{"id":680,"date":"2024-02-28T11:29:37","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T15:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mountainviewunited.ca\/?p=680"},"modified":"2024-02-28T11:29:37","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T15:29:37","slug":"abridged-worship-february-25-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mountainviewunited.ca\/index.php\/2024\/02\/28\/abridged-worship-february-25-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Abridged Worship – February 25, 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Come Out of Your Tent and Take Up Your Cross<\/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>Lord, bring to us a great hope for the future. A future where Your Love is more known in the world because we have responded to your call to come out of the safety and security of easement for the adventure of proclaiming the Gospel and loving as Christ loves. Amen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scripture Readings: <\/strong>Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Romans 4:13-25; Mark 8:31-38<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Abram was ninety-nine years old,\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0appeared to him\u00a0and said, \u201cI am God Almighty;\u00a0walk before me faithfully and be blameless.\u00a0Then I will make my covenant between me and you\u00a0and will greatly increase your numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abram fell facedown,\u00a0and God said to him, \u201cAs for me, this is my covenant with you:\u00a0You will be the father of many nations.\u00a0No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>I will make you very fruitful;\u00a0I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>I will establish my covenant\u00a0as an everlasting covenant\u00a0between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God\u00a0and the God of your descendants after you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God also said to Abraham, \u201cAs for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romans 4:13-25<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise\u00a0that he would be heir of the world,\u00a0but through the righteousness that comes by faith.\u00a0For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless,\u00a0because the law brings wrath.\u00a0And where there is no law there is no transgression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace\u00a0and may be guaranteed\u00a0to all Abraham\u2019s offspring\u2014not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.\u00a0As it is written: \u201cI have made you a father of many nations.\u201d\u00a0He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed\u2014the God who gives life\u00a0to the dead and calls\u00a0into being things that were not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations,\u00a0just as it had been said to him, \u201cSo shall your offspring be.\u201d\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead\u2014since he was about a hundred years old\u2014and that Sarah\u2019s womb was also dead.\u00a0Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened\u00a0in his faith and gave glory to God,\u00a0being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.\u00a0This is why \u201cit was credited to him as righteousness.\u201d\u00a0The words \u201cit was credited to him\u201d were written not for him alone,\u00a0but also for us,\u00a0to whom God will credit righteousness\u2014for us who believe in him\u00a0who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.\u00a0He was delivered over to death for our sins\u00a0and was raised to life for our justification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark 8:31-38<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus Predicts His Death<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

He then began to teach them that the Son of Man\u00a0must suffer many things\u00a0and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law,\u00a0and that he must be killed\u00a0and after three days\u00a0rise again.\u00a0He spoke plainly\u00a0about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter.\u00a0\u201cGet behind me, Satan!\u201d\u00a0he said.\u00a0\u201cYou do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Way of the Cross<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said:\u00a0\u201cWhoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.\u00a0For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.\u00a0What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?\u00a0Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?\u00a0If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man\u00a0will be ashamed of them\u00a0when he comes\u00a0in his Father\u2019s glory with the holy angels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We give thanks to God for the Scriptures and ask God to have these words inspire our hearts and minds.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

The father of many nations, Abraham, was an old man living in his father tent. Before God called out Abraham, Abraham had reached an age of ninety-nine, living in the land of his ancestors. In their old age, Abraham and his wife Sarah had no children. These two were old, comfortable, and without children. When God calls Abraham to follow him out of the safety of his father\u2019s tent, it way likely a surprise to many people who may have known Abraham. Why would anyone give up security in old age, the comfort of home, and a lack of responsibility?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might say, well, he did it because God called him, and how do you say \u201cno\u201d to God? But we say \u201cno\u201d to God all the time don\u2019t we. Like, when we see the homeless man on the street with their hand out, but our pocket change is for our second coffee for the day. Or when we hold a grudge against a brother or sister but walk into worship like we have settled our conflicts. I could go on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, there is something else going on, because Abraham could have turn back into his tent and pretended God had never called him out. Everyday people turn their back on God’s invitation, including the dutiful Christian. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We might go to the big kahuna of Christianity and say it was Abraham\u2019s faith<\/strong> which allowed him to follow God out of his tent. And yes, that is true, but this faith is connected to something, because faith is trusting in someone\u2019s trustworthiness, being convinced of their reliability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what was Abraham trusting in God to be reliable about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can\u2019t be that Abraham was trusting God to keep him safe, comfortable, and free of responsibility, Abraham already had those things.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

See God, offered Abraham something that comfort, safety and lack-responsibility could not acquire, meaning and purpose<\/strong>. God offered Abraham to be made into the Father of Many Nations, and that is something that can only be gained by leaving the tent, and allowing our faith in God to calls us into something greater than we know, into possibilities which are for God\u2019s glory and the greater good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we look at the Gospel\u2019s we see Jesus calling us to follow him, as God called Abraham to follow him out of his tent. And likewise, Jesus does not call us to comfort, easement, safety, but rather to be willing to take up our cross, to deny ourselves for the sake of following the will of God. But the promise that comes with Jesus is not for all of us to become fathers and mothers of many nations, but to become brother and sisters in THE KINGDOM of God. To dwell with God in a new creation; where there is no more darkness, no more hatred, no more suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have a promise from God, and we trust in God\u2019s faithfulness to his promise, so we are call to come out of our tents, to pick up our crosses, to begin letting go of what we once were, for who God knows we can become, face the challenges, face the burdens, and proclaim the Gospel, the invitation for the people of this world to join the family of the sisters and brothers in God\u2019s calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Homework: <\/strong>Think about how God is calling you out of comfort to better serve the Kingdom? What easements might you need to leave behind for God’s glory?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closing Prayer:<\/strong> God, we understand that life comes with challenge, pain and even suffering, and we are trying to find the strength to take up our cross as Christ commanded. But our hearts can be wicked, and our will weak, so we ask for Your strength, we ask for Your heart, and we rest into Your will, so the cross we bare is support by Your Son. Amen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\"\"<\/figure>\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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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