Why worship?

When you hear the word “worship,” what immediately comes to mind?

There might be a number of things, but if you’re the average, modern Jesus person, the first thing that probably popped into your head was the music part of church. Nowadays, the terms “worship leader” and “song leader” are basically synonymous. Not that that’s terrible or anything, but conflating “worship” and “music” probably does a disservice to both.

When you worship something, you’re ascribing it worth; you’re saying, “This thing is worth something.” Or in a religious context, you’re saying, “This thing is worth more than anything else.”

So, worship is not music. In fact, it’s not necessarily any particular thing we do on Sunday. But rather, worship is any time we put something first in our lives. And, hopefully, when we come together on Sundays, we’re worshiping God, and that’s good. That’s us recognizing who God is and acknowledging his identity through our actions. And one of those actions is singing songs of praise.

But this means that whenever we put something else first, we’re worshiping that thing instead of God. And there’s a word for that. Idolatry. And idolatry is not cool. In fact, it’s such a big deal that TWO of the Ten Commandments address it.

However, worshiping idols - idolatry - doesn’t necessarily mean erecting a stone altar and sacrificing a goat. It’s any time you put something ahead of God. You worship football, or food, or money, or musicians, whenever you elevate them above God. 

It’s even possible to elevate good, religious, Jesus-y things to the level of worship, but that’s still idolatry. If we’re not careful, we’ll end up worshiping music or preachers or doctrine or even the Bible. But none of those things are worthy. Only God deserves our worship.

Join us Sunday as we try to navigate our worship life and learn to live4worship and die2idols.

Blessings!

Pastor Ed

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Series Title: DYING2LIVE

Message Title: live4worship | die2idols

Main Passages: John 4, Acts 17:24-25, Amos 5:21-24

Some questions for reflection or group study (or please comment on them, below):

• When do you find it easiest to connect with God? (e.g., church, in nature, first thing in the morning, on long drives, etc.)
• What really moves you to worship - to feel inspired by or connected to God?
• Do you think worship is more about connection or awe? Why?
• With what parts of “worship” do you encounter the most personal struggle? (e.g., singing, giving, serving, prayer, etc.)

A Matter of Life and Death

“What are you giving up for Lent?”

Have you heard that yet this month? I haven’t because I come from a religious tradition that doesn’t really talk much about Lent. So it’s interesting to me that people make such a big deal out of it.

The word "Lent" comes from the Old English, “lencten," which means “spring," so it’s all about the season of new life that follows the dead of winter. But the church co-opted the Lenten celebration of new life in order to build anticipation for Easter - partly because this is actually the time of year when Jesus was living out his last days, but it is conveniently (or intentionally, perhaps?) symbolic of many other things as well. 

So, on one hand, the Lenten part of the church calendar seems like a no-brainer, but on the other hand, maybe not. If the 40 days of Lent are all about growth and new life and abundance, why do we celebrate it by giving things up? Did you ever wonder why that is?

I hope so, because that’s what we’ll be talking about every Sunday for the next five weeks running up to Easter. The ideas behind Lent are at the center of nearly every important concept in the Bible and Jesus spent over three years walking and talking and teaching about those ideas. This was clearly important to Jesus, and, as his followers, it should be equally important to us.

So, join us this Sunday (2/21/16) as we begin digging deeper into the relationship between Lent and Easter, between abundance and sacrifice, between life and death.

See you then!

Pastor Ed

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Message title: LIVE4JESUS

Main Scripture passages: Matthew 10:39, Luke 5:33-39

Questions/thoughts for group discussion or personal reflection:

• What is your favorite season, and why?
• If you give stuff up for Lent, why? If you don’t, why not?
• This series is called DYING2LIVE. What does that make you think of? Does it seem primarily positive or negative? What do you think the series is going to be about?

You never know

You can never know. Be immediately suspicious of anyone who tells you otherwise. You can be pretty sure. You can be confident. You can be sure enough to move. But, you can never be absolutely certain. About anything. Ever. You can never know.

So when you need to make a decision, you need something besides certainty. You need something that will make up the difference between what is and what might be. You need to have something that you can trust.

Merriam-Webster defines "trust" as - belief that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, effective, etc.

So you're always putting faith in someone or something else, feeling assured that one or more of these qualities - reliability, goodness, honesty, effectiveness, etc. - are present.

Placing trust in a thing requires physical evidence - I've sat in that particular chair or one just like it; so I can trust that chair, and I will put all my weight on it, being confident that it will hold me and not break and not cause me injury.

However, I'm sure we've all sat in a chair that broke, or know someone else who has.

Placing trust in a person requires relational evidence - I have taken that person's advice or followed that person into a difficult situation, and they stood behind their words, they did what they said they'd do, and the results were, more or less, what they insisted they'd be; so I will follow them again, trusting that the same will be true this time, as well.

