Tag: Ascent Psalms
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The Variety of Worship Expressions — All To Bless The Lord
The final psalm in this journey of songs. And it is a super powerful ending. Not just powerful, but super powerful. This psalmist has hit an emotional high that each of us should connect with. The journey has been long. You’ve passed through treacherous places – dangerous by the surroundings as well as the sinister…
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When Relationships Outside the Church Impact Worship Inside the Church
We’re getting near the end of the Ascent Psalms, one more after this. The worshipper is in the a temple and worship is all around. I can visualize the scene … crowds gathered, songs of praise lifted, the noise of animals being brought for sacrifice, priests around in their garments, teachings and discussions all through…
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Promises We Hold On To
Prelude: a few weeks back we started to look at the Ascent Psalms. However, we stopped after 12 of the 15 Psalms. So today, we pick back up with the 13th, Psalm 132. So we are headed to worship. And these 15 Psalms prepare our hearts and minds for worship. And this is the longest,…
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Into the Loving Arms
The days of my child running into his mother’s arms and jumping into her lap are over. It would be a little painful, awkward, and well, creepy for a 29 year old to be coddled in such a way. No Norman Bates in this household. We have passed the duty and joy of coddling and…
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A Broken Life Finds Hope
Imagine this person’s story if you will … My life had been anything but easy. My mother died when I was young. My father had abused me. I grew up starving for attention – and I realized men would give me that attention if I gave them what they wanted. These choices, this lifestyle, was…
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Enemies at the Gate
The neighborhood was rough and crime in the area was real. So the church took safety precautions. During services, the doors would be shut and locked preventing any kind of entry. An usher would remain on the outside to observe and stand watch. But what happened next was not what you expect. They came in…
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Kids Belong in Church
The world is in the middle of a Quarantine culture. And I am so glad that we have begun to phase back in to normalcy. Yesterday, we worshipped at church – and we were inside for the first time in two months. It was a blessing. But, it was different. Less than a fifth of…
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Worship … Taking In the Sights and Sounds
We are getting ready to open our doors for worship again. It’s been almost two months since we’ve been inside to worship together. Oh we’ve done the drive-ins, online, streaming …. but not together in the sanctuary. The Ascent Psalms are part of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The Torah gives several feasts, festivals, and fasts.…
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Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It’s Off to Work We Go
Did you ever have those days you just didn’t want to get out of bed? Days you didn’t want to go to school or work? Even when you were working from home, you wanted to call in sick? I remember playing sick to get out of school, once or twice. I even put the thermometer…
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Lessons from the Location
I have worshipped in some very diverse places – beautiful sanctuaries with stained glass, old wooden churches, on mountain tops, at the beach, convention centers, the National Mall in Washington DC, even the old RFK stadium in the same city. And in each place, I am reminded how the setting helped me see something about…
Muddy Shoes by Todd 