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Worship Wednesday – Fear Not – A Lesson From the Shepherds and Charlie Brown’s Friend Linus

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blog-fear-not-charlie-brown-christmas-patrickmurfinPhoto Credit: Patrick Murfin

And the angel said unto them, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” – Luke 2:10-11

Fear can rip our hearts out…paralyze us from action…drive a wedge between us and the truth. It drives us to focus on what we see (much of which is only in our mind’s eye) as our dreaded reality, hitting repeat over and over. Fear fixes blinders on our faces such that we must fight to remember that there is more to life…so much more…than what we are facing in this moment…whether it’s real or more imagined. The Apostle Paul speaks of this, from experience, in his letter to the Corinthian church (2 Corinthians chapters 4 and 5).

In preparing our hearts for the birth of Christ, the shepherds come to mind. Tending sheep in the dark fields outside of Bethlehem, they gathered by a fire, telling stories…maybe even sharing some of their own fears with each other. Or guarding them in their hearts…even more afraid of being exposed. Whether they feared attacking wolves in the darkness or whether they could adequately provide for their families….or something even deeper and harder to express.

When the angel of God appeared to them to announce the birth of the Messiah, he assured them to “Fear not!” Was it just because of his fearsome and surprising appearance? Or could it also have been a word to us from God, repeated throughout Scripture…to not be afraid? A word from God to His beloved creation so long without a word from Him. “Fear not!”blog-fear-freebibleimages-fear-notPhoto Credit: Free Bible Images

In the family film A Charlie Brown Christmas, there’s a small detail that could go unnoticed… Linus responds to the anguish of his friend, Charlie Brown, when he questioned what Christmas is all about. If you haven’t ever seen this short film, Linus carried a blue security blanket with him everywhere he goes…everywhere.

Linus explains Christmas here…watch his blue blanket.

Linus Christmas Monologue

As Linus explains Christmas to Charlie Brown (with the help of Luke 2:8-14), he declares the angel’s words to the shepherds, “Fear not!” Then he drops his blanket!

Jason Soroski notes this in his piece about A Charlie Brown Christmas:

The birth of Jesus separates us from our fears.

The birth of Jesus frees us from the habits we are unable (or unwilling) to break ourselves.

The birth of Jesus allows us to simply drop the false security we have been grasping so tightly, and learn to trust and cling to Him instead. 

What happened to those shepherds, visited by an angel on that night that has marked all of history since? Some of them had to be changed forever. I’m sure there were those who followed the life of Jesus…heard his teaching, saw the miracles, were even present at his crucifixion. From that group of shepherds, there must have been those who believed that, indeed, there was nothing to fear.New Testament 3 Production Still Photography

When Linus finished his monologue, he picked up that blanket. Isn’t that true for all of us? Our temptation, in the frailty of being human in this large human experience, is to pick up the fear, as Linus did his blanket. The truth is, for God’s children, there is nothing to fear. God wraps His arms around us and sometimes even pulls the curtain back to show us what He is doing even in this fearsome moment…to care for us, protect us, and reveal His glory in and through our lives. Even when God keeps the why, or the reason, or the purpose, veiled…as we walk with Him, and experience His love through the fears, we can trust Him.

Fear not!  The announcement of the angel…the message of Christmas…is good news…not bad. Good news that can annihilate our fear, as sure as light extinguishes darkness. Let’s live in this truth today.

Worship with me to Hillsong‘s None But Jesus:

In the quiet, in the stillness
I know that you are God
In the secret of your presence
I know there I am restored
When you call I won’t refuse
Each new day, again I’ll choose
There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise
In the chaos, in confusion
I know you’re sovereign still
In the moment of my weakness
You give me grace to do your will
When you call I won’t delay
This my song through all my days

 

There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

I am yours and you are mine…

All my delight is in you Lord
All of my hope
All of my strength
All my delight is in you Lord
Forevermore*

blog-fear-scripture

 *Lyrics to None But Jesus – AZLyrics – Songwriter: Brooke Fraser
 
While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
All seated on the ground,
The angel of the Lord came down,
And glory shone around.
"Fear not," said he, for mighty dread
Had seized their troubled mind,
"Glad tidings of great joy I bring
To you and all mankind."
"To you, in David's town this day,
Is born of David's line
The Savior who is Christ the Lord."

