Sunday, April 5, 2009, 9:18 a.m. – This song is in my head:
Bring Back the Glory / Wm. Gaither, Gloria Gaither & Bill George
All the laughter is gone
And the sound of the song that we sang
Slowly faded away
Simple joys that we knew
When we walked close with you, hand in hand
In the cool of the day
Are just memories
Or are they dreams
Yet we hold to the hope
That the music will come back again
Bring back the Glory
Won't you show us what life is for
Bring back the Glory
Make us open once more
Bring back the music, the trust, the wonder
That's just like a child who has never known pain
Bring back the Glory
The Glory again
Give me a cause that is grand
And a reason to stand
That calls for the best I can see
Something worthy to live for
A reason to give
Everything that I ever could be
O there must be more
Take me Lord
How I need you to give me
A glimpse of eternity
You are the Glory
You have shown us what life is for
You are the Glory
Make us like you once more
You are the music the trust the wonder
That's just like a child
Who has never known pain
You are the Glory
That Brings us together again
You are the Glory
That brings us together again
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Colossians 1:1-23:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— 5the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. 7You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Supremacy of Christ
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Glory – “magnificence; splendor; beauty; wonder; praise; credit; admiration; the fame, admiration, and honor that is given to somebody who does something important; praise and thanksgiving offered as an act of worship to a deity” [to God Almighty]. – Encarta Thesaurus and Dictionary
My Understanding: My husband and I planned to go to a church service at the “Dream: Samuel is Missing” church this morning to hear our granddaughters (3 oldest) sing in the children’s choir. The Lord has given me several previous messages about this church, describing it as one in which the glory of God was/is definitely missing and where the business aspect of the church had become focal. Yet, I believe this specific church was intended to be an illustration of much of today’s church where the awe and the deep reverence and respect for God is truly missing.
So, it was very fitting that the Lord should begin this morning with this particular song about bringing back the Glory of God into our hearts, because we are the church, the body of Christ and Christ is the Glory of God. So, when we say that the glory of God is missing from the church, it means it is missing from some of our lives.
It was also fitting that the words to the song should include a reference to the music, the trust and the wonder that’s just like a child, because we were going to this service to hear our young granddaughters (ages 6-10) sing and to watch their trust and their wonder and amazement and their simplicity and love and laughter and joy in the Lord. And, by them becoming my focal point this morning, that did bring back much of the joy that had been drained out of my life due to physical exhaustion. My granddaughters helped me to focus on the joy of Jesus this morning. Amen!
We had been housing and feeding my In-laws for two weeks plus we had fed and socialized with our grown children and their children at least 8 of those nights (12-15 per meal), so the times I was used to having with the Lord were not what they had been, plus I was tired physically, and some of that joy in the Lord and sense of purpose was beginning to drain out of my life, so it was fitting that the Lord should remind me of my personal need to be rejuvenated in my spirit this morning.
The Lord not only rejuvenated me in my spirit this morning, but he also renewed in me the purpose he has for my life which is first of all to live a life worthy of the Lord and to please him in every way, and then to pray for and encourage others in the body of Christ to do likewise and to be strengthened in their faith, to be filled with spiritual wisdom and understanding, to understand the supremacy of Christ in their lives, to present others as holy in God’s sight and to encourage them to continue in their faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.
I was reminded, too, that I have become a servant of the gospel of Jesus Christ and I was encouraged to not neglect that calling and to be faithful to the trust that the Lord has given to me. Amen!
