Good day dear friends.
We ask for prayers for the Miller and Gomez families. Mr. Jim Miller, longtime member of Trinity UMC died on Saturday and will be buried Thursday at Ft. Sam Houston. His funeral is at 12:30 at Trinity in SA. Mrs. Rosario Gomez, widow of The Rev. Luis Gomez, died this week as well and she will be buried on Wednesday. Her funeral is at 11 a.m. at La Trinidad UMC in San Antonio.
We looked at Different Styles of Worship on Sunday based on 1 Cor. 11:2-34. (You can hear the 11 a.m. sermon online at www.fumcsm.org. Downloading the sermon takes a few minutes).
Here is out study guide for Monday: Monday: Different styles of worship occur throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament, we find a story about how the first two sons offered up their sacrifices to the Lord. Please find that story in Gen. 4:1-5. If both sons were taught to worship God in the same way, why did one son offer up “an offering” and the other brought “fat portions from the firstborn of his flocks?” How does this apply to your worship life?
Here is that passage: Genesis 4:1 Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have produced a man with the help of the Lord." 2 Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
People worship in different ways. Even if they're taught the same thing, over the course of time, they will decide which way of worshiping God is best for them. The central thing is to keep in mind that it is always and everywhere, all about God and not ourselves. Worship is praising and thanking God, remembering Who God is and what God has done for us. Worship is putting God first in our lives all the time. Worship is made up of many components, all geared to give praise and thanks to God. Not one part of worship is more significant than the other nor should we do or give less in certain parts of worship just because we don't care for that part. In other words, you don't refrain from singing if you don't think singing is important nor do you keep from giving God's tithe if you don't think the Offering time is an important part of worship! Nor do you keep from listening to the sermon just because you came only to pray!
The difference in the passage show two brothers, raised the same, taught the same, with one giving the first and fattest, the other giving an afterthought offering. It is clear which brother was putting God first in his life. And in the same way God knows which of us is doing the same.
Start today putting God first!
Tuesday's Study Guide: Tuesday: In Exodus 32, there is an element of worship that we don’t discuss much and that is obedience. A large part of obedience is patience. In this story we read how some folks reacted, with little patience and even less obedience, to the coming of Moses to fulfill his worship obligations. What are your thoughts on this for your life? Do you seek God obediently and patiently?
The passage is a bit long and I'll leave it to use you to dust off your Bible and read that passage. It is the story of Moses going up to receive the Law from God and it took him longer than usual and the people down below got very impatient with him and decided to create a new god made of gold. I've often wondered who is the bigger, the Dallas Cowboys playing at 12 noon on a Sunday or God? You may laugh, but for some, the clock-watchers in our congregations, we know who is number one in their lives by the way they will either leave early or not even come to worship so they can watch the game. For those folks obedience to God isn't as important as obedience to televised football. They don't need a golden calf to worship, they've chosen one made of pigskin. Okay, I'm being a bit harsh (and no, I could care less that the game last night didn't go to Texas but to New York) I do want us to ask ourselves, how important is obedience and patience in our worship?
This past week the Austin District Men put on a gala of appreciation for clergy (and Oct is Clergy Appreciation Month) and the speaker from Nacogdoches, Mr. Gilbert Hanke, did a wonderful job of sharing personal stories of his appreciation for clergy and urged the laity present to show their appreciation as well. He even quoted Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell of his conference, whose church draws 12,000 to worship each Sunday, once was told by a church member, "I enjoyed worship only one thing I hated and that was that you did not sing my favorite hymn!" Rev. Caldwell replied, "I love you, but worship is not about your favorite hymn. And worship isn't even about you, it's about God!" How important it is to keep that in mind. Every Sunday that we are in worship, it's about God not us.
PRAYER: Come, loving God and be glorified in my heart and life today. Teach me obedience and patience, and let me do all I can to worship you in all ways and in all places. In Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day!
e.v.
