{"id":1118,"date":"2024-10-01T10:14:56","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T13:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mountainviewunited.ca\/?p=1118"},"modified":"2024-10-01T10:14:56","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T13:14:56","slug":"abridged-worship-september-29-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mountainviewunited.ca\/index.php\/2024\/10\/01\/abridged-worship-september-29-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Abridged Worship – September 29, 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rejoice in the life of a Prophet<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abridge Worship Provided By:<\/strong> Rev. Jacob Shaw (Please note that this is not a verbatim account of our Sunday morning worship, but rather a condensed version for those at home to study and enjoy, Blessing)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opening Prayer: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heavenly Creator, thank you for intervening in our lives and calling us to You. We thank You for Your love, a love which has always been with us. We thank You for blessing us in all manors of faith, by Your wisdom and grace. In faithfulness, we pursue You in joyful worship. Amen. \u00a0

Scripture Readings: Psalm 33:1-22 and Matthew 5:1-12<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Psalm 33:1-22<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
    it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
Praise the Lord with the harp;
    make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
Sing to him a new song;
    play skillfully, and shout for joy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the word of the Lord is right and true;
    he is faithful in all he does.
The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of his unfailing love.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
    their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea into jars[<\/sup><\/strong>a<\/sup><\/strong><\/a>]<\/sup>;
    he puts the deep into storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
    let all the people of the world revere him.
For he spoke, and it came to be;
    he commanded, and it stood firm.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord foils the plans of the nations;
    he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
    the purposes of his heart through all generations.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
    the people he chose for his inheritance.
From heaven the Lord looks down
    and sees all mankind;
from his dwelling place he watches
    all who live on earth\u2014
he who forms the hearts of all,
    who considers everything they do.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No king is saved by the size of his army;
    no warrior escapes by his great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
    despite all its great strength it cannot save.
But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,
    on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
to deliver them from death
    and keep them alive in famine.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We wait in hope for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,
    for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
    even as we put our hope in you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Matthew 5:1-12<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,and he began to teach them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBlessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.<\/strong>
\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflection: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

