Dear Friends,

I hope you are still thinking about Bryan's challenge to us last Sunday morning from Genesis 25:8 on Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.  How we treat the elderly, the very young, the weak, the disabled, and people the world would consider to be "leftovers" speaks volumes about the alignment of our spiritual eyes.  As 1 Corinthians 1:26-28 makes clear, God's glory shines brightly in the weak, foolish, and despised things of the world.  We all naturally gravitate toward people who are just like us and to the "beautiful people," but the power of God in the Gospel is displayed much more gloriously when His work in us drives an enduring, on-the-ground sort of love for people very different from us.  Let's show the world and each other evidences of the Spirit's work in how we care for the "least of these my brothers" (Matthew 25:40).

This upcoming Sunday, January 31, we begin a five-week look at the worship of God and what He has said about it in Scripture.  In the course of a typical week, I hear a range of discussion about our worship service and, in particular, music.  You may recall that one of the seven vision statements we adopted last year was:

Worship unifies our congregation around a dynamic and diverse mix of liturgies, including music, that are God-focused, Word-centered, confessional, and meaningful for both our members and the visitors who attend.

We live in confusing times when it comes to worship.  Indeed, say the word "worship" and many people's minds immediately turn to music.  While music is an important aspect of our worship, it is far from the only one.  Why do we do some things in worship, but not others?  What pictures do we see in the Bible of the people of God at worship?  Of course, the one about which seemingly everyone has an opinion: Why do we sing some songs and not others? Who chooses them and how?  We're going to take the next five Sundays to look at answers to these and other questions.  Every aspect of our lives should conform to the Word of God.  The one thing the Bible says that God is seeking is worshipers (John 4:23).  We'll start this Sunday in Isaiah 44:6-23. 

Finally, let me encourage you with the words of John Bunyan:

The greatness of (your) soul is manifest by the greatness of the price paid for it to make it an heir of glory: his precious blood (1 Peter 1:18-19).  We esteem things according to the price paid for them.  The soul has been purchased by a price that the Son and wisdom of God thought appropriate to pay for its redemption.  What a thing, then, must be (your) soul!  You must confess that it is of great value.  Suppose a prince should descend from his throne, to pick up and put in his bosom, something that he had seen lying trampled under the feet of men.  Do you think that he would do this for an old horseshoe, or a trivial thing as a pin or broken shoelace?  Would you not conclude that the thing for which that prince should make such an effort must be a thing of very great worth?  Why, this is the case with Christ and (your) soul!  Christ is the Prince, and, as he sat there on the throne of heaven, he looked at the souls of men trampled under the foot of the law and under the penalty of death.  What did he do?  He came down from his throne, stooped down to earth, and there he laid down his life and blood for them (2 Corinthians 8:9).  Would he have done this for inconsiderable things? No, nor would he for the souls of sinners, either, if he had not valued them higher than he valued heaven and earth besides.  (Works, 1:112-116)

I look forward to seeing you Sunday.

Your friend,