappointed when I realized this. I held onto the hope, even through early college, that there must be a way to sleep less. Although I enjoy the benefits of sleep, it's always felt like such a waste of time.

I've wondered for a while how much sleep is really needed/appropriate. That's obviously a question that will be answered different for each individual, which makes it even harder to answer. I've seen endless posts from entrepreneurs and church leaders on how much sleep is needed. I read an article recently covering the range of sleeping patterns of a variety of famous leaders: from Winston Churchill, to Benjamin Franklin, and even Barrack Obama. The conclusion was that you have to sleep whatever is best for you (again, not helpful). Some of these people slept 4 hours a day, while others 9 hours. Some went to bed at 9pm and others at 2am. There was no perfect system - just a perfect system  for each person.

THE SITUATION

Sleep will always be a blessing and a vice. The Bible warns people of sleeping too much, and too little. Proverbs 6:10 and 24:33 both teach that if you sleep and rest too often, then you'll fall into poverty. Your life will be a wreck. On the other hand, Psalm 127:2 reminds us that it is in vain that we rise early and stay up late because we are anxiously working, and it ends by reminding us that God is good, and He desires to give us the good gift of sleep and rest.

The balance is found in resting, but not being lazy.

THE FIX

As mentioned above, there is no perfect system - but if you've read this far, then you probably want to shift your schedule and wake up earlier. I can't remember where I heard this, but this is the best advice for waking up earlier that I've ever heard:

"If you want to wake up earlier, you have to go to bed earlier.”

As much as this seems not helpful, this truth is GOLD. The issue isn't a discipline to wake up early, but a discipline to go to bed earlier. You can be disciplined to wake up earlier all you want, but that will only last so long before your natural need for sleep catches up with you.

It's as simple at that. If you individually need 7 hours of sleep and you want to wake up at 5am - then you need to be asleep at 10pm. You have to work backwards and choose your bedtime to get the rising time that you want.

NOTE: I've also heard that one of the best things you can do is have the time you wake up be consistently the same. This doesn't work for some lifestyles in the service industry, or others, but it does work well with the above mentioned tip of choosing your bedtime to reflect your rising time.

THE BEST TRICK TO WAKE UP EARLIER

However, we are blessed in a couple weeks with a once a year opportunity. If you're wanting to change your sleep pattern, it can be fairly difficult. It can take a week of extra discipline to wake up an hour earlier until your body's clock follows in suit. However, I heard this great tip from Chad Brooks over at The Productive Pastor where he suggested utilizing Daylight Savings Time when you are wanting to wake up earlier.

It's as simple as this: when daylight savings time ends on Sunday, November 1st this year - wake up at the new time you want to wake up. If that's half an hour earlier that normal, it'll actually feel like half an hour LATER because of the time change!

Usually, Daylight Savings Time Ending is just a wasted time change where we enjoy 1 day of sleeping in, and then complain the rest of the year about wanting to wake up earlier, so don't make that same mistake this year!

If you're wanting to wake up earlier: take advantage of the opportunity coming up, and enjoy the benefits all year long.

Worship | In Song by Travis Sinks

Worship is what we were made to do, and it is the most fulfilling, and long lasting joy we can find on earth. As covered in the previous post, worship is an “expression of reverence” which comes from every part of our life. This series will touch on multiple areas of life reminding us that we truly can worship God in every area of our life.

Starting off these areas is the one that seems most obvious: Worshiping God in Song.

The Bible is full of singing. In the Psalms alone the word sing or singing is found 76 times, and song or songs is found 118 times (in the ESV version). That is a lot of calls for singing! Later in scriptures Paul even writes that we should be singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs together with thankfulness to God (Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:19).

The reality is, singing is meant to be a big part of our worship to God, and there are many benefits to worshipping through song. This article (http://www.unlockingthebible.org/why-singing-matters) gave 7 great Biblical reasons why singing matters, and I’ll summarize each point below.

Obedience

There are many times we are told to do things in God's Word, and one of these is to sing in worship to Him (see verses above). God knows best and the reality is that we are blessed when we obey Him. James 1:25 says that the person who follows and obeys God "will be blessed in his doing.” Although the blessings of God don’t always come in the form of a job we enjoy, a pay raise, popularity, or even the things we pray for - God’s blessings do come in a way that is best for us. God, being God, knows our needs and is a loving Father who desires not only for us to enjoy good things, but to have our character built to be more like Him.

