{"id":28179,"date":"2021-06-03T13:30:58","date_gmt":"2021-06-03T17:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=28179"},"modified":"2021-06-03T13:32:15","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T17:32:15","slug":"worship-wednesday-standing-firm-in-community-side-by-side-not-afraid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=28179","title":{"rendered":"Worship Wednesday – Standing Firm, Side by Side, in Community, Not Afraid"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>Photo Credit: Philipp M., Pexels<\/a><\/p>\n

[From the Archives<\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit<\/strong>, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel<\/strong>,\u00a0and not frightened in anything by your opponents<\/strong>. This is a clear sign<\/strong> to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.<\/strong><\/em> \u2013 the Apostle Paul to the Philippian Church <\/span>Philippians 1:27-28<\/a><\/p>\n

God\u2019s Word is powerful and freeing. We are emboldened and sustained by it \u2013 for life, for love, for forgiveness, for endurance.<\/p>\n

Reading this passage recently, a charge from these words sizzled through me like electricity. Goosebumps and all.<\/p>\n

Another translation of Paul\u2019s writing introduced the above Scripture passage with the phrase \u201cJust one thing\u201d<\/a>. We are living in confusing and shaky times, but God is unchanged. His truth is as riveting and reliable as when first written for us.<\/p>\n

For months now, we have been kept apart by the social distancing of COVID-19. A year ago, we were brought together by the terrible loss of George Floyd<\/a>. Brought together and at the same time torn apart. Protests and a pandemic. Racial unrest and a radical disease.<\/p>\n

This time last year, a group of friends and I went through a Bible study together which turned out to be incredibly timely. We couldn\u2019t be together so we met over a video call, working through Jennie Allen<\/a>\u2018s Get Out of Your Head<\/em><\/a>. In this book, Allen talks through our struggle with the kinds of thoughts that spiral downward taking us with them. The text she takes her readers through is Paul\u2019s letter to the Philippians<\/a>. He was in prison and yet wrote this short life-transforming letter to encourage the church experiencing its own hardship.<\/p>\n

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In confusing and chaotic times, our thoughts can be our worst enemy. We juggle the \u201cwhat if\u2019s\u201d until they become more than we can manage. We question what\u2019s right, what\u2019s true, what\u2019s our place in all of it\u2026what\u2019s God\u2019s place. We become suspicious of others\u2019 motives, and even sometimes our own. We grow weary of sorting it all out. We can withdraw\u2026making six feet apart<\/a> way too easy.<\/p>\n

Jennie Allen reminds us that we have a choice; we can flip the downward spiral. We can make our aim, in all things,God\u2019s glory and His headship. Keeping our focus on God, we then seek peace<\/a>, do justice<\/a>, love even our enemies<\/a>, and trust God with our lives<\/a> (whether the threat is COVID and or violence in the streets).<\/p>\n

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\u201cAs theologian and emeritus professor D. A. Carson has observed, People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Jennie Allen<\/a><\/div>\n
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So how do we avoid that drift Dr. Carson talked about above?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In community.<\/strong> Standing firm, side by side, not afraid \u2013 in God\u2019s strength and His salvation \u2013 Philippians 1:27-28<\/a>.<\/em><\/div>\n
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However, even if community is shaky, God never is. We remind ourselves and each other that He is our refuge and we never have to be shaken..<\/strong>.no matter the situation.<\/div>\n
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Psalm 62 \u2013 Trust in God Alone<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the choir director; according to Jeduthan. A psalm of David<\/a><\/p>\n

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I am at rest in God alone;<\/span><\/strong>
\nmy salvation comes from Him.<\/span><\/strong>
\nHe alone is my rock and my salvation,<\/span><\/strong>
\nmy stronghold; I will never be shaken.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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How long will you threaten a man?<\/span>
\nWill all of you attack<\/span>
\nas if he were a leaning wall<\/span>
\nor a tottering fence?<\/span>
\nThey only plan to bring him down<\/span>
\nfrom his high position.<\/span>
\nThey take pleasure in lying;<\/span>
\nthey bless with their mouths,<\/span>
\nbut they curse inwardly. Selah<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Rest in God alone, my soul,<\/span>
\nfor my hope comes from Him.<\/span>
\nHe alone is my rock and my salvation,<\/span>
\nmy stronghold; I will not be shaken.<\/span>
\nMy salvation and glory depend on God, my strong rock.<\/span>
\nMy refuge is in God.<\/span>
\nTrust in him at all times, you people;<\/span>
\npour out your hearts before Him.<\/span>
\nGod is our refuge.<\/strong>Selah<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Common people are only a vapor;<\/span>
\nimportant people, an illusion.<\/span>
\nTogether on a scale,<\/span>
\nthey weigh less than a vapor.<\/span>
\nPlace no trust in oppression<\/span>
\nor false hope in robbery.<\/span>
\nIf wealth increases,<\/span>
\ndon\u2019t set your heart on it.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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God has spoken once;<\/span>
\nI have heard this twice:<\/span>
\nStrength belongs to God,<\/span><\/strong>
\nand faithful love belongs to You, Lord.<\/span><\/strong>
\nFor You repay each according to his works.<\/strong> \u2013 Psalm 62<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo Credit: Philipp M., Pexels [From the Archives] Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith … Continue reading Worship Wednesday – Standing Firm, Side by Side, in Community, Not Afraid<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3396,5628,926,2986,799,2126,1705,1618,1148,794,3976,3208,5253,1454,1277,5221,910,903,2556,3394,33,18,1732,317,263,795,2611,433,1221,719,761,610,4159,32,47,946],"tags":[8004,2854,290,8294,8312,651,8311,1835,9240,205,8313,4858,8310,898,8314,2652,403,213,49,360],"class_list":["post-28179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-america","category-anxiety","category-attending-or-focus","category-attitude","category-church-2","category-community","category-conversations","category-courage","category-critical-thinking","category-faithfulness","category-fear","category-finishing-strong","category-forgiveness","category-fresh-start","category-glory-of-god","category-god-the-father","category-gospel","category-grace","category-grief-and-loss","category-habits","category-inspired","category-jesus","category-leadership","category-lessons-learned","category-lives-full-of-god","category-love-2","category-love-your-neighbor","category-pray","category-rebellion-and-sin","category-reconciliationforgiveness","category-redeeming-restoring","category-thanksgiving-or-gratefulness","category-trauma","category-walk-with-god","category-wednesday-worship","category-worship","tag-covid-19","tag-d-a-carson","tag-forgiveness","tag-george-floyd","tag-get-out-of-your-head","tag-god-the-father","tag-jennie-allen","tag-jesus","tag-negative-thoughts","tag-paul","tag-philippians","tag-racial-reconciliation","tag-racial-unrest","tag-salvation","tag-side-by-side","tag-stand-firm","tag-truth","tag-unity","tag-worship","tag-worship-wednesday"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pauPAB-7kv","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28179"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28182,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28179\/revisions\/28182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}