Worship at Home - January 3rd

 Sermon

This week's message can be accessed on our FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/Milford-First-Brethren-Church-106750154192984/

Study Guide Questions

After - or even as - you listen to the sermon, try digging deeper into the text by working through these questions:

1. Psalm 113-118 is referred to as the "Egyptian Hallel". What is the significance of that? What does that name refer to?
2. Who does God look out for according to Ps. 113?
3. What major event in the Old Testament is Ps. 114 referring to? What greater New Testament event does that foreshadow?
4. What are false idols in our day that compete for our loyalty and allegiance (Ps.115)?
5. What difference can these truths make in my outlook, my actions, my faith?

Worship Songs

Devotional Reading

- Monday: Psalm 113

- Tuesday: Psalm 114

- Wednesday: Psalm 115

- Thursday: Psalm 116

- Friday: Psalm 117

- Saturday: Psalm 118

Music Mondays - Manufacturing Controversy

Several years ago, as an pastoral intern at my home church, I was witness to a brief encounter after a worship service that really made me cringe.

Our church music was a "blended" style mixing contemporary songs with traditional hymns. As part of the worship set, we sang "Create in Me A Clean Heart" which is based word for word on Psalm 51. 

I was near the stage at the end of the service when I noticed an older lady in our church approach the worship leader and associate pastor. She told him she objected to that song because it mentioned "taking the Holy Spirit" from the author/singing audience. That was just incorrect theology and we should not have sung it. 

Now the leader graciously received her input and agreed with her theologically. As I remember it, he also mentioned that we'd sung that a few months prior and had made comments of qualification before singing it then (I do remember this instance and it was clear and well-done). He apologized for not repeating that step this time and promised to do so in the future. 

Crisis averted. 

On the one hand, it's good that this person was thinking critically about her worship. 

But at the same time, I'm cringing watching that go on precisely because of the context. Our church was staunchly theologically conservative with clear statements about their beliefs about Holy Spirit written in it's constitution. And this pastor had previously made a recent extra effort to clearly explain the nuances of our NT position in Christ vs. the OT differences - that affect seven words of a beautiful song about confession and repentance. Side note, how many other worship songs are there about confession and repentance?

Again, I'm all for discernment and thinking through what we're singing in worship. I don't want to dismiss the idea that our worship should be theologically sound. I'm very much for that. 
Maybe it's the effect of modernity on our society or maybe it's a ripple effect of the Church's own "Worship Wars" over the past 30 years but I've observed a lot of manufactured controversy over various modern and traditional church music. 

This case wasn't "manufactured" exactly, but over the next month or so I'll be featuring cases where some within Christendom have stirred up controversy needlessly. 

They will run the spectrum of very recent to very old. But all will be cases where - in my opinion - some people are "straining gnats while swallowing camels".

And if you have some examples you can think of, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Sermon Snippets

Psalm 23 is one of the most loved and cherished passages in the entire Bible. 
I remember memorizing it as a kid at church and being fascinated with the imagery it portrays.

I have little doubt that it's popularity is due to the wide range of circumstances to which it applies.

Feeling blessed? Be thankful that the Lord leads us to "lie down in green pastures".

Struggling with despair? Seek the Lord who is the only one who can truly "restore my soul".

Unsure about a decision? Seek the Lord who "leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake."

Facing a fearful situation, even death? Cling to the hope that even in the "valley of the shadow of death" "You are with me".

Wary of the future? Know that if you follow the Good Shepherd, the Lord's "goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life".


Few passages so succinctly cover such a wide gamut of the human experience. No wonder we love it so much. It offers us timely wisdom for whatever time we find ourselves in.

Sermon Snippets

Psalm 119 is our text this week.

It is a very long text. 176 verses - longer than 21 (!) books of the Bible.

It's overriding theme is it's admiration of God's Word. I don't have time (nor the desire) to get into issues of Inspiration, Inerrancy, Canonization, Preservation, or any other related subject (see Millard Erickson's classic Christian Theology if you want to dive into the deep end of that pool).

What I do have time and desire for - emulating Ps. 119 by exulting the wonderful Word of God.
Quick rabbit trail: It's not about the words on a page. It's about connecting with our Creator. God's Word is the vehicle by which we communicate, listen to, learn from, and commune with our Lord.

