On December 29, there will be no Wednesday night service.    I am currently having a study week at Beth’s childhood home in eastern Kentucky.   The picture above of her home was taken from our van as we arrrived.  Isn’t that beautiful?  We so enjoyed driving through the snow covered mountains. There have been some breath-taking scenes in the Appalachians this week.

This Sunday, I really look forward to sharing with you about the spiritual direction of 2011.   Specifically, I am going to teach on fasting as we prepare for a corporate fast from January 10-30.

I hope you are joining the church body in reading the New Testament in 2011.  You can get the plan by clicking here.

The Church at Indian Lake is participating in a 21 day corporate fast from January 10 – 20, 2010.  We are joining other churches across the nation in a network called Awake 21.   Specifically, I will be doing a “Daniel Fast”, which is abstaining from all food except vegetable, fruit and whole grains.   This also means eliminating caffeine.  I did this last year, and it was so beneficial spiritually and physically.  During this time, we’ll have Friday night worship and prayer services.

I’ll be sharing more about this in Sunday’s sermon  and on Wednesday, January 5th.   I’ll get you a list of foods that will be helpful.  Also, I’ll be using this blog as a way to communicate concerning this fast.

Are you ready to start reading your Bible in 2010?   Our church is going to read through the New Testament together in 2011.   You can get the plan by clicking here.  Let’s plan to succeed.

Remember, no service on Wednesday, December 29.

Have a great week in Jesus!

5:30 a.m.  – Look out the bedroom window and see your car and street covered in snow.
6:00 a.m.  – Watch the local news to find out today’s forecast
6:30 a.m. – Arrive at church to check out the parking lot
6:45 a.m. –  Look at Twitter, Facebook and text other pastors to find out what other local churches are doing
7:30 a.m. – Make decision to have church
7:31 a.m. – Have wife ask you “Now, why are we having church this morning?”
7:33 a.m. – Text staff, make sure they know “we’re on”
7:45 a.m. – Sprinkle salt on the sidewalks
8:30 a.m. – Take inquisitive calls on cell phone
9:30 a.m. – Look across the parking lot, and wonder if I made the right decision
9:45 a.m. – Have my 8 year old son ask. “Why are we having church when the road are frozen?:”
10:00 a.m. – Decide I should have cancelled
10:30 a.m. – Energized by the arrivals
10:45 a.m. – Touched by the worship of God’s people
11:55 a.m. – “May the Lord Bless You and Keep You”
12:45 p.m. – Get in the car, so glad we had church today!

The word praise occurs 200 times in the Bible, a dozen different Hebrews or Greek versions.

Of the seven Hebrew words for “praise”, here is the first three that we discussed in my sermon on Sunday:

1.   To Celebrate
HALAL (99 Times)

to make a show, to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causatively, to celebrate

Scripture Examples: 1 Chron. 16:4, 23:5,30, 25:3, 29:13, Neh. 12:24

2.  Lifting Our Hands
YADAH (90 times)

– yaw-daw – to worship with the extended hand. The giving of oneself in worship and adoration. To lift your hands unto the Lord.

*  This is remarkable word!  Over 90 times in the Bible, we are old to “extend our hands” in worship when we praise.

Scripture Examples:  Genesis 29:35, 2 Chron. 7:6, 2 Chron. 20:21, Psalms 9:1, Psalm 28:7, Psalms 33:2, 42:5,11, 49:18, Isaiah 12:1

3.   Lifting Our Hands in Thanksgiving & Agreement
TOWDAH

to-daw -To give worship by the extension of the hand in adoration or agreeing with what has been done or will be. This word is commonly found in connection with sacrifice-applying the giving of thanks or praise as a sacrifice before reception or manifestation.

