Coffee With The Lord

When I served as a pastor I was always on the “lookout” in the Bible for a good “call to worship” that I could use at the beginning of a “worship service.”  I loved to use a capable, expressive, interpretive reader in the congregation give voice to it, leading the congregation to look up and look upon the splendor, majesty, grace and goodness of God and engage their hearts in worship.

This morning during my time of “Coffee with the Lord” I came across a “call to worship” I believe I would have used – It’s adapted from Psalm 28…

Here it is: 

“To You, O Lord, I call; my Rock, be not deaf to me!  Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to You for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary! …

“Blesse be the Lord!  For He has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy!  The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped!  My heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him!

“Oh, save Your people and bless Your heritage!  Be their shepherd and carry them forever!”

Hey, that’s a good one!  My hope is that one the pastors who reads this “Coffee with the Lord” post today might adopt and use this “call to worship” tomorrow in their Sunday “worship service.”  For me?  It doesn’t matter! … I’ll use it as my “personal call to worship” today!!!

As a young man preparing for the ministry, I believe I was led by the Holy Spirit to a very important life-verse… 1 Corinthians 9:27 (I read it again today during my time of “coffee with the Lord”). It has served me well over the years and has assumed a pivotal role in my life. In fact, after I realized the importance of staying in shape and working out daily in order to function at a maximum personal level, the surrounding verses near my life-verse became even more special to me. This is not to say, I’ve never had a failure or stumbled from the principle and truth my life-verse expresses, but regardless of those failures it has continued to be a central, guiding principle in my life. It expresses my life-quest and desire in service for the Lord.

Here is the passage with my life-verse included in all caps…

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it! Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So Ido not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I DISCIPLINE MY BODY AND KEEP IT UNDER CONTROL, LEST AFTER PREACHING TO OTHERS I MYSELF SHOULD BE DISQUALIFIED!” (1 Corinthians 9:24–27 ESV)

I think we’ve all seen it at some time or other… A person with great promise in public life disgraced by a moral or ethical lapse or pattern of living. A young talented entertainer self-destruct through an undisciplined lifestyle. An athlete shooting for a world record or championship season disqualified for violating the rules. A high profile pastor disgraced and disqualified for ministry because of a tragic “moral failure.”

I don’t want to be that kind of person! With God’s help I want to listen to the warning of Apostle Paul in this passage and exercise Spiritual self-discipline… Hey, a “fruit of the Spirit” is … “self-discipline” (Galatians 5:22- 23). And if you’ve fallen, acknowledge it, ask God and others to forgive you, establish some accountability, and allow God’s grace to restore you and enable you to rebuild what sin has destroyed. It can happen!!

Here’s a good question for “Christians” to ask themselves in this “me 1^st” world:  Am I using or abusing the freedom I have in Christ?  Am I flaunting or facilitating my freedom to serve others… This came to mind as I read Apostle Paul’s words this morning during my time of “Coffee with the Lord”…

Apostle Paul said, “Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I HAVE BECOME ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE SO THAT BY ALL POSSIBLE MEANS I MIGHT SAVE SOME.  I DO ALL THIS FOR THE SAKE OF THE GOSPEL, that I may share in its blessings.” (From 1 Corinthians 9:19–23 NIV)

I want to use the freedom I have in Christ to serve others and effectively communicate the gospel to everyone I can! … Don’t you?