<>< The 11th Chapter of the Gospel of Luke begins with the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray. <>< By now, they had been with Jesus long enough to know Him as a “man of prayer.” They would have witnessed Him in prayer in many different circumstances as they walked together across the holy land watching Him heal, and teach, and serve, and love. Indeed, Jesus himself was a walking talking answer to prayers for everyone He met … and still today, for all who meet Him.  The disciples had seen the power that Jesus held and shared, and they had surely noticed the correlation between what Jesus was able to do and His time spent in prayer to His Father. They wanted what He had! So, of course they would finally ask Him one day, “Lord, teach us to pray…” (Luke 11:1) And Jesus did! He began by teaching them the “what” of prayer. This is the prayer we today call “The Lord’s Prayer.” Jesus taught them to begin by acknowledging the relationship you have with the source of the power you seek: “Father, hallowed be your name.” But the word for “Father” that Jesus uses is the most intimate and personal form, “Abba.” Begin by directing your prayer to the one who knows you best … and loves you most … your Creator … your true “Daddy.”   Then pray for the coming of God’s Kingdom, for this is why Jesus came and this is your eternal calling … to be a part of the building of the Kingdom of God on earth. “Your kingdom come” is you pronouncing to God that all that is good and right and just in this world – in other words, all the things you should really pray for – come from the coming of God’s Kingdom.  Next, Jesus teaches the disciples to pray for their daily sustenance. “Give us our daily bread” has a powerful double-meaning: the physical bread that sustains our strength in this world and the spiritual bread of eternal life that is the body of Christ in the world today. This “daily bread” double portion is all we need to do everything God will ever ask us to do. Desiring anything more than this becomes a distraction to the work of building the Kingdom.  The one thing that Christ offers us that only He could, is to be forgiven of our sins and wiped clean by the blood of the lamb. But that offer of forgiveness must be received – and its reception in our hearts must be done in a way that leaves it all to God’s grace, and none of it to our efforts. And therein points out the need for prayer: for us to receive this grace-given gift requires God’s help, and then for us to share it with others in exactly the same way it was given to us, again requires God’s help. So, pray this, Jesus says: “forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” Jesus wants us to understand – we can only receive this forgiveness “as” (in the same way) we offer it to others.  In closing, Jesus says to pray for protection from the temptations of life. Jesus came here to be “one of us”, and He experienced life and all its trials just as we do. He is the answer and the remedy for this life and all its struggles, challenges and hardships. He came, He confronted, and He conquered. And he offers us that same “way” of life here and now. So now, let us be as beggars and ask of God … let us be as seekers and search for God’s Kingdom … and let us become lost to this world, so that we may knock and open the door to a new one.  All for the glory of God <>< Pastor Bob <><

<>< Have you ever asked yourself that question – Why am I going to church? <>< I just discovered a new book by Constance Cherry that I can’t stop reading … and absorbing! It’s called, “The Worship Architect,” and it attempts to lay out a “blueprint” for conducting worship services in the 21st century that are both biblically credible and allow for a personal spiritual encounter with God by those attending.  We have been talking a lot lately about those very issues here at Vine Street. Our Worship Team meets every Tuesday morning and our main goal is to be led by the Holy Spirit in designing the week’s worship service, and not merely following our own personal preferences and biases. As Constance Cherry says, “worship is a God-instituted gift to the church” and should be, “above all … to God, with God, and for God”  Therefore, the single most important purpose of worship planning is to “discover God’s expectations” for the church service. That is why our Worship Team talks a lot about the desires and needs of the Holy Spirit for our church service, and why we pray a lot to be led by the Holy Spirit. But I wonder about you. Why do you come to church? Perhaps you haven’t even thought about coming to church to worship. Many people don’t, you know. There are many good reasons for a person to come to church on Sunday other than to have a personal encounter with the living God. Here are some of the reasons for coming to church that Cherry cites in her book:

None of those are necessarily bad or wrong reasons to come to church. But do you really think that is why God has given us this great gift of worship each week, on the Lord’s day, in the Lord’s house? I agree with Cherry that going to church should be about having a personal spiritual experience with God. As she notes, that’s a whole lot different than just going to church. “Going to church” sounds more passive than “coming to worship.”  Here is what Cherry says about worship – see if you feel the same way: “When I worship, I expose myself to the power of God without any personal control over the outcome. Sometimes it brings healing, peace, forgiveness, confrontation, or hope. Always it calls me to move beyond the farthest point I have yet reached, and pushed me into uncharted territories. Going to church is easy most days. Worship is another matter. It is an awesome thing to know oneself fallen into the hands of the living God.”  So, this Sunday, when you wake up and start getting ready for church, ask yourself, “Am I going to church today, or am I coming to worship?” In peace & grace,  Pastor <>< Bob