Your Great Name

“What a day that will be when we get to see face to face the One who gave it all, our Jesus. The bible says that Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross! For this reason, God exalted Him and bestowed on Him the Name which is above every name, so that at the Name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:8-11)

And today we say: The Lost are saved…at the sound of Your great Name.

The power of sin is broken, captives are freed, darkness is defeated and the enemy has to leave…at the sound of Your great Name.

Fear has no place, broken hearts are mended, the weak are made strong…at the sound of your great Name.

There is hope, peace, mercy, joy, grace, strength, deliverance, comfort, healing, freedom and salvation…at the sound of Your great Name. He is worthy!” Gary Rhodes (Your Great Name)

There is power in a name. None, however, more powerful than the Great Name of Jesus. Each time we gather to worship, it is our desire and our honor to lift up the Name of Jesus. Today, Palm Sunday we do so through the gift of music.

As the choir sings, as scriptures are read, I encourage each of you to join in with us. Listen, reflect, pray and respond in joyful participation as we present and magnify the Great Name of Jesus.

On the very first Palm Sunday, many shouted praises, but just a few short hours later those shouts of praise turned into a call for execution, all because Jesus did not meet the expectations of some. Where are you today? Has God seemingly been silent in your journey? Does Jesus seem a million miles away from your situation?

My friend, not only is He present today, He is here to meet you where you are and to show you His love and grace and to extend to you forgiveness for your sins and offer you an eternal relationship with Him. If you are His child today, join in the celebration of His Great Name. If you have yet to give you heart to Him, come to Him in humility and confess that you’ve missed the mark so far in life and desire to accept his forgiveness for your sins. May today be a wonderful celebratory worship event that includes thanksgiving because you have been made new through the Power majesty of His Great Name.

God is Awesome!

Take a moment and think of the wealthiest person that you know. Think of the vast amount of material things that they may have. Clothes, cars, houses, friends, family and money are just a few things they may have accumulated. What do you think they would do if they lost one car? They would just go and buy another one. No problem, they can afford it, they’d probably either have it fixed of sell it and start from scratch with another one. What if a friend or say a family member disappointed them, squandered their money, or even tried to take their life because of a deep hatred for them? I would say that most people you know with that type of situation would want to surround themselves with those who did love them, those they could trust and those who did not bring them such heartache. They would cut their losses, even if it hurt and move on.

God has the universe. He also has tens of thousands of children; thousands who have willing died for Him in order to honor His Name and bring Him glory. Some enduring incredible pain and loss in order to be obedient and not cause Him pain. The Universe is at His feet.

Spending time dealing with an ungrateful, thoughtless, disobedient, reckless child is not something that He needs to do or that he would owe to anyone. More than that, what if this person giving all of this trouble and heartache were not even His child? Remember, I said, God is Awesome. Well here’s one reason why. With all that God has, He looks and sees a wandering sinner who is not even His child and has no interest in Him and actively pursues him or her. God leaves the comfort of the love and warmth of all His creation worshipping Him and pursues the one sinner who is running in the other direction. God is awesome because while I was yet a sinner, while you were yet a sinner, He sent Christ to die for us.

(Romans 5:6-8) He is awesome because He did not passively wait for us to come to Him, rather He actively, passionately sought us out as we ran the other way and hid from His face. God is awesome because He is not willing that you or I should perish. Do you know Him today? If not, my friend, please know that He is calling you by name, “come home!” If you do know Him today, take a moment in the midst of your worship and say, “Thank you!”

Pastor MJ

Falling at His Feet

At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me,

"Do not do it… Worship God!” (Rev 19:10 NIV)

As John was caught up with what he was seeing in heaven he was so overcome with the culture of praise and worship and being in the presence of the Almighty that he began to worship the messenger of God rather than the God of the message. The angel reminded him that there is only one who is worthy to be worshipped and that is God Almighty! We are created to be worshippers. Every created being is made with the ability and the drive to worship, to give worth to something, someone higher than themselves.

The problem comes when the object of our worship is wrong. Since the beginning of time people have been worshipping “out of focus”. This happens when we see incredible things coming from something that has been created and we become so focused on the beauty, the talent, the power, the love, the comfort, or the provision that we forget where those things ultimately originated from.

Lest we think that only those who worship trees, the sun, feet, or animals are the only ones off course, consider some of the things even many Christians can fall into the trap of worshipping and by doing so, ascribe more worth to the creation than to the Creator:

Financial stability – instead of worshipping the One who provides.