All of these subsequent blessings listed flow from this first one. When we obey God we are blessed. Below are 6 blessings we receive from obeying God by worshiping in song.

A Focus on God’s Word

Many worship songs are written with the intent to speak the truth of God through the voices of His people. This truth comes from and points back to Scripture. As Colossians 3:16 reminds us to have the "Word of Christ dwell in you richly” we are given one way to do that through “singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs."

Encouragement

Singing truth about God solidifies it inside of our hearts and will remind us of the truth as we go about our day. We all have experienced having a song stuck in our heads, why not have the words to those songs be uplifting, truthful, and God focused?

Spiritual Warfare & Spiritual Strength

When we’re focusing on God’s Word, we will naturally be spiritually strengthened. In addition, God has wired us in such a way that we are built up by song. When we combine these two things, we enjoy a spiritual strengthening from God. We see a perfect example in Acts 16:25 when Paul and Silas were in jail. It says that they sang! Singing to God refocuses our attitudes and hearts and prepares our spirit for the spiritual warfare right in front of us.

A Pathway to Joy

In the Bible we oftentimes see joy and singing hand-in-hand. Sometimes joy leads to singing, while other times singing leads us to joy. The most obvious of these calls is found in James 5:13: “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.” It doesn’t get any simpler than that. However, if you’re struggling with finding joy, sing to God the truth of His Word and preach/sing God’s truth to your own heart as well (Psalm 42 is a great example).

Gives Glory to God

Last, but certainly not least, singing gives glory to God. This brings us back to the purpose of these posts on worship: We are called to worship God, to give an "expression of reverence” to Him. Singing is a large part of worship both now and forever. In Revelation, John has a vision of heaven and in chapter 7 verses 9-10, He writes a scene in heaven when everyone is gathered around the throne of God and singing to Him. This is what singing is about. Singing to God on earth is, and will be, one of the most intimate forms of worship and we’ll get to enjoy it for eternity.

Joanna & Nicole's Baptism (10-17-15)

PERSPECTIVE RESET (Psalm 32) by Alesha Sinks

{This post is an excerpt from my devotional ebook Perspective Reset: 28 readings and meditations from the Psalms. The devotional is FREE to all of my newsletter subscribers and I would love for you to download it. Click HERE to subscribe and download the ebook.}

Psalm 32:1-11

I often turn to the Psalms when I’m feeling broken, when the weight of my sin is heavy on my heart. As I’ve walked through times of life where condemnation is crushing me and I can’t seem to fathom God’s forgiveness, the Psalms of David, like this one, are particularly comforting.

David knew what it was like to sin greatly. He was an adulterer, who then ordered a murder to cover up his adultery. Yet another time he decided to number his armies to see how great his power had grown, ignoring the warnings God sent him to not do it. In this latter case, God brought a plague on the people David ruled as punishment. Because of David’s sin, hundreds of innocent people died. Can you imagine the weight of that sin? The shame? The pain?

In these verses (v 3-4), David described the pain of living with unconfessed sin. God knows all of our actions, including our sins, so there is no use in acting like we are hiding them from Him. Too often I find myself refusing to confess under the excuse that God knows my sin anyways, because the act of confessing is often incredibly painful.

And yet David, this great sinner, was also known as the "man after God’s own heart". No one else in the Bible had this glorious title bestowed on them. How?

His secret is found in these verses. David proclaims the blessings of being forgiven by God, and the beauty of confessing our sins to Him.

Even though God already knows our sins, He wants us confess them to Him. There is an incredible power in speaking or writing a confession of sin to God. It brings a clarity and gravity to the sin and allows us to feel the full weight of it.

Feeling the full weight of our sin initially seems like a bad thing, but instead, it actually allows us to then experience the full freedom from it that God desires to give us.

Will we walk in the "sorrows of the wicked” who try to hide their sin? Or will we stand with David, baring the ugliest parts our hearts to God, and surrounded in His “steadfast love”? The difference is confession. Honest, simple confession to God will bring us the ability to experience full freedom from our sins.

