Made to Worship by Tami Cinquemani

I love balancing a checkbook. Yes, I know many people would rather go to the dentist and get their teeth drilled, but for me, the task of going through my banking receipts and making sure the total on my bank statement matches that of my home record is fun! I will hunt down a discrepancy as tiny as a penny until I discover where the error has taken place. And then, when my totals fall in line, I am a happy woman.

My husband has things he enjoys doing that I detest: spicy hot food, playing geography games, and cross-country skiing (ANYTHING having to do with temperatures below 70 degrees for that matter) to name just a few. We decided early in our marriage that there were some things we were just not going to do together.

We are all wired differently. Different likes and dislikes, goals and dreams, pleasures and pains. There is one thing that each one of us was created to do, however. Worship. In each one of us is a desire to be in communion with our Creator. It just makes sense. Our God created us to be in relationship with Him, and souls taken so far from the adoration of the Creator/creature bond can only long for the most intimacy our humanness allows. Our life circumstances may heighten or mute that desire, but it is there.

Being physically present at a place where worship is taking place – whether individually or corporately - does not guarantee that you will receive the fullest experience. There were many guests at the wedding where Jesus performed his first miracle. However, being seated at the wedding and sipping a beverage – even a good, quality beverage –did not change the guests. It was the realization of the One whose presence created the miracle. Worship is not an event. It is not something we go to that merely requires us to occupy a seat. Worship is an active pursuit. It is realizing and responding to the presence of the One who created each one of us – those who enjoy balancing their checkbooks as well as those who thrive in frigid temperatures. Each one unique, but all created with a need to worship.

Tami Cinquemani

It's Already Done by CeCe Clark

The tendency to value our accomplishments is so great. We put titles after our names, hang certificates on our walls, and blush when people acknowledge our successes. We are driven by our culture, our pride, our sense of self-worth to be sure that we will have accomplished something at the end of our lives.

We like to feel needed. We like to know that our efforts count for something and that our work has affected the status quo. When we are asked to volunteer, don’t we feel a sense of satisfaction that we are needed? That we can bring something of value to the table? That we are, at least in some small way, validated? Even if we choose not to do it, we like to know what we can DO, because then we know that we matter.

We are worn out from all our efforts. We strive to balance a ridiculous number of tasks and images. We want to be sure that we keep up, meet deadlines, and avoid failure. It’s no wonder that the concept of Christ’s sacrifice for us is so difficult to grasp! Here we are, struggling to DO.

But we serve a God who is striving to tell us that it’s all been DONE!

Think about it. Take a deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. You are, in God’s eyes, already cherished. Even before we accept Jesus, God deems us worthy - worthy enough to have sacrificed HIS SON for us. And once we claim Jesus as our Savior, our work is DONE. We have done enough. The rest is total freedom! Complete surrender. Complete acceptance.

Do we really believe this? Do we live like we believe it? Are we OK with it? Are we willing to allow this same experience for others?

Take some time today to sit in the presence of the God who created you. Rest…Read…Dream…Pray. Contemplate WHO you are in CHRIST, and that there’s nothing you can do to lose God’s love - or earn it. Just be. Get to know HIM, and let Him INSPIRE you!

CeCe Clark

Motivating by Fear by Chad Hess

"Fear is the mother of violence. If we weren’t afraid, then people that are different might annoy us, but they certainly would not enrage us." I found this statement from a sociologist in a clip for a new documentary entitled Anatomy of Hate, a Dialogue for Hope. It really made me think. Fear is one of the most powerful motivators, and it is very easy to breed. Even within the church, fear is frequently used. Consider the evangelist’s warning against the unpardonable sin.

So if fear is effective at getting people into the church, what is the problem? The problem is that fear is not the way God operates. "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness” (Jeremiah 31:3). Let’s face it; if God wanted to use fear to motivate us, he could easily do so. Fire coming down from heaven, the earth opening up beneath your feet, deadly animals appearing from nowhere and surrounding you, each of these would be quite effective. But you cannot have a lasting relationship (which is what God ultimately wants) based on fear. That’s why God uses love. Love is a more powerful motivator, but it is much more of a challenge. It takes time, patience, and provides no guarantee that the person will respond in the way we desire.

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love” (1 John 4:18). How many times do we see God telling his people to “fear not”? That is still his plan for us today. It is so easy to spread fear. I see it all the time among political leaders and Christian leaders. But we cannot love people and fear them at the same time. “Perfect love casts out fear.”

Are you willing to invest the time and energy required to live like Jesus, and “love people into a life-long relationship with God”?

Chad Hes

Sabbath Blog Gone Off Track by Jeff Cinquemani

Whenever I am scheduled to preach, my thoughts during the week preceding the sermon are heightened, to say the least, towards anything that might pertain to the topic being covered. This last weekend, I gave the last sermon in our Sabbath series with a talk entitled “How Fun Can Holy Be?” I think that is why I got caught up in an internet blog focused on the Sabbath. I’m really not sure why, but while I was “Googling” I hit one of the links, and it put me smack-dab in the middle of this Sabbath blog string. So I just began reading the entries. Some were just comments, some were responses to the comments, and some were accusations criticizing others for their opinions either way.

As I kept reading down, page after page, seeing how the conversations almost took on a life of their own, I started to wonder: What question or comment started all of this? Being the “gaming” guy that I am (my wife says I can make a game out of anything), I decided to try and guess what the original post was by looking at the evidence before me. I read them all, from the first entry all the way to the most recent blog. I came up with what I thought were the top three possibilities: 1. What activities do you think God condones on the Sabbath, and what is true reverence? 2. Is there scriptural evidence that the Sabbath was God’s day for us to enjoy and have fun? 3. How “far” can couples “go” on the Sabbath?

As confident as I was about my guesses, I couldn’t have been more wrong. After all the reading, I finally couldn’t wait any longer. I had to see the “results” to my little game. The original blog entry was apparently from a new believer that wrote into a Sabbath Keepers Blog. It read as follows: “I am so very excited about my new found love affair with Christ and the day he’s set aside for me and him to be enjoy our “date”.

I couldn’t help myself. I had to read many of them all over again. How could it have gone so far off track so quickly? I had to respond. I wanted someone to say, “I’m so glad for you!” But unfortunately, I was not a member of the blogsite so it never got posted.

I decided to go ahead and write my sermon, but this week I may join that blogsite!

Jeff Cinquemani