“God has trained children to offer perfect praise” (Matthew 21:16, Good News Bible).

No doubt we’d all agree that our praise to God is far from perfect. Worship is something we must continually
work at. In this life we’re always “in process.” Yet in the verse quoted above, Jesus said, “God has trained children to offer perfect praise.” If we would perfect our praises, we must make them more childlike. We can do that by cultivating childlike faith. Children trust the Lord with no ifs, ands, or buts. In their minds, nothing is
impossible for him. We believe that too—intellectually—but our hearts easily get hung up on doubts. Today let’s choose to worship God with childlike faith. Let’s give him our undivided attention, our unspoiled faith, and our unrivaled love—just like children would do. That will put us on the road to “perfect praise.”

Pastor Tom

“Seek first God’s kingdom and

his righteousness, and all these

things will be given to you as

well” (Matthew 6:33).



A newspaper reporter asked Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s, what he believed in. “God, my family, and
McDonald’s hamburgers!” he replied. Then he added, “And when I get to the office, I reverse the order.”

Many churchgoers put God first—on Sunday mornings—but the rest of the week they reverse the order. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus told us to seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness. Jesus meant that to apply not just to our church life, but to our jobs, our leisure time, and our family life.

So let’s put God first in this time of worship and in every area of our lives. Isn’t that the least we can do for the Lord who sought us first and foremost when we were lost in sin?

Pastor Tom

“Break up your unplowed ground, for it is time to seek the Lord” (Hosea 10:12).

In the context, the “unplowed ground” in Hosea 10:12 is the hearts of the people. The New Living Translation brings this out by saying, “Plow up the hard ground of your hearts.” And the New International Reader’s Version renders it, “Your hearts are as hard as a field that has not been plowed.”
This reminds me of a stabbing quotation from Charles Spurgeon: “We are told that men ought not to preach without preparation. Granted. But, we add, men ought not to hear without preparation. Which, do you think, needs the most preparation, the sower or the ground? I would have the sower come with clean hands, but I would have the ground well-plowed and harrowed, well-turned over, and the clods broken before the seed comes in. It seems to me that there is more preparation needed by the ground than by the sower, more by the hearer than by the preacher.”
Wow! What an eye-opener!
God bless you as you prepare your heart to worship our Lord Jesus today!
​
Pastor Tom

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“Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet! Praise him with the harp and lyre!” (Psalm 150:3)


Many people attend church for the excellent music they hear. The Psalmist said that was a valid part of worship when he wrote, “Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet! Praise him with the harp and lyre!” (Psalm 150:3). 
But we must be careful not to come to church merely for what we get out of it. Someone said, “The pastor may be as dry as chalk, the worship leaders may sound like a rusty hinge, the organ may have a case of asthma, and there may be a sanctimonious hypocrite in every pew. This is beside the point. We attend church not merely to receive; we come to give” (Love Carved in Stone, pp. 64-65).
Well said. The real music of worship comes from our hearts, not from manufactured instruments. Still, those who play the instruments here do a good job of tuning our hearts to sing our Lord’s praises. 
So let’s sing notes of love and praise from the bottom of our hearts as we worship Jesus today.
Pastor Tom

“Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together” (Psalm 34:3).
​

Whoever heard of a solitary celebration? When your joy overflows, you can’t help sharing it with others. 
Jesus’ three parables in Luke 15 illustrate this. After the shepherd found his lost sheep, he called his friends and neighbors together and said, “Rejoice with me!” After the woman found her lost coin, she summoned her friends and neighbors and said, “Rejoice with me!” And when the Prodigal Son returned home, his father killed the fattened calf and threw a party. His joy was so great, he had to share it with others.
That’s why we come together here at church. Worship is a celebration of Jesus, and when you celebrate, you just can’t do it alone. 
So I extend to you the psalmist’s invitation when he said, “Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.”
Pastor Tom

“The Word of God…judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).


That verse sounds scary, doesn’t it? It sounds like spiritual open-heart surgery, in which the scalpel of God’s Word cuts away at the calluses that desensitize us to God. But if we need open-heart surgery, we’d be unwise to avoid it. 
We need the spiritual heart surgery that only God’s Word can perform. Without it our hearts will grow hard toward the Lord we love. We can thank God that there’s hope for our depraved hearts. 
So let’s open our hearts today to the Great Physician and the scalpel of his Word. It will only do us good!
Pastor Tom