Scripture Examples: Psalm 50:23, Jer. 17:26

Other Scripture on Lifting Our Hands:  Nehemiah 8:6, I Timothy 2:8, Psalm 134:2

 

It’s rare that you experience a service where every hand is lifted before the Lord.  I’m pretty sure that happened in both our 9:00 & 10:45 services.   I spoke on “Lifting Your Hands in Worship” and people responded to this Biblical directive.   I don’t write this to brag about our congregation or our worship.  I write this in joy, because God deserves it!  I’ll share the content of the teaching in tomorrow‘s blog.
On Sunday night our Kid’s Choir performed their re-scheduled performance.  These children were so sweet, talented and loving!   It was nice to move this performance to a Sunday night.  Even though lots of relatives created a huge Sunday morning attendance in past years, we found that it didn’t serve the purposes we desired for either the performance or the congregation.  Moving it to a Sunday night created the family event for those who desired to participate.

In between the morning service and the Kid’s Choir performance, I took the boys to their first Titan game.   We had a great time, and the Titans snapped a 6 game losing streak.  Still, the enthusiasm of competition didn’t compare to the exhilaration of worshipping God with my church family.

As a Jr. High student, lifting my hands in worship was an act of courage.   I remember closing my eyes, and debating with myself whether I should take this bold step.   The Holy Spirit was nudging me to lift my hands during the song, but I knew this step could effect my reputation and social opportunities.   I did lift my hands during that song, and I experienced a connection with my heavenly Father that was sweet and powerful.  I’ve been lifting my hands in worship ever sense.

Though this is my experience, I don’t lift my hands in worship because of an experience.  I have since discovered that the lifting of hands in worship is not just a preference or an expression of ones personality, but its a Biblical directive.

This Sunday (December 19), I will be teaching on “Lifting Our Hands in Worship” as part of our series Opportunity, Not Obligation.  I cannot wait to share with you some truths from the Bible that will lift the value of this wonderful expression.  Christmas is about worship, and learning to lift your hands before the Lord in worship may be one of the greatest Christmas gifts you could return to  the Lord.

Pastor Kim Driver and her team continue to do amazing things through the Compassion Ministries.

Here is a report from Pastor Kim:

THANK YOU for making this Christmas special for a child in Haiti.  Because of your efforts 158 pairs of shoes were collected. They were delivered in person last week even in the midst of civil unrest!   And a special Thank You to Ashlee Robinson and the College Age Ministry for all their work to make this project such a success.

 

 

Thank you to Ellen Spalding and her team for all their hard work preparing and serving hot meals to those who have sacrificed in the Armed Services for our Country.   If you would like to join them, they will be serving lunch on Sunday, December 26th at the Sumner County Veterans Home in Gallatin, TN. Please contact the church office, and we will get you in touch with Ellen and/or Hollie Robinson.

When I was in high school, one of my youth sponsors assigned me to read The Kneeling Christian in order to attend a mission trip.   This older book  (written pre-1930) is written by an “Unknown Author.”   This book had a great impact on my view of prayer, and re-reading it last week had a positive effect on me.  This book is packed with amazing quotes on prayer.

I tried to research it’s history and speculated author, but found no helpful information.  I did find an on-line version of the book that you can read here.

Whether you read it on-line, or pick up a copy, this book will impact your life.

Wednesday Service Cancelled for December 15
Due to a forecast of bad weather and early school closings, we have decided to cancel our Wednesday night service. This also includes our Youth and Children’s Services.

Children’s Christmas Choir
Please remember the Children’s Christmas Choir performance has been moved to Sunday, December 19th at 6:00 p.m. If your child cannot attend, please let us know as soon as possible at the church office at info@indianlakechurch.com.

Rehearsals will still take place that day at 4:00 for grades 2-5 and 5:00 for 1st grade and younger.

We discussed Prayer in our series Opportunity, Not Obligation.   Everyone agrees that prayer is important, and we should all pray more.   However, there are some misconceptions we have to debunk to understand prayer.

Prayer is a conversation.  We speak.  We listen.   We have a conversation with our God.

We learned that prayer is . . .

An opportunity not an obligation (Hebrews 4:16)

A relationship, not a requirement (Matthew 26:36-45)

A friendship, not a formula (John 15:13-15)