Disturb Us, Lord

"Thus says the Lord,... Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.  I am about to do a new thing; Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" (Isaiah 43:18-19)

“Disturb us, Lord,

 When we are too pleased with ourselves,

 When our dreams have come true

 Because we have dreamed too little,

 When we arrived safely

 Because we sailed too close to the shore.

 Disturb us, Lord,

 When with the abundance of things we possess

 We have lost our thirst for the waters of life;

 Having fallen in love with life,

             We have ceased to dream of eternity

 And in our efforts to build a new earth,

 We have allowed our vision

 Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord,

To dare more boldly,

To venture on wider seas

            Where storms will show your mastery;

Where losing sight of land,

We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back

The horizons of our hopes.

And to push us into the future

In strength, courage, hope, and love.”

                    [--Attributed to Sir Francis Drake, 1577]

As we begin to think about where God is leading us as a church here at East Cobb UMC, we all need to remember to be “disturbed” a bit out of our comfort zone to hear and understand God’s call and vision for us!  I’ve heard it said before, “if God’s going to be your partner, then be prepared to have some big plans!” Remember, God loves you and I do, too!

People of the Word

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

What does it really mean to be “people of the word” (meaning people of the Bible)?  The last few weeks in worship we’ve spent exploring some of the answers to this question in our series “Making Sense of the Bible” (you can read and download the sermon transcripts HERE).  Not all have agreed with everything I’ve shared or suggested, nor do they have to. After all, the goal of my series has not been to have all agree with my view of scripture, but to challenge each of us to seek the Holy Spirit about our own understanding and view of scripture.

One interesting fact I need to point out, however, is that despite the vehement debate and “discussion” that many Christians want to have over this most sacred of books -- what the Bible is and is not, what it means and what it doesn’t, how best to interpret it, etc. -- its been my observation (and the findings of more than a few objective surveys) that far too few of us Christians actually read and digest the Bible on a regular basis

I began our series with the statement “The Bible is the best-selling, least read, and least understood book in human history.”  Well, I hope that what we’ve studied together in the series has helped at least somewhat with the third part of that sentence: our understanding of scripture.  But what neither I nor anyone else can do is to help us with the second part: our reading of scripture, both personally (by ourselves) and corporately (in small groups).

We can argue and debate about what we think about the Bible until we’re blue in the face, but nothing can take the place of actually reading and studying it regularly, whether by ourselves at home or together with others in a Bible study group of some sort (like “Disciple” or a Sunday School class).  As I also shared in my blog four weeks ago, a good place to start our personal study are the daily readings shared in The Upper Room devotional guide -- pick up a paper copy of the January/February issue in the Narthex or Crossroads, or read it online and/or sign up for the daily email edition HERE.

So as we wrap up this series, let me offer a word of challenge (and encouragement) for all of us become “people of the word” less by our debates about the Bible and more by our reading of the Bible!  Only then can God’s Holy Spirit begin to interpret His timeless heart, will and character within us.  Always remember that God loves you and I do, too!