Worship 5/16/10

PCC Worship Team: Worship Set for 5/16/10

1. Everlasting God
2. O For A Thousand Tongues
3. From the Inside Out
4. Hosanna (HU)
5. Sing Sing Sing (after Dale's sermon)

Get Your Own Free Hypster.com Playlist.

(draw) NEAR: James 4:8a NKJV

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you."

We are celebrating graduating seniors this week! We have 3 members of our worship team that are graduating. I will miss you all being a vital part of our worship if you choose to go away and leave us :). I picked this week's devotion especially for you, Alex, Riana, and Chloe. Don't stop seeking hard after God or a deeper relationship with Christ: one that's personal, real, and effective. When I start off my day in His Word and talking to him over my cup of coffee, life is way better; the day goes smoother. Not to say that my day is all tulips and bon bons; rather, I can have a better perspective of things through God's eyes, plans, and grace in my life. I can choose to react, behave, and love as Jesus did, and still does. Go out into the world as productive young adults shining the love of Christ, evident in the life you lead, and never stop seeking hard after God's own heart! ~Love Amy

*the following devotion is provided by ResourcesForYourMinistry.org :

Bringing Every Need to God

Posted by David Roper in Blog on February 19th, 2010 | no responses



The wife of a man from the company of the prophets
cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you
know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to
take my two boys as his slaves.”
Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you
have in your house?”
—2 Kings 4:1–2

This woman’s story is one of accumulated grief: Her husband died and
left her destitute and deeply in debt; then her creditors came knocking
at her door, demanding that she pay up or sell her two sons into slavery to
compensate them.

Immediately and with sound wisdom she went to Elisha, the embodiment
of God’s presence in the land. Her words are a reminder that even those who
“fear the Lord” may find themselves in deep trouble.

When Elisha heard the woman’s plea, he didn’t rush to meet her need as
we’re inclined to do. Had he done so, she might have gained a little comfort,
but not from the highest source, and she would have gained it too soon for
her own good. No, instead Elisha asked the woman what she had at hand.
“Nothing,” she said, “except a little oil.”

His response? “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t
ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons.
Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side” (4:4).

When I first read the prophet’s words, I thought of Jesus’ words, “When
you pray, go into your room [in the interior of the house], close the door and
pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done
in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:6). Nothing is said about prayer in the
Old Testament account, but it’s significant to me that Jesus’ phrase, translated
“close the door,” corresponds roughly to the Greek translation of this
Old Testament text, which Jesus himself read and frequently quoted.[1] Could
it be that He had this story in mind?

If so, I suggest that prayer is a matter of shutting ourselves away from all
other dependencies—from background, experience, training, and
past accomplishments, from all the props of reason and intellect, closing
everything and everyone out, and closeting ourselves with God alone (see also
2 Kings 4:33). We detach ourselves from all outward things and
attach ourselves inwardly to the Lord alone. This is where God works His wonders.

So, as the story goes, Elisha directed the widow to “shut the door behind
her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When
all the jars were full, she said to her son, ‘Bring me another one.’

“But he replied, ‘There is not a jar left.’ Then the oil stopped flowing” (4:5–6).
Then the widow sold the oil, paid off her debts, and lived on what remained.

The widow’s needs were met, but something more important occurred:
She learned to carry everything to God in prayer, or so I believe.

It seems that the early church asked its senior members to take on a particular
ministry of love and prayer. This has now become my special work. I
grieve with a friend over a prodigal son and can think of nothing hopeful to
say. And so I pray. I listen to a pastor whose heart is broken by criticism and
disapproval, and I can do nothing to change others’ perceptions of him and
his ministry. And so I pray. I stand by the bed of a desperately ill child, and I
have no power to heal. And so I pray.

I pray, but more important, by my praying I teach others to pray. I may not
be able to bring help to those in deep and desperate need, but I can encourage
them to bring every need to the One who gives “grace to help us in our time of
need” (Hebrews 4:16). This is my deepest joy. Elisha could have met this woman’s
dearth by giving her a gift of money or gathering food from her friends,
but he gave her a greater gift—the gift of a lifetime: He taught her to pray.

1. The only difference is that the Greek translation of 2 Kings 4:4 uses an intensified
form of the verb and puts it in the future tense: apokleiseis tân thuran (You shall shutthe door tight!). Jesus uses the simple form of the same verb and states the action as participle, kleisas tân thuran (having shut the door).

Taken from Seeing God, © 2006 by David Roper. Used by permission of Discovery House Publishers, Box 3566, Grand Rapids MI 4950l. All rights reserved.