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
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, thank You for being all that You are. Thank You for bringing back hope and joy. Thank You for showing us just how much we are loved by Almighty God. We ask for patience and guidance throughout this life. Take away the doubt and fear that the world throws at us and let our faith in You be the firm foundation that our life is built upon. Help us to let go of grudges or any ill will against our brothers and sisters knowing that we are all sinners and saints. Let us give the same compassion, kindness, forgiveness and love that is given to us from the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. To You alone we live and give all that we have knowing that because Christ lives we can live, confident and free, knowing that this world is not our home.
Lord God, thank You for allowing us to come into Your presence and experience Your grace, mercy and love. You are in the business of changing the world and changing lives. We ask that You would change whatever needs to be changed in our hearts and minds so that we can be the people that You made us to be: People of compassion, forgiveness and hope. And even though we may wander, just help us to listen and hear Your constant voice that will always lead us back to You. Bring back joy into this life. Bring back hope. And bring back the love that we should have for each other. Clear away any of the nonsense that would distract us from accessing our faith so that we can live this life confidently knowing that this world is not our home because we have been promised a life after this in eternity with the Heavenly Father through the sacrifice of His only Son and by the power of His Holy Spirit we have all been saved forever.
This song is truly an anthem for my faith and it touches my heart each time I hear it. My sister from another mother, Mrs. Jennifer Fancher, didn’t just sing this song…she shared her whole soul, heart and faith in Christ. I will forever be grateful that we were able to share this moment with the King. Blessings!!!
This is one of my favorite songs from our first Christmas Concert 10 years ago. It is based on the Magnificat which is one of the most ancient Christian hymns from the Gospel of Luke where Mary sings that her soul “magnifies the Lord.”
This was my tribute to the victims of the devastating typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) that hit the Philippines on November 8, 2013. This not only hit me personally because of the fact that the typhoon hit my parent’s homeland but the epicenter of the typhoon was my mother’s home town of Tacloban in Leyte. All of the buildings, including my family home, were destroyed. I never had a chance to see where my mother grew up and now I never will.
I realized how easy it is to forget where you come from. You forget, or are unaware, of the lives of those who have come before you. You don’t understand the sacrifice and trials that your ancestors endured so that you could live.
However, amidst all of this tragedy, one beautiful truth remains ever true in my heart: The faith that my parents taught me is the same faith that the their parents taught them. This direct lineage of the gospel truth is what resounds ever true in my heart today and always will. So yes, the house is gone but the home and the family remain forever in the kingdom of God. I will cling to the promise that our Heavenly Father has made to me and to all of through His Son, Jesus Christ, that…
“In Christ, there are no goodbyes
And in Christ, there is no end
So I’ll hold onto Jesus with all that I have
To see you again, to see you again” – Homesick by MercyMe.
odes4hg 