We have examined three commands: repent, follow, and do not worry. Now we meet rejoicing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can all say it is nice to connect with a command of such positivity. Who doesn\u2019t like joy? Joy can take us far. Plus, rejoicing feels good to us, we can rejoice alone, and we can rejoice in communion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, I do caution against interpreting this command on a simple level of just good feelings, Jesus\u2019 teachings are always much deeper, and considering this command is found at the beginning of Jesus\u2019 longest and most famous sermon, to understand this command to rejoice, we need to see what it is surrounded by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus begins his sermon on the mount with, what is titled, the Beatitudes, and you see a list of qualifications that mark a person as blessed: poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger, the merciful, pure, peacemaking, and persecuted. Much of which sounds like a reality we would rather avoid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the bit about mercy, purity, and peace we tend to avoid, (sounds nice on paper), but often, those are attributes we avoid because they require personal sacrifice, for example, to be merciful means we must show restraint, empathy, and forgiveness. To be pure, we must reject sinful temptation and run from pride and idolatry \u2013 not an easy thing, and to be peacemakers means we must be ready to endure and confront war, we must be willing to call enemies and alleys to unify under God. None of what Jesus offers is an easy life to embody, but when we get to the end of this introduction, Jesus offers something complementary to this demanding existence, rejoice and be glad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, many of us have heard these Beatitudes throughout our lives, so this revelation isn\u2019t as shocking to us, but can you image if you had never heard this, if you lived in a world where sole might made right, and if you we poor or ill, or shamed in any way people believed it was because you were curse by God, forever to be a blight on society, and then this miracle worker shows us and calls you blessed, and calls those who seek your reality in compassion, love and spirit, blessed as well. It would be like taking a blindfold off and seeing the world for the first time. There is reason in that liberation alone to rejoice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there is more, after saying the blessed qualifications, Jesus then compares this list of attributes to the life of the prophets before them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems to me, that Jesus is saying, that to follow him, to become disciples of Jesus Christ means adopting a life similar to the prophets. This doesn\u2019t mean all will prophecy, rather it means that there is a lifestyle which the prophets endured and embraced, and we are called to do the same. And all the prophets who came before share with us their stories of a life of struggle and pursuit through the Bible. We know those lives lived were not easy, there were great journeys, tension and objection, and often persecution. Yet, God\u2019s promise to the Prophets, and their forefather before them, was and is never forgotten, and God delivers them to a reward in heaven for their self-sacrifice upon this earth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through this image of the prophets we understand that suffering, even the suffering of everyday people can be redeemed. If you are poor, don\u2019t fret, Moses was once a prince, but God called him into poverty first, before Moses could rise to free the captives. If you are forcibly meek and humbled, Jospeh was sold by his brothers into slavery, and spent time in prison, and God\u2019s favour was still upon him. \u00a0Jesus, in these statements, redeems the suffering of people, and shows only God has authority over who is blessed, not the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prophet piece here is also more than just relatable characters for the people hearing Jesus\u2019 sermon to relate to. The prophets adopt a characteristic that signifies them as prophets. You see prophets are often characterized as counter-cultural voices, sometimes they counter the culture of an oppressor, like we see with Moses, or sometimes they counter the culture which Israel has falsely adopted like we see in Isaiah. Either way, they are a voice, that God has pulled away from the stream of society and redirected their vision onto God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You could say that the prophets are public figures which have exemplified the first three command of Jesus, they repented and looked upon God, the followed God with the purpose of bringing people to God, to be that fisher for people, and they face the evil in the world, and they trust in God, they let their hearts be calm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, the prophetic life is no longer a life of worldly things; possessions, desires, cultural and social\/political drama, all that now takes a backseat, because for the prophet, they adopt a life which if focus on living for God, and God will and Kingdom. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus is calling us to remove ourselves from these worldy norms of society, to shake off the goals of material existence, and instead, He wants us to seek God, God\u2019s will, God\u2019s kingdom. And the Beatitudes act like a road map, a way to understand how pursuing God will lead you towards a new creation, eternally but also temporally in our life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You want to find Jesus, you want to connect with God, try adopting a spirit of the poorness, be the person whose hands are open ready to receive from the Lord what they cannot produce themselves, whose hearts relish the gifts that they have been given, and who is will to work hard in pursuit of prosperity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You want to find Jesus, try adopting a mourning heart of compassion and empathy, cry with those who cry, weep with those who weep, hold those who need to be held, knowing that God holds you first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try adopting a meek disposition, sheath your sword, be slow to anger and speech, and be humble before others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could go on\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seek these realities as part of your very existence, and you will draw nearer to God, your faith will deepen, and you will have a life akin to the prophets; one that prioritizes God\u2019s will, not the world\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Jesus says there will be a reward in heaven. And that is a good thing, it is a very good thing. Something worth rejoicing over. But here something that I\u2019ve noticed about this heavenly reward. Christians who actively seek the life of the Beatitudes, who try to live upon the theological road map Jesus sets forth, seem to find the rewards of Heaven manifest in their lives as they live. I\u2019m not talking gold and silver, but rather spiritual rewards, true reward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the dedicated Christian, pursuing the blessing Jesus list, is not less concerned with worldly things, they become less stressed, fearful, and worried, their hearts find peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since their lives become priorities with living out the ways of Jesus with people, their lives find community, love, and fellowship, and because ultimately their life is now given to God, they feel complete and whole, that they lack for nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now you can say, Rev. Jacob, you already are giving us a bunch of commands of Jesus to set as goals for ourselves, and now the Beatitudes, it feels all too much. Fair enough, so here is a way of looking at it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you look at the commands of Jesus, and all of his teachings, you see how these ideas flow into each other. They build upon each other and nourish each other. So, if you find this too big, pick one or two to start with. If you find yourself quick to anger, begin with prayer and pursuit of God in repentance and meekness. If you find yourself fearful of conflict, open yourself up to mercy and peacemaking. The more you make effort in to know Jesus, and become like Christ, the more you will experience the blessings of heaven in your life, the more natural all this will become, and the more you will want to shout with joy and sing hallelujah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember folks, the Gospel is Good News, it is what helps God\u2019s kingdom and the image of Christ from which we were created take root in us, and we can feel the goodness of Being, we can feel glad and content. We can even rejoice!

\u00a0Let us pray\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord, help us rest in your promise, and promise of joy and new creation. Lord, let us find contentment and let our hearts sing Your glory, no matter what is upon us. Let us trust in your promise, when life is what we hope for or even when it is what we abhorred. We know that ultimately, your promise and love will carry us to your presence to be with you always. Amen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Homework: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find time to do something you enjoy. When that feeling of joy finds you, give God thanks, and when you are praying a prayer of thanksgiving, ask God to remind you of that joy the next time you feel down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

then <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Review the Beatitudes and begin asking yourself in what ways could you begin to trust God more to take you in the poorness, meekness, peacekeeping, and the like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I was with Villages United Church in Granton Ontario, we looked at the commands of Jesus, as part of it I posted a video series. Follow this link -> HERE<\/a> and check it out<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you need help on this reflective journey email: minister@mountainviewunited.ca<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closing Prayer:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord of Heaven, help us to live our lives with Joy, let us go out into the world with hearts filled with the love of God. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Meme of the Week: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for joining us this week. If you have any thoughts, feelings, or prayers, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. Please be respectful of others’ posts and make room for all those joining us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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