{Verse to Meditate On Today}

"I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah"
Psalm 32:5

{Take some time to write a confession to God today for whatever sins might be weighing on your heart, trusting that the God who forgave David will forgive you.}

4 Ways To Handle Rejection by Pilgrim Benham

Have you heard of the “Rejection Hotline”? Apparently it’s no longer active, but for over 10 years, up until 2013, if someone asked you for your phone number but you didn’t have the gusto to say, “I really don’t want to give you my number, but thank you”, you had the option of giving someone an actual phone number to call. And if they indeed called it, this is what they would hear as the phone picked up:

“Hello, this is in not the person you were trying to reach. You have reached the Rejection Hotline! The person who gave you this number did not want you to have their real number. I know this sucks, but don’t be too devastated. So, why were you given the Rejection Hotline number? Maybe you’re just not this person’s type. Note: This could mean short, fat, ugly, dumb, annoying, arrogant or just a general loser. Maybe you suffer from bad breath, body odor, or a nasty combination of the two. Maybe you just gave off that creepy overbearing, psycho-stalker vibe…Regardless of the reasons, please take the hint. Accept the fact you were rejected, then get over it. And please, do your best to forget about the person who gave you this number, because trust us, they have already forgotten about you.”

At their height, the Rejection Hotline was a 2.5 million dollar annual company with over 60 million callers being rejected or at least calling the number to get in on the joke.

Rejection is a terrible thing, isn’t it??

Maybe you’ve been rejected by someone you thought would be a perfect future husband or wife. Maybe you had a business proposal that was turned down. There’s no doubt that someone reading this has been fired because you weren’t what the boss was looking for.

We have all faced rejection at some point. Especially those of us who survived middle school.

Even though rejection is very difficult and can be discouraging, rejection can also be the catalyst to redirection.

Jesus, in Mark 6, went back to His hometown of Nazareth. However, the reaction of the people Jesus grew up with was worse than indifference. It was rejection. Can you imagine? Jesus was rejected by the very people who should have known Him best. So how did Jesus handle the rejection? There are 4 things that Jesus does in that moment that are very instructive for us:

1. Shake it off.

Jesus says to His disciples as He sends them out: “And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them” (v.11).  Jesus is equipping His disciples to go and do what He was doing. If Peter and James went into a town and the people rejected them, they were merely to shake the dust off their feet and go to the next village.

Isn’t there a popular song recently about shaking off the haters? Jesus is saying that dust represents their rejection and shouldn’t even stay on your feet. Have you been rejected by someone you cared about? Did a potential spouse or business partner or company turn you down? Do what Jesus did! Leave their rejection with them and move on.

2. Go where you’re received.

Jesus immediately turns from Nazareth, and Mark 6:6 says, “He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.” Jesus departed from the places that rejected Him and continued to minister, this time in places that would welcome Him. If you’ve been avoided for a job offer, don’t sit and sulk. Go and apply at another company that will pay attention to your resume! It’s important that we don’t waste time kicking doors that simply will not open. Does that friend not call you back? Keep persevering; but also look for relationships where you are valued and accepted, and where your friendship is reciprocated. And if you’re really really bold, just unfriend them. It’s hard, but so worth it.

3. Focus on your gifts and strengths.

Jesus doesn’t look at what their criticism was: “He’s just the carpenter. We know His family. We know His history. He won’t amount to anything. His past will define His future.” Criticism can be very instructive, even from those who are our enemies. But if we dwell unnecessarily on the critique, rather than our strengths and gifts, we will stay unproductive and bound. Jesus moved on to do what He did best: teach. So should we.

4. Use your energy to equip others.

Jesus could have sat in a corner lamenting His rejection. But He immediately begins teaching and then equipping His disciples to go and minister. I’ve found the greatest way to escape discouragement is to pour into others. At King David’s most desperate moment, as he was hiding out in the cave of Adullum, running from Saul and other adversaries, he begins to realize he is overwhelmed and in despair. Psalm 142 was the song David wrote while in the cave, and he feels completely alone. However, right after that, a large band of troubled men went to join him:

1 Samuel 22:1-2

David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. 2And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.

David began to lead these men, becoming ‘captain over them’, and then begins to rebound from his discouragement. If you’ve been rejected, find some people who receive your ministry and begin to pour into their lives. Rejection isn’t easy to handle, but we can follow Jesus’ example and allow rejection to become redirection in our lives and ministries!