However, I'm sure we have all placed our trust in people who've been trustworthy, and they've let us down.

Trust is hard and risky and dangerous. It just is. But, without trust, we can't do anything; we'd never get out of bed. Without trust, we can't interact with anyone; we'd never say anything. To anyone.

Trust is the engine for everything that's worth doing, and it's the bedrock of faith. When Jesus says, "I will never leave you or forsake you," or, "I will give you rest," or, "I'm preparing a place for you," or, "I will be with you," you can never know for sure that it's true; but you can be confident, you can be sure enough to move, you can trust.

Certainty is a vapor, blown away by a gentle breeze, but hope, trust, love - these are eternal.

Join us Sunday as we wrap up our series on trust with the story of Jesus calling the apostles to follow him. We meet every Sunday afternoon, 3:30 p.m., at the St. Peter Life Center, 111 W. Olive St., Arlington Heights. Come early for coffee, snacks and conversation. Follow the sign.

See you soon!

Pastor Ed

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Message title: “What’s Next?” (disciples)
Main Scripture passages: Luke 5:1-11, Matthew 4:21-22

Questions/thoughts for group discussion or personal reflection:

• When have you trusted and been betrayed?
• When have you trusted and been blessed?
• How does trust differ from something like Pascal’s Wager (google it)?
• What are some of the downsides of trusting? Not trusting?

What's the hold up?

Have you ever had one of those nightmares where you were being chased by a monster or a murderer or something, and you couldn’t run? As hard as you tried, you could only move really, really slow - like your feet were stuck in molasses, and your joints were too tight to move quickly. 

Or how about that dream where you were trying to defend yourself in a fistfight, but your punches were all completely powerless, doing no damage whatsoever when they connected?

Or how about the one where you have to get to the door and get out, but the door is at the end of the hallway, and the faster you run, the further the door gets, as it seems to stretch ahead infinitely?

In all those cases, there is this obvious goal that might even be life-or-death, but it was foiled by this inexplicable, debilitating resistance that prevented your action and drained you of momentum.

I think these nightmares spring from a real fear of powerlessness. In our day-to-day lives, we feel powerless to affect our environment, and in our dream life, this fear manifests as real, inexplicable, physical resistance. But while running in molasses or not being able to connect a punch or not being able to reach the end of a hallway are not real problems, sometimes our feelings of powerlessness are.

But, sometimes they are not. Sometimes we only feel powerless, and all we need is for someone we trust to tell us that we can do it. Sometimes, all we need is a word of encouragement and a little push. And sometimes we need to just hunker down and do what we know is right, regardless of the naysayers. 

Join us this week as we talk about young David and how he responded to people who said, “It can’t be done.” Meet us at 3:30 p.m., 111 W. Olive St., Arlington Heights.

See you then!

Pastor Ed

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Message title: “Why Not Me?” (David)

Main Scripture passages: 1 Samuel 17:1-51, 1 John 4:4

Questions/thoughts for group discussion or personal reflection:

• When have you stood against something you knew was wrong?
• What’s your worst recurring nightmare?
• When does something go from being courageous to crazy?

What is freedom?

Do you know anyone who’s stuck? Their life seems to be just one setback after another. They can’t seem to catch a break. It seems like their life is a fifty-mile stretch of quicksand, and they’re barely staying above the surface.

I’ve seen this many times, and it’s tragic and sad, but, it’s even more depressing when a person’s stuck like this, but it’s their faith that keeps them stuck. They’ve exchanged common sense for religious superstition.

I will admit that God’s will is sometimes hard to discern. But sometimes it’s not. You don’t need a sign from God to figure out if you should get a job. You don’t need to pray and fast in order to determine whether you should pay your bills. You don’t need to consult with a spiritual advisor to make sure you should love your next door neighbor, or your in-laws, or your boss.

Sure, when you set out to do what’s right, there’s often a gray area between what’s obviously right and what’s obviously wrong. But that’s no excuse to sit on your hands when things need to be done. You don’t have to wait until all the lights are green to leave your driveway. You don’t need to have a burning bush moment in order to get out of your La-Z-Boy. Going off half-cocked is often better than not going at all.  And God honors risk taking within the context of The Way of Jesus.

Remember the wise words of President Teddy Roosevelt, who said, "The only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything," and Jesus' brother, James, who gave us a reminder of God’s forgiveness when he suggested that, in a cage match, mercy beats judgment every time.

Join us this coming Sunday for a challenging message about Gideon, and about how trust is impacted by doubt and risk and waiting and acting. It’s gonna be great fun. 3:30 p.m., 111 W. Olive St., Arlington Heights, IL.

