These certainly are strange times that we’re living in – no leaving the house, no going to church, no using more than 4 squares of toilet paper per “trip”. But despite all the craziness, one thing that does not change – and will NEVER change – is the following commandment (#4 out of the big 10):
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8
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It’s Sunday morning, 8:30 am. The alarm goes off. Exhausted from staying up till 1 am the night before, you snooze 3 more times, buying you 27 more minutes of sleep. By the time you roll out of bed, shower and get dressed, it’s 9:21 am. You have 9 minutes to drive 11 miles, find a parking spot and get to your seat. In other words, YOU ARE GOING TO BE LATE FOR CHURCH!
And because you’re late (again), parking is scarce, there are no good seats left and you’ve already missed part of the service. You can’t focus because you missed the beginning and you’re trying to play catch up the whole time. You are tired. You are frazzled. You are frustrated. Is this what Sunday morning is supposed to look like?
Read MorePart 6 in our series Building Blocks: A Life of Prayer and we've reached the final room in our house of prayer - the room where true intimacy and oneness take place between man and God: LITURGICAL PRAYER.
Liturgical prayer is what we were made for. It's where we find union/communion with God and therefore, is the ultimate goal when it comes to prayer.
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Today's guest post comes from Michael Guirguis - a dear friend and founding member of STSA who has since moved back home to Atlanta, GA. As an ordained subdeacon, Michael has invested his life to making Coptic hymns more accessible by recording them in English (see CopticHymnsInEnglish.com). He also just launch a new podcast called MEET & RIGHT, which aims to help you apply the Liturgy to your daily life. If you too are interested in guest posting on my blog, please visit my Guest Post guidelines for more info.
Read MoreWhy is Liturgy so boring? Why does it have to be so long and with so much standing up? Does it even really matter how we worship God? What matters is the heart right???
If you’ve ever wondered about why Orthodox worship looks the way it does, be sure to check out the message above. In it, I talk about how liturgical worship helps us to achieve EXACTLY what we need – more than enjoyment, more than entertainment, more than a nice inspiring message. Liturgical worship is where we exchange our life for the life of Jesus.
And that’s what we really need.
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit AND truth.” (John 4:23-24)
What does it mean to worship in spirit AND truth? What's the difference between the two? And how do I properly address each?
Read MoreGod gives power to the Church. The Church gives power to the members. The means by which this power is distributed is called LITURGY.
That was the main message in our 3rd message in The BodyShop series as we continue to look at the different markers that make a healthy member of the Body of Christ. This week's topic...LITURGY, our communal response to God.
We talked about WHAT liturgy means (much more than a just bunch of prayers said in a church building on Sunday mornings). We talked about WHY liturgy is something we should desire to be part of (it gets results, it brings joy, it prepares us for heaven). And at a very practical level, we discussed HOW we can get the most out of liturgy (hint: it requires more than just showing up).
So check out the message above and hopefully it'll open your eyes to a new level of worship and prayer as a member in Christ's Body.
"Liturgical prayer is where we exchange our life for the life of Jesus Himself."
Wrapped up the Extreme Makeover: PRAYER Edition series yesterday and we finished with a bang! The highest room in the house - the place of most intimacy and oneness with God - LITURGICAL PRAYER.
Check out the video below to see what Liturgical prayer is all about, where it came from, and most importantly, what the result of that prayer is when done according to God's instructions.
And, as always, if anything stands out to you and you think it's worth sharing, be sure to use the hashtag #PrayerMakeover when you share it.
Worship - a word that means many different things to many different people. Yesterday I spoke about what the word means to God and what God is looking for when it comes to us worshiping Him. From the earliest days, who/what you worshiped determined whether or not you belonged to God's family or not. The people of God worshiped the One True God and they did so in the way in which He prescribed. We need to check our worship to make sure it's in line with what God is looking for today.
Take a look at yesterday's message, the 6th part in the Spiritual Sweat series, and let me know what you think.
Last summer, I took my family through a rite of passage for all families living in America. It wasn’t something I particularly looked forward to; but it was something that I knew had to be done at some point. And if you have kids too, my guess is that at some point you’ll have to bite the bullet and go through this one day as well...WE WENT TO DISNEY WORLD!
Now, if you’ve never been there, you need to know that going to Disney World isn’t like any other vacation in the world (and you’ll know right away from the price of everything!). Disney World is appropriately named because it isn’t a resort or a destination or a vacation spot…it's a whole other world!
There is so much to do (but you have to pay for doing it) and so much to see (and you have to pay for seeing it too). There’s just so much going on that it can be very overwhelming if you’re not prepared (and did I mention the cost yet?). So during the weeks leading up to this “vacation”, I did what any Type-A, well-organized and well-prepared man would do…I CAME UP WITH A PLAN!
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