Don't get lost in Tradition. God is Alive.

I have grown up going to a very traditional Lutheran church, and I have learned and grown so much through that ministry over the years. Ever since junior high, though, I really connected with more contemporary styles of worship. Lucky for us, there is One God and He hears us whenever we worship Him with humble, focused hearts ("worshiping in Spirit and Truth"), no matter what style we sing.

For me, I had read the same parts of the Liturgy (traditional passages we read) so many times on Sunday mornings that it became comfortable and I stopped paying attention to the POWER in those words!

Check this out: We used to say this weekly to confess our sins:

"We confess that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole hearts. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. BUT for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so we may DELIGHT IN YOUR WILL and WALK IN YOUR WAYS to the Glory of Your Holy Name. Amen."

AMEN! I used to read that. Just read it. And call it good. Yep. WRONG. Dude, this is good stuff! Any Lutheran brothers and sisters out there - have you really checked out these words?!

1 - We are in bondage to sin.
Yikes! We mess up, and mess up, and mess up... and are stuck in it. Dictionary.com defines "bondage" as "slavery; the state of being bound by or subjected to some external power or control."

Jesus said: "31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” 34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." - John 8:31-36

This is incredible stuff. Without Jesus, we would be TRAPPED in our own sin... falling into despair and eventually down to the eternal pit. (But that's not the end of the story. Don't worry. God's got us. ;)

2 - "We have not loved You with our whole hearts. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves." (Brief interjection - It's 1:11 right now. I just looked at my iPod. Thanks for being with me, Jesus! --see my other post--)

The greatest commandment is to Love God with all we are and Love our Neighbors as ourselves. 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” ... Easier said than done, though. No one is perfect, even though many of us would consider ourselves really good people; look at God's standards -- all sins are equal. "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." - James 2:10 If we fail to love even one person God has placed in our lives or love anything else more than God, (money, your boyfriend, fame, MUSIC!), we sin. We deserve to die.

BUT THEN WE GET TO THE NEXT PART!!
3 - "BUT for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so we may DELIGHT IN YOUR WILL and WALK IN YOUR WAYS to the Glory of Your Holy Name. Amen."

This almost brings me to tears. (I tell ya, the Gospel never gets old once your eyes have been opened to how GREAT it is!) Christ died for our sins, so we can live, and live life to the full! (John 10:10) When we pray this Liturgy, EACH of these words of the prayer have such significance. Read these slowly...think about each one. Pray it to the Lord... I dare you. :)

Forgive me. ...I don't deserve You, Jesus, but You chose ME! You chose to save me from my sin, from eternal punishment, to provide the only way out... not because You needed us, You are All in All... because You wanted to restore humanity to Yourself! We can't grasp how Great You are! We are eternally grateful!
Renew me. ...I confess that I've let my faith get stale. I need to spend more time getting to know You in prayer and in the Word You've graciously given us through all these generations! Draw me close to You. "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." - James 4:8
Lead me. ...God, I have no clue how to live a holy life without You. I seek Your direction for every detail in my life. Your way is the best way! Remove any thought and way in me that is not of You. I trust You! Focus my mind on You so I can follow Your perfect path for me to accomplish Your will and Your work through me in the world!
"6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

and "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:5-6 and "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future with hope." - Jeremiah 29:11

4 - so that we may delight in Your will. = so we may enjoy the purpose You have for us, the reason You put us on the earth, how You want to use us so that Your name may be glorified and more people may know the LOVE and SAVING GRACE of JESUS our SAVIOR! I just read an intouchministries daily devo today (11/24 article on http://intouch.org/magazine/content/topic/enjoying_life_devotional -- especially the last paragraph). We find true, lasting joy when we obey God and do as He commands us to. (For me - working at Riverside, writing this post right now... :)

"and walk in Your ways, to the glory of Your Holy Name. Amen."



*** Sooo I guess this message goes out to whoever God sends it to, but I hope it connects with both traditional-service lovers and contemporary-service lovers alike. (and non-church-goers too!) See the significance in the words of God we are speaking and take them to heart. I'm learning a lot by trying to take in everything again as if it was new. Don't let tradition distract you from how awesome Christ is. That goes for contemporary services too. Don't let it be a concert or only about how much you love the music at face value (which I did for a long time when I didn't know how to describe what I was feeling when I first felt God's Spirit alive and moving in 2004). I was like, "Mom, I love the music. It's so amazing." No, really JESUS is amazing. :) People just relate to God and worship Him in different ways! And that rocks!!! He made us all unique -- let's show it! Just don't forget to go deep, heart-to-heart with God in all of your Worship.

OK example -- while writing this, I was listening to "Give Me Faith" by Elevation Worship, and from the first line of the lyrics, it reminds me to surrender to God and re-focus on Him. "I need You to soften my heart, break me apart...open my eyes, see that You're shaping my life...Give me faith to trust what You say, that You're good and Your love is great"!

For me, there's no better way to connect to God that to close my eyes and sing along to soft guitar music that seeks God. BUT for some people, a glorious hymn is what gets them. Last week at my home church, we sang a beautiful hymn called "O God beyond All Praising" to the tune of a Holst prelude I have played in wind symphony before -- from the heart! Although I wish we could have repeated it so I had more time to take in all the words. :) But that's me.

OK to be honest, I just pray that everyone can feel PASSION and overwhelming AWE and LOVE for what Christ did for us!! He is the ONLY way to Heaven, and He restores us and fills us with Love and Peace and His comfort as soon as we let Him in. The world NEEDS to know it!!" (John 14:6) Sometimes at traditional services, I just want to shout (based on my imperfect perception - because everyone worships in different ways) "Can't you see?! Jesus died for us and He's alive!!! Get excited about it!!!!!!" And that's why I'm a camp counselor. :) But everyone has their own way to focus on our one and only true God. I just pray for the authentic, alive personal relationship with Him for each one of you, so you can feel His love. I'm sure I've only experienced a taste of it compared to heaven, but I'm hooked! God is LIFE.

(Right now I'm listening to "Like a Lion" by Kristian Stanfill. WOO! :)

Just keep your faith alive. It's so worth it! I will keep working on it too. (P.S. Why do I ALWAYS get inspiration after 1:30 in the morning?! haha. Peace! Good night!)