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Worship Wednesday – Beneath the Waters (I Will Rise) – Hillsong

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blog-i-will-rise-rescue-squad-bakersfieldbside-shutterstockPhoto Credit: BakersfieldBSide, Shutterstock

“…I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days…” – Deuteronomy 30:19-20a

I’ve ridden inside an ambulance as a caregiver and family member, but never as a patient…until this week.

Take one perfectly normal evening. Getting ready for bed. Last items of the day…and then…I can’t get my breath. Literally… Coughing and breathing hard and feeling like I just can’t get air.

For any of you with asthma or other lung issues, you may have experienced this. I now know how terrifying that can be.

Then you add a husband, already in bed and half asleep, who, in an emergency, can turn on a dime (i.e., move and think quickly and well)…and I was getting help.

Could I make it to an urgent care center? Yes…no! Feeling like I might lose consciousness, I had to sit down just as we were going out the door. Then he called 911. How many times have any of us ever even done that?

For me, I was just trying to breathe. The “what if’s” fly. What if this is it?…actually came to my mind in those moments. Sitting, sucking in air, I told him I loved him, and he said, “Let me pray for you.” …and God was near through it all. Did I feel Him near?…not every moment, but I knew it just the same.

Somewhere in those seeming seconds before the rescue squad arrived, some of the panic started subsiding. God. When they arrived, they took action, and my hope rallied.  Surprisingly, it actually took quite a few minutes before we drove off.

I could see Dave through the back window of the ambulance, in his car ready to follow us. Seriously, between him and them, it was like being attended by a host of angels. All I had to do was keep breathing.

The EMT’s were busy, too. Assessing, assessing, assessing. They fed me oxygen and encouragement, and finally off we went. Yet, the longer I lived, in those moments, with these professionals doing their job, the less it seemed I would die from whatever this was.

blog-emergency-room-i-will-rise-medscapePhoto Credit: Medscape

By the time, we were settled in the emergency room, the terror of not getting enough air had passed. It seemed everything the nurses, techs, and doctors did was magical. They were still searching for a cause all through the night, but the labwork, x-rays, and such were narrowing the field of possibles. They continued to assess and apply their knowledge to whatever was wrong with me – breathing treatments, more tests, antibiotics, more tests.

Finally, the scariest stuff was ruled out. It wasn’t a collapsed lung from cancer, or pulmonary edema from congestive heart failure, or bleeding from an aneurysm .

It was pneumonia…as best they could tell.

Admitted to the hospital, in the care of another set of angels…er, nurses, I began the process of getting better.img_8984

The better came quickly and I am so grateful. We all have had and will have dark days. What takes my breath away (in totally a good way) is that we never have to be alone in it. Either God sends angels…or God sends people. I have experienced that this week, and know it has happened in lives of others near me. Including my older brother’s situation…the day he too swiftly went to be with the Lord (that story is for another day).

Across our lifetimes, we have experiences of the severe mercies and tender graces of God. Sometimes, they come through the kindnesses of both strangers and loved ones. Sometimes, it’s in the quiet of a heart, through breathing hard in the back of an ambulance. We know we can count on Him from His Word…and from all these brushes with real and serious.

Just the day before I couldn’t breathe, we sang the following worship song during when gathered on Sunday at Movement Church. Over the last two days, the words and truth of God in the words have settled in my heart and mind.

Hillsong‘s Beneath the Waters (I Will Rise) is a strong declaration of life knowing God through Jesus Christ. The songwriters took some of their ideas from the verse in Romans: “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans6:4)

“I will rise” is my song today because what felt like a near-death experience two nights ago has just added my awareness of that “newness of life” we have in Christ. There will come a day for all of us that we won’t rise any more on this side of eternity…but because of Him, we will rise to be with Him, in Heaven…if we believe. Hallelujah!

