I Didn’t Particularly Care for Worship Today

I tried to secretly take this picture of the boys this morning. I think Samuel knew I was taking it and was trying to hide, scootch backwards so he wouldn't be included. I got him anyhow. I'm good like that. This is a picture of my three sons in worship this morning. I didn't like…

500 Words Per Day: Perfection

We had every intention of attending worship this morning. It's  all a part of this thing we are trying, a thing we like to call 'getting unstuck from stupid.' I had arranged earlier in the week to drive to our home church which is located about hour and a half from where we currently live.…

Book Review: The Case for the Psalms

Title: The Case for the Psalms Author: N. T. Wright (Unofficial) NT Wright: Amazon Page Publisher: Harper Collins; HarperOne Page Count: 200 Date: 2013 There are many preachers and theologians I admire to the point of buying anything they write and listening to anything they preach. Among them are Eugene Peterson, D.A. Carson, Frederick Buechner,…

More on Psalm 98: Our Bodies as Instruments of Worship

Friends, Here’s an update on my Psalm 98 notes posted last night. These are more along the lines of prayer thoughts and gave way to my prayer time this morning–a sort of thinking out loud about the Psalm (and will make much better sense if the lectionary notes are read). Past, present, future–there is never…

Lectionary Notes: Psalm 98

I’m getting a head start this week on my notes for the Lectionary readings. Today I spent with Psalm 98. You can download the notes from my box.net account. Here’s an excerpt: This is David dancing before the ark like a mad-man. Do the expressions of praise ever end? Do the varieties of worship ever…

Drawing, Holding, Considering: Hebrews 10:19-25

Friends, This is a podcast of the sermon I preached this past Sunday evening from Hebrews 10:19-25. It is the fourth part of a series I am preaching through Hebrews. I have been posting the manuscript links here and I will publish this manuscript too and also upload it to my box.net. Here are the…

Sing us a Dirge: On Honesty in the Congregation

Friends, The latest issue of Touchstone is now available and as I was reading through it today I cam across a short essay by Christopher Jackson titled Minor Keys to the Kingdom. I wish there was an online link available, but the best I can do is refer you to the September 2008 issue and…

Isaiah 2:1-5, Raising God

Friends, here is part three of my series from Isaiah’s Gospel. In this sermon I discuss the inevitability of people being drawn up the moutain of God. What I noticed, and what is ironic, is that the ‘people’ of the nations say, ‘Let us go to the house of the God of Jacob…’ but the…

A Theology of Worship: Worship Starts with Seeing God

Friends, This is sermon #2 from a short four part series I did a while back. The sermon series was called ‘A Theology of the Body for the 21st Century.” I wasn’t terribly pleased with the series as a whole, but I did enjoy writing and preaching this sermon on worship. jerry A Theology of…

Revelation 4-5, Worship as Response: Remembering the Cross

Friends, This is actually the second sermon I preached in a series of four in January 2008 that dealt with worship. The other three are here: Worship as Proclamation 1 Corinthians 10-11 (Preaching the Cross) Worship as Possibility: Hebrews 9-10 (Facing the Cross) Worship as Sacrifice: Romans 12:1-2 (Displaying the Cross) As you can see, the cross is…

May Grace be Your Constant Companion

Friends, I have enjoyed blogging with you this week. Reading your thoughts, sharing mine. I have enjoyed blog hopping. I hope this week I have been able to share even a piece of God’s grace with someone ‘out there.’ Grace is truly amazing. As you prepare for the Lord’s Day worship, I pray you go…

Mark Labberton on God’s People

Friends, For quite a while now I have been reading a book by Mark Labberton called The Dangerous Act of Worship. It has been a hard read because I had a few other projects going at the same time. I am just about finished wit it now and I came across this section that I…

Worship as Proclamation: 1 Corinthians 10-11

Friends, here is the last part of the series on worship. The sermon is based on 1 Corinthians 10-11. It develops the idea that worship is, at its core, saying something about God. In fact, it may say more about God than it says about us; although, to be sure, it says something about what…

Romans 12:1-2: Worship as Sacrifice: Displaying the Cross

Friends, I’m preaching a short, four-week series on the Spiritual Discipline of Worship. This sermon on Romans 12:1-2 is part three in the series. Thanks for stopping by.–jerry Let’s begin this sermon with a brief review of Romans up to the twelfth chapter: Paul begins by asserting that all of us are sinners in need…

Worship as Possibility: Hebrews 9-10

[Friends: I will be posting some sermons I am preaching on ‘Worship.’ I have benefited greatly from some recent posts at blogs around the web that have dealt with worship. A little searching turned up some great quotes. After I preached this sermon, I thought perhaps points 2 & 3 were a bit cluttered, so I have edited those points…