An Advent Message

Tracy's notes forr the December 18th message given at Cornerstone:


Isaiah 61
1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”
4 And they shall rebuild the old ruins,
They shall raise up the former desolations,
And they shall repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.

8 “ For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery for burnt offering;
I will direct their work in truth,
And will make with them an everlasting covenant.
9 Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles,
And their offspring among the people.
All who see them shall acknowledge them,
That they are the posterity whom the LORD has blessed.”
10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Advent is remembering that Jesus came and preparing for Jesus to come. When Jesus walked on earth, He fulfilled these scriptures and said the Kingdom of Heaven had arrived because the purpose of God was fulfilled; Jesus fulfilled the scriptures and we see that clearly in this passage in Isaiah:

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”

Later in the passage, we see a different pronoun though,

“And THEY shall rebuild the old ruins,
THEY shall raise up the former desolations,
And THEY shall repair the ruined cities…
I will direct THEIR work…”

These passages are directed at us, the believers. Just as Jesus fulfilled the scriptures and proclaimed the Kingdom arrived, I believe also, that when we fulfill these scriptures, it is the Kingdom come. I specifically want to explore verse 11 in chapter 61 and be encouraged that the Lord is fulfilling his good purpose when we worship…

For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

A LESSON FROM NARNIA

I recently saw the movie, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” I had read the book just a few weeks before to refresh my memory. The movie made me think about some things I hadn’t before. For example, I noticed in the movie that as soon as Lucy passed through the wardrobe into Narnia, she was immediately recognized in all her authority and purpose, even though she was only six years old.

I believe that is how it is with us too. When Father knits us together, he pours into us all his purpose and authority and our unique gifts and graces are there. When we enter into the Kingdom (passing into Narnia) all will be present in its intended fullness. Coming into our full identity in Christ, our purpose and authority while we’re on earth seems to be the tricky part. Worship then, holds part of the key to understanding our Kingdom identities, because worship is something we do on earth and in heaven!

IGNITING WORSHIP AND PROPHECY

We read in the New Testament, when people were healed or forgiven by Jesus, they often would start worshiping God and prophesying. It was all they could do to respond to Him. There is a very close relationship between worship and prophecy. Revelation 19:10 gives us a little more insight. Remember, John had been taken up into heaven and was a bit distraught. An angel spoke to him and so he bowed down before it.

At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Worship is a stream that ignites in the presence of God.

EXPRESSION

It’s not my intent to rank different expressions of worship. I love liturgy because it allows us to remember the season’s of Christ’s life and enter into a journey together focusing on the Eucharist. I love Taize and how it emphasizes contemplation and intercession. I love crazy worship with electric guitars and no time limits or boundaries. What is most important is offering our unique expressions both as individuals and as communities.

As I have studied the Psalms, I see repeatedly that one of the reasons we worship is to bless God. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around that. How can anything I have to offer bless God? The biggest revelation I have is that, as God made us uniquely and gave us unique grace and purpose and perspective, our worship and expression must also be unique. So when we worship in that uniqueness, I believe God is blessed.

So then, as we explore who we are as a community, our first steps should not be to find out what the biggest church is doing and mirror their programming. Our first steps should be discovering our unique purposes, perspectives and people. After all, our success will not be measured in numbers, but in our obedience to what God has called us to be.

I am a worship leader. This is part of my journey and experience. I’m not trying to arrive anywhere or offer a 5 step process to more intimate worship, but I do hope that we can be encouraged by God’s good and eternal purpose and that we might find more meaning and always long for greater intimacy whatever our expression is.

Finding More Purpose in Worship

1 Chronicles 25

1 David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals.

Does anyone see anything strange about this verse? How about, “David, together with the commanders of the army”? Here and in otherscriptures, we see the worship leaders on the front line of the armies. The worshippers, you see, would declare who God was, and often prophesy who would win the battle.

2 Chronicles 18:11

All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. "Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious," they said, "for the LORD will give it into the king's hand."

So as we remember and prepare, let’s not loose sight of God’s eternal purpose. I’m excited to be a part of the Kingdom being established as we fulfill the scriptures:

11 For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.