Worship with me.

This is my revelation
Christ Jesus crucified
Salvation through repentance
At the cross on which He died

Now hear my absolution
Forgiveness for my sin
And I sink beneath the waters
That Christ was buried in

I will rise
I will rise
As Christ was raised to life
Now in Him
Now in Him I live

I stand a new creation
Baptized in blood and fire
No fear of condemnation
By faith I’m justified

I will rise
I will rise
As Christ was raised to life
Now in Him
Now in Him I live
(x2)

I rise as You are risen
Declare Your rule and reign
My life confess Your lordship
And glorify Your name

Your word it stands eternal
Your Kingdom knows no end
Your praise goes on forever
And on and on again

No power can stand against You
No curse assault Your throne
No one can steal Your glory
For it is Yours alone

I stand to sing Your praises
I stand to testify
For I was dead in my sin

But now I rise
I will rise
As Christ was raised to life
Now in Him
Now in Him I live

No power can stand against You
No curse assault Your throne
No one can steal Your glory
For it is Yours alone

I stand to sing Your praises
I stand to testify
For I was dead in my sin

But now i rise
I will rise
As Christ was raised to life
Now in Him
Now in Him I live

I will rise
I will rise
As Christ was raised to life
Now in Him
Now in Him I live
(x2)*

PS – For those few of you who knew what was happening with me these last two days, thanks for praying. For those many who don’t know me or my situation, thanks for reading…and for praying for those going through a challenging situation…and if you’re in the one going through that situation, believe that God sees and reaches in. Please comment, if you’re willing, about your own experience….

YouTube Video – Beneath the Waters (I Will Rise) – with subtitles/lyrics

Song Story: Beneath the Waters (I Will Rise) – Scott Ligertwood

*Lyrics of Beneath the Waters (I Will Rise) – Writers Brooke Fraser Ligertwood & Scott Ligertwood

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Worship Wednesday – Praise Completes Our Joy – Hosanna – with Hillsong United

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Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
    Praise befits the upright.
Give thanks to the Lord…Sing to him a new song;
    play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

For the word of the Lord is upright,
    and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

Let all the earth fear the Lord;
    let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
For he spoke, and it came to be;
    he commanded, and it stood firm.

The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
    the plans of his heart to all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
    the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

Our soul waits for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
For our heart is glad in him,
    because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
    even as we hope in you. – From Psalm 33

Much to my chagrin, I’ve made a reputation for myself of being a documenter. That’s someone, by definition, who “supports (an assertion or claim, for example) with evidence or decisive information”.  Although journaling, note-taking and blogging are ways I document, it’s usually most evident in my picture-taking.

It’s hard for me to be “in the moment” without my camera. Taking in the faces of people I love, or the beauty of this world, or a unique situation before me all scream to be documented. I try to comply.

When Justin Wredberg took the pulpit this week at Movement Church, in our pastor’s absence, he brought to clarity that call in me to document. Using the text of Psalm 33 (podcast here), he taught how God wired us for praise. In fact, praise makes our joy complete as we share that person or thing we find praiseworthy.IMG_8095

God calls us to worship not because He has some need for our praise but, in praising Him, we “document”, in a way, his love, beauty, and provision. We document who he is, in our singing, and prayers, our giving, and testimony of Him and his greatness in our lives and in this world…sometimes in the quietness of our thoughts, but ultimately in our sharing God with others…

Like me with a camera…or my journal…or this blog…I can’t help but point out that which is noteworthy…the stuff that has made me stop in my tracks…and then want to turn to you and say, “Look…wow!”

That’s what the Psalmist does in Scripture…he’s a documenter…and that’s what we do in worship.

