Viral Faith

This Christmas season, I have been greatly impacted by the drive and determination of one of the members of the congregation that I serve.  Kaela is not one of the officers of the church, nor does she have a powerful civic post, but she is a determined teenage follower of Jesus. Kaela is leading an effort within our congregation to raise money this Christmas season to drill wells in Haiti.  She is deeply inspiring as she has personally been convicted that God is calling us to make a difference in the devastated nation of Haiti by simply offering clean, reliable water.  Approximately 60,000 people in Haiti have been affected by the scourge of cholera which is directly connected to a tainted water supply. Kaela's presentations have shown her passion and her deep grief for the people of Haiti.  The burden that God has placed in her heart is evident and I find my heart breaking as she shows us that to celebrate Jesus is to minister to him i...

I have been thinking a lot about worship services lately.  What is the purpose of worship service?  What are the goals of worship service?  Is the service to God, and secondarily blesses people, or are the people of the community primary? I believe that the late Robert Webber was correct when he described the role of worship as "the celebration of God's story".  We stop during our week, to reflect on God's story, where He is the central character, His Word is the script, and His people play small but important roles.  There is a temptation to watch the telling of God's story like we watch TV or a sporting event.  However, the reality is that God gives us instruction through scripture that our worship is to be highly participatory and interactive.  In other words, worship does not "happen" to us, but occurs through us.  Ideally, it is the fully trinitarian experience of revelation from God the father, incarnational experience of the presence of...