Quote from Forum Archives on May 2, 2001, 12:02 pm

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer. At 12:30 PM in your
local area, wherever you happen to be, it would be nice if you
would pause and share in the prayer that Billy Graham has offered
on behalf of our nation. It is an 18 second prayer, so it should
not take a long time to read or think about. But then, it would
also be nice for each of us to privately, between us and God,
spend some time in reflection on who God is and what He has done
for each of us. Many local cities will be having prayer and
worship events. In New Hampshire, I have heard of two: one on
the State House lawn in Concord at noon, and another one at a
local church in Nashua. You may wish to inquire about your area.

In addition to the National Day of Prayer, I have attached
another message today that discusses the act of worship. Bob
Kauflin, Director of Worship Ministries at PDI, publishes a
weekly series of messages, viewable from crosswalk.com, called
"Worship Matters". Bob has also published a prayer request for
the National Day of Prayer. I have not included that one here,
but you can find it, if you are interested, on the Crosswalk.com
site (spiritual, devotional category).

Prayer and worship are quite related - both have to do with
aspects of communicating with our God. I encourage you to make
both prayer and worship a regular part of your life, your
experience with the One who made all things.

Brother Brian

Prayer of Billy Graham, Honorary Chairman
by Guest Author

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prayer for the Nation
Written by Billy Graham

Our Father and Our God,

We praise You for Your goodness to our nation, giving us
blessings far beyond what we deserve.

Yet we know all is not right with America. We deeply need a moral
and spiritual renewal to help us meet the many problems we face.

Convict us of sin. Help us to turn to You in repentance and
faith. Set our feet on the path of Your righteousness and peace.

We pray today for our nation's leaders. Give them the wisdom to
know what is right, and the courage to do it.

You have said, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." May
this be a new era for America, as we humble ourselves and
acknowledge You alone as our Savior and Lord.

This we pray in Your holy name, Amen.

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==============================================================
Reply-to: Worship Matters <worshipmatters@lists.crosswalk.com>
Subject: Worship Matters: The Goals of Corporate Worship:
Exalting God, April 30, 2001

WORSHIP MATTERS, with Bob Kauflin of PDI Ministries
www.pdinet.org/

Visit the Spiritual Life Channel on Crosswalk.com:
spiritual.crosswalk.com

The Goals of Corporate Worship: Exalting God

Last week we finished the topic "What is Music?", a
discussion of how we think about and use music in our lives.
his week, we're "going back to church" by starting a new series
on the goals of corporate worship.

As you prepare to participate in a Sunday service, what are
your expectations? More importantly, do you ask, "What are
God's expectations for this meeting?" I think many people hope
to be refreshed or inspired at their weekly worship. Others want
to experience an intimacy with God that makes them more aware of
His presence and care. Some simply want to be "pumped up" by the
music and the band. But as we gather, God has specific goals for
our time of worship. What are they?

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It may seem obvious, but the first goal of corporate worship
is to exalt God. It's tragic that in our attempts to be
effective, relevant and efficient we can miss the most obvious
purpose of our time together. David writes in Psalm 34:3,
"Magnify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together." He
sounds an even more emphatic note in Psalm 145:1-3: "I will exalt
you, my God the King; I will praise Your name for ever and ever.
Every day I will praise you and extol Your name for ever and
ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness
no one can fathom." Why do we need to exalt or magnify God when
He is so big already? Although God's span is immeasurable, He
often doesn't appear very big to us. We rush into meetings
hassled by life, burdened by bills to be paid, cars to be fixed,
tests to be passed, relationships to be worked through, and
projects to be started (or completed). What size does God appear
to be when daily worries fill our minds? Very small. Gathering
to worship God is similar to using a powerful telescope to gaze
at the stars. To the naked eye the constellations appear like
small pinpoints of light barely visible against the backdrop of
night. We can step out our back door and never notice them.
However, when we look at them through the right instrument, we
realize they are raging spheres of fire, incomprehensibly large,
and brighter than human eyes can bear.

The "right instrument" with which to see God in
congregational worship is the Word of God, apprehended by faith,
and expressed in song. God's Word tells us who God is, despite
how He appears to be through the clouded lens of our
circumstances, successes, and problems. He is the omnipotent
Creator Who spoke the universe into existence with a word (2
Peter 3:5). He is the transcendent, majestic God who views the
nations as a drop in the bucket (Isaiah 40:15). He is the Holy
One, completely set apart in His moral purity and limitless
perfections (Isaiah 6:1-8). He is the wise, Sovereign Ruler,
whose infinite wisdom oversees and guides every detail of our
existence (Psalm 139:1-18). He is the merciful Father who put
forth His Own Son on the Cross as the substitutionary atoning
sacrifice for our wickedness and rebellion. This last emphasis
should pervade our congregational worship, because it is only
through Jesus' finished work on the cross that we are able to
draw near to God at all. (Hebrews 10:19-22). Also, in the cross
we see a perfect bringing together of God's spotless holiness,
inflexible justice, incomprehensible wisdom, omnipotent power,
and unfathomable love. What a God we worship!

While exalting God begins with rehearsing and proclaiming
objective truth about God, it doesn't end there. We'll take a
look at that next time. For His Glory, Bob

Editor's Note --

Have you seen the Spiritual Life Channel lately? Sign up for
the weekly Spiritual Life Update to keep abreast of the latest
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Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/
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