 As we sang on Sunday, I couldn’t help but take a few not-great-quality shots of the screen while we worshiped to the song Hosanna. Documenting some of the beauty of lyrics that speak to God and His character and work in us and all around us….Look…wow!IMG_8088

Worship with me.

I see the King of glory
Coming on the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes
The whole earth shakes

I see His love and mercy
Washing over all our sin
The people sing
The people sing

Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest
Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith
With selfless faith

And I see a near revival
Stirring as we pray and seek
We’re on our knees
We’re on our knees

Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest
Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like You have loved meIMG_8089
Break my heart from what breaks Yours
Everything I am for Your kingdom’s cause
As I walk from nothing to eternityIMG_8091
Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest
Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest
Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

Hosanna in the highest
Hosanna in the highest
Hosanna in the highest*

*Story of and Lyrics to Hosanna by Hillsong United’s Brooke Fraser

Praise: The Consummation of Joy by Sam Storms for Desiring God – Don’t miss this!

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Worship Wednesday – There is No One Else For Me – None But Jesus*

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Blog - Sunrise by Alicia Bowman

Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” – John 6:67-69

I love the pink glow of the sky at sunrise…for me, it’s the reward of the early morning wake-up. Getting up before the birds begin their singing, and it’s still dark. That quiet, with my first cup of coffee, and only God and my thoughts. This morning it gave me pause to remember last night’s late conversation with a friend.

We were lamenting, brooding even, about the larger-than-life influence of college professors (on our children) and the sometimes narrow arrogance of higher education. How extraordinary that in a liberal arts education supposedly training the thinkers of the next tomorrow, the example of the life and leadership of Jesus is so often minimized, as to not even exist in history.

There was a time earlier in my life, during college actually, that I stepped away from my faith. If you knew me then, you might not have noticed. I was involved in church, more or less, and the goodness of God was still imprinted on many of my life choices…but not all, for sure. I stepped away…desiring the approval of my intellectual agnostic classmates (and colleagues, later) and the acceptance of my Friday night Happy Hour crowd. That was the peer group that drew me in like a child gazing up at a department store window filled with Christmas toys.

The problem with that is the toys break and they’re never quite enough fun. The search for more toys always follows. We are never satisfied.

During an amazing time in the life of Jesus, after He demonstrated Himself to have such power that He could only be God, even then, He had disciples to walk away from him…never to return. It was at that time He asked one of His closest disciples, Peter, if he would leave. Peter answered in a way that I would now, having regained my senses after my post-college wanderings.

“To whom would [I] go?” There is “none but Jesus.”

I have my own advanced degree, and decades of keeping company with highly educated, extraordinarily competent and accomplished people. We talk about all sorts of issues and we work to make a better world. When all is said and done, if I bring anything at all to the table, it’s because of knowing Jesus. He has changed me, my thinking and way of living, in profound and deeply satisfying ways.

What a great deceit and injustice to society that our culture has been swayed to disregard the wisdom, goodness, justice, mercy, and love of God as displayed through His Son. May we see the day that this turns…may we be part of the turning.

Worship with me…None But Jesus*

In the quiet, in the stillness
I know that You are God
In the secret of Your presence
I know there I am restored

When You call I won’t refuse
Each new day again I’ll choose

[Chorus] There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

In the chaos, in confusion
I know You’re Sovereign still
In the moment of my weakness
You give me grace to do Your will

When You call I won’t delay
This my song through all my days

[Chorus]

I am Yours and You are Mine (x4)

All my delight is in You Lord
All of my hope, all of my strength
All my delight is in You Lord Forevermore (x2)

[Chorus]**

*YouTube Video of None But Jesus with Lyrics – Sung by composer Brooke Fraser

**Lyrics to None But Jesus

YouTube Video of None But Jesus – worship led by Hillsong

Brooke Fraser website

Chart of Religious Views of Jesus – Jesus is so much more than religion.

I Will Follow Him – Andre Rieu – Under the Stars, Maastricht V, the Netherlands – just for fun and the joy of thinking of Jesus while watching/singing with it

Photo Credit – Alicia Bowman