Tag Archives: kingdom

Throwback Sundays – A Prayer to Remind Us it’s So Much Bigger

I love this entire prayer, but especially need to be reminded of these lines:

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.

Read the rest of it here.

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Beautiful Words

Mark Pierson opens a chapter of his book, The Art of Curating Worship, with this beautiful poem by Mike Riddell. His words describe beautifully the awakening that is needed and that I sense is coming. I can feel it. And I burst with excitement with I catch glimpses of it.

We come from far and wide;
We have our own stories to tell who we are
Stories of places and people and experiences
Tales of discovery and disappointment

Somewhere between there and here,
God has become a part of our adventure;
Part of our walking and speaking and breathing,
In us and through us and before us

We have joined our lives with the story of Christ,
And begun to act as if it were true;
Taking the words to be gospel,
And the sound of them to be the breath of life

Sometime between then and now,
God has come to dwell among us,
Breathing the Spirit into our hearts
So that we may see and hear and feel.

With our friends and fellow travelers,
We have measured our days by the kingdom
And our nights by the joy of salvation;
Seeking what is lost within us

We are the substance of Christ’s dreaming
The first-fruits and the foretaste
The small and suffering people
In whom Christ has pleased to dwell

But we are also the lost children;
The straying sheep and the dishonest servants,
The rich young fools and the rock-bearing elders,
The timid followers and the traitorous disciples.

We often forget the story which came to us,
Preferring order to uncertainty;
Orthodoxy to love,
And religious piety to unmerited grace

Come to us again, Lord Jesus,
And whisper your words of welcome;
Fill our hearts with reckless wonder,
And our minds with splendid nonsense

Awake in us the dream of the kingdom;
Resurrect our dead and perished visions;
Alert us to the heaven in our midst;
And quicken us to laugh and love

Here we have no lasting city;
No temple nor castle nor club;
Here we have no religious refuge
In which to hide from your gratuitous chaos

So make us to be the dwelling of Christ,
The holy shelter in which the flame may burn;
That the story may go on and the truth be told,
And mercy come to your good earth.

Amen.

The Art of Curating Worship pgs. 54-56

1 Comment Church, Worship

The Twenty #7 – What the Kingdom of God Really Looks Like

The Kingdom of God. We throw that phrase around a lot but I often wonder if we know what it means. And I’ll be honest, tackling this topic is daunting.

I had a professor in college who made us memorize this definition: the Kingdom of God is God’s rule in the hearts of His people. I think that definition fails to capture the majesty of the Kingdom. Even now I struggle to find words that seem fitting to describe what it really looks like.

It is powerful and grand yet also found in the beauty of simplicity.
 It is the intricate web spun by a spider.
And the tallest building constructed by men.
It is the sound of a thousand voices joined in worship.
And the barely audible rustling of leaves in a calm breeze.
I see the Kingdom of God in the mountains.
I see it in the center of the city.
In the eyes of strangers and the smiles of friends.
I hear it in the laughter of children and love freely given.

Quite simply: the Kingdom of God is His presence. It is a Holy God choosing to dwell in the hearts and lives of unholy people. It is love. It is grace. It is relationship. That’s where it starts and that’s where it ends. In between is the Church.

This is the seventh post in a series of twenty. For more on the background, check out this post.

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