A loved one – instead of worshipping the One

who brought the loved one into our lives.

A sports hero – instead of worshipping the one

who gave them their talents and abilities.

The tools of worship – instead of worshipping the
Object of our worship.

Physical beauty – instead of worshipping the One

who fashioned the beautiful one.

God is the only One worthy to receive our worship. Today, ask the Lord to reveal in your life where this may be true. Is it your finances, your family or even your religion? Talk to Him about it today and make the journey back to the place where He receives the worship that He is worthy of. Be sure to thank Him for the gift, but never allow your thankfulness for the gift to get in the way of your worship of the Giver.

Pastor MJ

Fear

From the time we are children, there are many things that cause us fear. I remember being in the house on a dark stormy evening with the winds howling, the thunder clapping and the lightening flashing. I would often run to my parent’s room where I felt safe. Fear came in many forms, people, neighborhoods, movies, the unknown, dentists (sorry Dr. Brad), needles, etc. However, in all of those situations, home was a place of refuge; my parents and the reality of their presence gave a sense of safety that no matter what came my way, knowing that they were there, in a sense, made everything okay.

There was another aspect of fear, however, that was coupled with sense of safety. I had a healthy “fear” of my parents. I knew the rules and boundaries of what it meant to be a Jones and stepping out of those boundaries and the consequences of doing so put a healthy sense of fear into me. (along with the spankings) That fear was not me being afraid of my parents, it was a biblical foundation that was laid from birth that set parameters around me that unveiled the conviction of the Holy Spirit in my life when I thought or acted in the direction that went contrary to what the Bible teaches.

So, fear was in essence a comfort and a protector.

I have found that to be the case in my walk with the Lord, over the years. When I have been afraid I have been able to say like the Psalmist, in Psalm 56:3, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” God provides refuge and safety from the things that cause my heart to fear.

However, along with running to God with our fears, we are also to, fear Him. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7 Fearing God is healthy. Realizing His power, sovereignty and power; Realizing that as Scripture tells us: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28 Fearing God is a good thing. It is a protection, a comfort, a guide.

This week I had some fears that I was faced with, and this was and is a reminder to me that the One to whom I run to for comfort from my fears is the same One who I should desire to please with my response to fearful situations realizing that He is in control and Sovereign over all.

Accept the Will of God

“To accept the will of God never leads to the miserable feeling

that it is useless to strive anymore.

God does not ask for the dull, weak, sleepy acquiescence of indolence.

He asks for something vivid and strong.

He asks us to cooperate with him, actively willing what he wills,

our only aim his glory. (Amy Carmichael)

Do you ever feel like it’s really difficult to follow the Lord’s commands? I mean on a daily basis. Think about the things that God gives us as instructions as how to live the lives that He has for us. He tells us not to worry. He tells us to trust him completely. He tells us to love Him with all of our hearts, souls and strength. He tells us to love our neighbors as our selves. He tells us not to worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will care for it self. He tells us to trust Him completely and in doing so be led by Him down His path for our lives. He tells us not to fear but that He will take care of our every need. He tells us that if our ways please Him that He will make even our enemies be at peace with us. He tells us that if we train up our children His way that when they are old they will not depart from it. There are hundreds of other things that the Lord tells us to do that provide for us the way to experience life at it’s full. Do we take Him at His word?

Out of the many things that our God tells us to do in order to have the life that He’s created us for, there are other things that He tells us not to do in order to receive the same. It’s been that way since the beginning. Adam and Eve were told to do many things, but one thing that they were told not to do, they did and it changed history forever and the penalty was severe. How would things be different if they had only obeyed? Remember Achan in Joshua 7. Earlier he had been told not to keep the things devoted to the Lord, but he did it anyway. God was not pleased and Achan and all he had was destroyed. If only he had obeyed and waited. We see in chapter 8 that all Achan desired, worldly treasures, were already in God’s plan to give him, but due to his lack of trust, expressed through disobedience he never got to partake of God’s bounty.

How many things have we, will we miss out on that God has planned for us because of our impatience, fear, bitterness, unforgiveness, etc. all which when boiled down equal lack of trust. Father is not one who gives commands just for the sake of giving them, he does so with a much bigger picture in mind. Obedience opens the door to multiplied blessings that He is waiting to give to those who take the “risk” to trust in Him with all their hearts with the aim to bring Him honor and glory.

“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.”
Psalm 143:8 (NIV)

Pastor MJ