A High Calling

(a week of Thanksgiving - day 4)

I went to my favorite Bible study and search program. http://www.crosswalk.com/ (I like the classic view better than the new one.) and I did a search for "thank*" (with the asterisk allowing it to find any word that begins with thank but maybe ends with and "s" or "ful" or whatever) and found 140 verses. Sounds like being thankful is an important thing.

Here's on that caught my eye.

2Ch 31:2 - Show Context
Hezekiah assigned the priests and Levites to divisions--each of them according to their duties as priests or Levites--to offer burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, to minister, to give thanks and to sing praises at the gates of the Lord's dwelling

You figure if there were whole divisions of priests and Levites (a whole tribe of Israel) assigned to these things that they must be important to God. I'll just focus on the last two. "to give thanks and to sing praises."

If you are involved in the worship ministry of your church (Hilldale or one of our many readers from around the world) you are following the high calling of the priests and Levites to give thanks and sing praises. How cool is that? It was a full-time job for those who led in worship - even those in the choir.

One of the things I am thankful for is a great group of committed musicians, singers, tech and sound crew, media crew, instrumentalists - did I leave anyone out? - who week by week help us lead in worship as we give thanks and sing praises. THANK YOU for being a part of our worship ministry at Hilldale.

Psalm 136 - a Thanksgiving Model

A week of Thanksgiving day 3.

Here's something fun you can do with your family for Thanksgiving or any other time. It's important for your family to realize together all the wonderful things God has done for you, your family, your church, your country, etc.

Take Psalm 136 and read the first few verses to get you started.



This is from John Milton's Metrical Psalms written in the mid 1600's.

Psalms 136 - Study This Chapter

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.


2 Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.


3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.


4 to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever.


5 who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever.


6 who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever.


7 who made the great lights-- His love endures forever.


8 the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever.


9 the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever.



Notice that there is a short phrase telling something of God's goodness or greatness followed by "His love endures forever." (Other translations use the phrase "His lovingkindness is everlasting" or "His love is eternal" or "His mercy endureth forever.")


Then it's your turn. Take turns saying your own first half of a verse (make up your own) and then the whole family says together "His love endures forever." Spend some time and you'll be amazed at what your family comes up with - especially if you have younger children. They are great at seeing God's goodness.


Then you can sing along with Michael W. as a nice ending to a good time of family worship.

Opening Night!

WOW!

What else is there to say? Incredible! Super-duper! Excellent! Inspirational! Worshipful! Fun! Exciting! Beautiful! Magnificent! Muy bien!
The singing, the acting, the sound, the orchestra, the lighting, the bells, the flags, the costumes, the decorations, the story tellers from each country, the solos and trios... God used all of your hard work, practice, commitment, willingness... to speak to people's hearts.

Gracias! Obrigado! Danke shane! Merci beaucoup! Thanks ya'll!

Thanks

It's always good to stop and thank people from time to time. I have a whole list of people to thank. Without them we wouldn't be able to do what we do week by week. Since I would probably accidentally leave off a name if I listed each name individually, I'll list areas of ministry and maybe you will know the names. I'll see if I can add names to this tomorrow.

Here are the areas of ministry where we have faithful volunteers putting in many hours of work week by week.

Sound crew

TV crew

Camera men

MediaShout/Computer crew

Praise Band members

Donna, my Ministry Assistant who does all kinds of things to make Sundays happen

Ushers and greeters

Did I leave any groups out? Thank you to everyone for all you do in service for our church and ultimately for our Lord Jesus Christ. You are very much appreciated.

Let me encourage those of you reading this blog to find some of these folks and thank them yourself!