So simple and yet so true. I love the “you must sing the heart stories of truth.”
Chords,scales, melody
structures of music,
yet the soul of the song
comes from the heart.
You must build your life
with care, each part sound,
but to bring it to a
crescendo, you must sing
the heart stories of truth.
Great, honest and poignant words of truth and I hope that we can all start shedding our masks and stop hiding because we are all loved by God.
“The very effort to be honest before God may well define the task that lies at the heart of the spiritual life. It is not, as some suppose, a mystical experience, or transcendent high. It is not, as others suppose, encounters with silence and emptiness. Nor, as still others suppose, is it the task of spiritual discipline. It is the elemental business of shedding the masks behind which we hide, until we are able to own our prodigal nature as human beings who are deeply flawed, but greatly loved.”
~ Frederick Schmidt
Lord God, there are numerous ways to reach You but right now we ask that You bring us into Your presence in this Holy place. We all have our reasons for being here. We seek comfort, solace, refuge, encouragement, healing and most of all friendship. Let us know that we are not alone and bring us back to You and back to the passionate heart of when we first believed in the truth of our salvation through Christ Jesus. Unleash the truth of Your holy word and leap out of the pages and into our lives so that we can all experience Your amazing Grace. We live in a world that says that there is no room but You say different and encourage us to dream with our eyes wide open to God’s possibilities. The Word of God is expressed in what we do with our lives and not just the words that we speak. We are all shoulder-to-shoulder in the kingdom of God and when the world knocks us down, then we can all help each other to get right back up again and join the body of Christ here on earth. Lord, help us to care about our neighbor…whoever and wherever they may be.
Lord God, thank You for bringing us here into this moment and to this place so that we can experience Your presence and Your amazing grace. Lord, expand our understanding of Your Word into the truth that we wear in this life. Remind us who You are and what You do for us because You are with us throughout every storm and You are beside us in every sunrise. Seasons and years fly past us and people come and go but You are always there ever vigilant and ever strong. So let Your presence guide us in every decision and in every crossroad so that we can choose the path that leads us closer to You. Let the Word and the Spirit move in us today so that the windows of our hearts will be opened with the light of Christ shining in all of us. Give us what we need. Give us a revelation. Give us comfort and give us the truth for our lives so that we can glorify our Father in heaven.
Lord Jesus, help us to enter into Your presence today. Help us to hear Your Word manifest truth in our lives. Help us to be still and just listen to You and to each other. Help us to connect with You by taking the spotlight away from us so that we can focus our gaze on the light of Your truth. We want to see how You see and we want to hear how You hear. And when we stray or when our hearts turn cold, then empty us of selfishness, vanity and pride. Help us to let go of any foolish thing that we think that we can hold on to in this life because the truth is nothing of this world will last forever except for Almighty God. So let us do what You do: Let us love, help and nurture each other on this journey called life by emptying ourselves so that we can receive Your amazing grace. Lord, don’t let us assume that someone else will step up to the plate or that we have done enough. For as long as we are blessed to live another day then surely we can do great things that will glorify our Father in heaven. For “those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Matt 23:12).
View of Las Vegas from New Song Church in Henderson, NV
Almighty God, thank You for this gift called life. Forgive us when we forget how to live. Forgive us when we walk away from the opportunity of experiencing and sharing Your presence. We can share the gift of Christ’ salvation to anyone, anytime and anywhere, so get rid of the idea that we can only share the gospel on a Sunday morning. And even through the trials and darkest valleys of this life let our light so shine that we may glorify our Father in heaven. Let our faith in You not falter but, instead, be strengthened by Your Holy Spirit. Let everything that You want to do in and through us be done. For as long as we still have breath we can still do good works in His name. Unite us in Your cause Jesus so that our bonds with You are manifested in all that we do: through our joys and sorrows. Help us to pray for those that are close by yet so far away. Guide us all back to Your Word so that we can live in freedom knowing that this world can never imprison the message of God’s grace, forgiveness, love and mercy.
New Song’s Altar Construction
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, thank You for this time together. Thank You for the gift of knowing You and what you have done and continue to do for all of us. Bring us into Your presence today through the guidance of Your Holy Spirit. Wash away all of the doubts, worries, and shame of yesterday so that we can experience You today. So that we can experience Your grace, Your mercy and Your love. Keep us close and hold our hearts in Your caring arms so that our motives can be pure and filled with the joy of Christ. Release us from the darkness of ignorance and arrogance so that we can live in Your truth, confidently knowing that God is never far away and that His message of love and forgiveness is more important than anything that this world can possibly offer.
New Song Building prior to completion
Lord Jesus, thank You for this life. Thank You for the gift of another year. Seasons come and go but You are always there. Thank You for stepping into this world as one of us. Your choices defined what love is. Love is sacrifice, unconditional and never ending. Because of Your sacrifice You redefined who we are. We are not our mistakes or successes of the past. We are, instead the beloved children of the most High God living in His truth and in His possibilities. Step into our story Jesus so that we live. Help us to live. Help us to hope. Help us to love. Help us to experience the joy that is “For God so loved the world that He sent His only Son…not to condemn the world but to save it.”
This was my tribute to the 10 years of ministry of New Song Church. 10 years ago, I was searching and praying for a church home. I received a phone call to come and play the piano for a Lutheran Church that didn’t even have a building. I was told that I would just be needed for 2 weeks. Well, I am still there 10 years later and I am so grateful that God has answered my prayers. I have been able to grow in my faith and relationship with Christ because of this congregation and my pastors. They have guided and nurtured me as a child of God and I will forever be thankful and humbled to worship Him alongside this congregation. Thanks be to God!
I’ve always loved this classic praise song as it truly helps me to just be in His presence. “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life” – Psalm 24: 4
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