We enjoy so much in the West. Freedoms, resources, riches, opportunities...our most underrated privilege is our access to this transforming Word.

Let's not take it for granted, let's hide it in our heart, and incorporate it into our entire lives. It is life.

Music Mondays

I was pretty much resigned to the fact that I would be skipping a Music Monday as we studied a Lament Psalm - Ps. 13 - yesterday. 

Finding a family-friendly music selection seemed unlikely. Nothing on Christian radio (or pop radio for that matter) would fit the category of "Lament". After all, who wants to listen to music that reminds you of funerals, famines, or frustrations?


Well, thanks to this blog post, I discovered there are some options available. One in particular stands out to me - probably due to the fact that I think I have heard it on Christian radio. And it turns out, lots of people wanted to listen to music that was lamenting.

So here is Gungor, with "Beautiful Things":

Music Mondays

As I noted on Friday, in the New Testament, Psalm 110 is used to establish Jesus' authority and superiority. He is the promised Messiah-King and also our great High Priest who replaces the old system. 

He is our King-Priest - our spiritual and political leader. As Ps. 110 applies to us, we realize that through Christ, God provides for our practical needs, grants us access to the presence of God, and offers us protection from our enemies.

I think I've shared this song previously, but it uniquely captures the multi-faceted nature of our Savior. He is our Prophet, our Priest, and our King.

Sermon Snippets

We are continuing our series in the Psalms this week, studying Ps. 110. This is the most quoted Psalm in the New Testament. The mysterious author of Hebrews particularly loved using it, alluding to it in chapters 1, 5, 7, and 10. Jesus himself identified with it in Mark 12:35-37.

Because of it's popularity in the New Testament, it's easy for we as Christians to automatically read into our NT understandings. But if we are going to be proper interpreters of the text, we must first understand a passage in it's original context, then move on to it's NT usages, before building the bridge to our current world.

When collecting my resources for this series, I picked up one particular book edited by two of my seminary professors. It has proven to be invaluable in helping me work through all the interpretive issues that these poetic Psalms have.  If you want a devotional aid to help you properly read the Psalms or if you want some understandable excellent scholarly work on specific Psalms - I can't recommend this book highly enough.

So, I guess I'll conclude by admitting this isn't really a sermon preview as much as an encouragement to carefully respect the biblical context of any particular passage. Discern it's original meaning for it's original audience before jumping into "What does this say to me?" like so many church-goers are prone to do.

Music Mondays

We dove into one of my favorite Psalms yesterday - Psalm 40. I never remember particularly paying much notice to this Psalm until I heard this song:

Which is a cover of this song:

"He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to my God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the Lord."

Music Mondays

Our latest series in the Psalms naturally compliments Music Mondays. The Psalms are a compilation of ancient worship hymns from the Israelites. 

They don't always fit our modern idea of 'worship' though. Many take complaining and frustrated tones as the author pleads with God for justice and victory over his enemies. Some extol the virtues of a human king God has put on the throne. But to be sure, many do match our idea of what worship is, including Psalm 139.

We played this selection from Rebeca St. James during our offering and it appropriately matches this Psalms wonder and joy at who God is and how he loves us. Whoever compiled the video selected a fitting image to of a calm sea, as it matches the music of the song and the perspective of Psalm 139. 

Whatever your week has ahead for you, hopefully you can pause and consider the wonder of our God.

Sermon Snippets

We are starting a new series that will sample the various types of Psalms. 

There's more than meets the eye with this collection of ancient Jewish hymns. Psalms is a collection of 150 separate writings that were compiled and sorted with purpose. Most Bibles designate this organization indicating where 'Books' I, II, III, IV, and V begin and end. Each of these five sections is made up of Psalms that carry distinct themes and trace Israel's worship development throughout history.

Even more interesting are the categories of Psalms that exist. Regardless of 'Books', scholars have come to recognize how each of the 150 Psalms fit into one over several specific categories. 

Some scholars divide them up differently or use different names, but I prefer the following designations:

Praise
Lament
Enthronement
Wisdom
Trust

We are starting things off with Psalm 139, which is a Praise Psalm. It highlights some profoundly wonderful qualities of our great God.  And like many Psalms, it brings those truths to bear on our personal lives. 

The Psalms are full of honest and glorious accounts of what our worship can be. I look forward to exploring this throughout our series.