Come and join us!
Pastor Ed

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Message title: “Is that You?” (Gideon)

Main Scripture passages: Judges 6:25-40, Matthew 16:1-4

Questions/thoughts for group discussion or personal reflection:

• Do you think you’ve ever felt the clear call of God? Explain.

• What are your experiences with “The Paralysis of Analysis?”

• When does waiting become hiding? When does caution become cowardice?

Would you?

Andy was super jazzed. "You've gotta try this, man! You won't believe it. Best high EVER!"

I was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, and Andy worked down the hall from me. He had come by my barracks room and could barely contain himself. "You've seriously gotta try this. Just a few hours of training, a few bucks, and you’re in. They do all the hard stuff for you. You just show up."

Andy was already an excitable guy, but I'd never seen him like this. "I'm still coming down, Ed." This from a guy who, I'm here to tell you, knew a little bit about "getting high." He just wouldn't shut up about it. "What a rush, man."

"Sounds awesome, bud. Give me all the details!" I knew he was heading down to the airfield that day, but, honestly, I figured he'd probably chicken out. Andy had joined the Fort Riley Jump Club, and he'd just had his first jump.

Everything about it sounded great, and, because we were active duty Army, it was super affordable (like $20, which was dirt cheap even by 1982 standards). So, I decided I would give it a try.

But then I started thinking about it. Who would be packing my chute? Another soldier? Someone just like me? Oh, crap. Not sure I like that. And then I kept seeing myself falling 10,000 feet to my death. Not liking that either. But the clincher was when I called my mom and told her what I was contemplating. She started crying.

So, I decided not to jump. Still regret that decision. But, hey, I didn't fall to my death, so there's that. But, I keep remembering that look on Andy's face. There's nothing quite like facing death and living. What a rush, indeed.

How much safety do you need in order to act? And how much risk do you need for the rush? And what role does trust play in all of this? Joshua joined the Jericho Jump Club, but what about his buddies? Were they ready to risk it all? Were they ready to follow Joshua into life-threatening danger?

Join us this coming Sunday as we talk about trusting God and overcoming fear.  Come check it. 3:30 p.m., 111 W. Olive St., Arlington Heights.

See you then!

Pastor Ed

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Sunday's message title:

“Really, God?” (Joshua)

Main Scripture passages:

Joshua 3,Isaiah 41:10-13, 2 Timothy 1:7

Questions/thoughts for group discussion or personal reflection:

• What’s the craziest thing you regret not trying?

• Share a time when you did something that scared the crap out of you.
• What is the danger of trusting too much?

What am I doing?

Why don’t kids come with an owner’s manual? This is a reasonable enough question. If I buy an electric can opener, it includes a 25-page instruction booklet with illustrations, safety warnings, and a troubleshooting guide. With kids, you get nothing.

Sure, everyone has advice. Everybody thinks they know how to raise your kids, except, if you’re honest, you. In retrospect, I’m mostly just happy that I didn’t totally mess my kids up.

You might be tempted to say something like, “The Bible is a pretty good instruction manual for child rearing,” to which I would respond, “Really?”

Good luck trying to deal with the problem of cutting (self-harm) based on Scripture. Or internet porn. Or ADHD. Or school shootings. The Bible doesn’t really speak to these things in modern, practical ways, because the Bible’s not an instruction manual. That’s not how the Bible works.

Now, before you call me a heretic or say I don’t believe in the Bible or claim that I don’t trust God, take a deep breath. That’s not what I’m saying at all. The Bible has much to say about how to live, but it doesn’t work like a Black & Decker troubleshooting guide. And God can be trusted 100% to do and be and act like God, but that’s not always going to look like a step-by-step illustration.

Unless we’re ridiculously cocky or over-the-top legalistic (for example, anti-tattoo people), we have to admit that, even if we’re really knowledgeable about the Bible, we’re still hopelessly underprepared to do a whole host of things, not the least of which is child-rearing.

So what does it look like to trust God, when we’re faced with these obligations and responsibilities for which we feel dreadfully unqualified? What can we learn from the Bible about how to live today, even though it’s talking about things that happened thousands of years ago? How do we follow Jesus into these tricky areas of our lives if, indeed, we have no instruction manual?

That’s what we’re going to talk about for the next five weeks at Quest, so join us Sunday afternoon, 3:30 p.m., at 111 W. Olive St., Arlington Heights, to learn more.

See you then!

Pastor Ed

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Message title:

“Why Me?” (Moses)

Main Scripture passages:

Exodus 3, Exodus 4:1-17, 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Questions/thoughts for group discussion or personal reflection:

• Consider/share a time when you were asked to do something for which you felt completely unqualified.

• What does it feel like to be trusted with something huge?

• What’s the difference between fear and humility? Are they completely different, or do they overlap?