Megan Langan

Words for Worship

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 66:1-20 (day four)

The Psalms teach us how to worship and how to pray. They free us to pray in ways we aren’t used to, and they give language to emotions that are hard to put into words. When we pray the words of the Psalms, we’re using prayers of old to express ourselves to God, and we find they are just as relevant and poignant now as they were then.

In Psalm 66, we find a prayer that follows the journey of the Israelites, centering on the event of the Exodus. In the Exodus, we see that an all-powerful God is willing to hear the cries of his people and intervene on their behalf. The Psalmist recognizes that God allowed them to experience hardship, but it was a hardship that refined them as God’s people. They reflect on that refinement with joy because it ultimately led them to a place of abundance.

Though we didn’t experience the Exodus firsthand, these words still lead us to worship. When have you experienced God intervening on your behalf? When have you experienced a challenging time of God refining you, allowing you to go through hard things? How did that refinement make you more Christlike? How has God led you into abundance? As we reflect on these things, we’ll find that we come to the same conclusion as the Psalmist: we should make God’s praise glorious.

Invest

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 25:14–30 (day four)

This parable is part of a series of teachings that Jesus gives his disciples before making his final journey to the cross. He gives this teaching on the Mount of Olives, overlooking the city of Jerusalem, where he would soon be put to death. In this series of teachings, Jesus is preparing his disciples for his death, resurrection, and ultimate return.

Through the analogy of investing, Jesus is encouraging his disciples to maximize the life they’ve been given in order to advance God’s Kingdom. He instructs them not to sit on their hands, hide away in fear, or ignore the world around them while they await his return. They are to invest what they’ve been given – their intimate walk with Jesus, their knowledge of God’s Kingdom, their time, their resources and connections, their money, and everything around them – into the Kingdom of God. Any investment into the Kingdom will reap a generous return.

God has given to each of us generously and uniquely. Take stock of what God has given you (no matter who you are, it will be a long list). How can you use these things to invest in the Kingdom of God?

Unique

Re:Verse passage – Genesis 1:26–31, Romans 8:18–22 (day four)

Humans occupy a unique place in the created order. We are very much part of God’s creation. Adam was formed by the dust of the earth. Genesis, the creation of humans, brings God’s process of creating to a glorious finale. On the other hand, God created humans in his image – a privilege not shared by the rest of creation. We have a unique place of authority over the rest of the created world, yet we ourselves are part of that created world.

After sin entered the world, we struggled with how to handle this unique position. We have often misused our power over creation, exploiting it, squeezing the life out of it, abusing it. In our sin, we treat one another this way as well.

Our original calling as humans is to fill the earth and steward it. We are to do so as image bearers of the Creator himself. As we go about trying to steward creation as God intended, we are meant to reflect his character. What do we need to do differently in order to reflect God’s character in our stewardship of creation?

Growth

Re:Verse passage – 2 Corinthians 8:1–9, 2 Corinthians 9:6–11 (day four)

When we think about our spiritual growth, certain things come to mind: growing in our faith and trust in God, growing in our knowledge of Scripture and doctrine, developing our spiritual gifts, growing in love for our neighbors and spending more time serving others. All of these are great indicators of spiritual growth, which Paul acknowledges are happening among the Corinthians. He adds another indicator of spiritual growth to this list, though: generosity in finances.

When we think about spiritual growth, finances aren’t usually the first thing to come to mind, but Paul reminds us that the way we steward our money and the way we give to others is very much a reflection of our spiritual life. It’s easy to think of our finances as a separate category, but our life is one integrated whole, of which Jesus demands the entirety. Just as we are to grow in prayer, service, and wisdom, we are to grow in generosity. When we truly understand Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, the ultimate form of generosity, then we will reflect that generosity in every part of our lives, just as the Macedonian Christians model for us here.

We would never say “alright, I now have exactly enough faith,” or “I have enough knowledge of Scripture, I don’t need anymore.” We want to grow in those things more and more for the rest of our lives. In the same way, may we grow in generosity, allowing the Lord to show us more and more ways to give and steward our money according to his purposes.

Guide

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 5:15–17 (day four)

Time is a slippery thing. When we’re waiting in line or waiting for our shift to end, it can stretch on forever. On the flip side, I can’t be the only one that sits down to “quickly” check something on my phone, and later suddenly realize I’ve been scrolling for nearly an hour! Much more enjoyable are the conversations with a spouse or a friend that last for hours before we know it.

Time is challenging to keep ahold of. The misuse of time happens insidiously, often without us realizing it. The call to steward our time according to God’s purposes might be one of our most challenging callings as Christians. One of my constant prayers each day is that I would glorify God with my time and use it well. I desperately need his help to steward the time he’s given me. Not spending all my time on what is seemingly most urgent, but on what is most important. I want to spend my time doing exactly what God is leading me to that day.

Sometimes those are tasks, sometimes they’re long conversations. Sometimes it’s a longer time of prayer in the morning, sometimes it’s simply to rest. Ask the Lord to guide your time each day. It’s your most precious resource.

Origin

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 24:1-10 (day four)

For he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

David’s poetry in this psalm is meant to remind us of the poetry of the creation narrative. The earth and the cosmos were all created by the King of glory and for the King of glory. There is no alternate purpose for anything in God’s created world. He created everything, from the Milky Way to the atoms that form the soil, to allow his glory to be reflected, known, and celebrated.

Because God created it and owns it, nothing in this world has purpose other than what God has given it. That includes us. We were created by the King of glory and for the King of glory. When we think of creation as anything other than the Lord’s, we misuse it. When we think of ourselves as anything other than the Lord’s, we miss our calling.

Evidence

Re:Verse passage – Luke 7:18-35 (day four)

There was always evidence that Jesus had been to a particular place. When Jesus passed through a town or a household, he didn’t “leave it like he found it.” He left evidence everywhere he went. It was not trace evidence, either. The blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor. Jesus left unmistakeable, radical life change behind him everywhere he went.
This tells us several things. It tells us that the Kingdom of God is not some pie-in-the-sky, eternal concept that is unattainable to us. The Kingdom of God is here and now and has immediate impact in this earthly life. As we continue to minister in the name of Jesus and seek to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, there will be this kind of evidence. This also tells us that Jesus, the Jewish man born in Bethlehem, is the one we’ve waited so long for. In him we find the fulfillment of the law and prophets. In him we find God made flesh. In him we find the lamb slain for our sins. Jesus reminds us, just as he reminded John, that the evidence is clear: God has won the victory.

Expected

Re:Verse passage – Luke 4:14-30 (day four)

This is such an interesting text for Jesus to site at the beginning of his ministry. It is no soft introduction to who the Son of Man truly is. He deliberately states, in front of the community he grew up in, that he is the fulfillment of the prophets. He’s not only a great and respected man, but he is the One whom they have waited for. As we move towards Epiphany, this is the reality that we celebrate – Jesus is more than anyone thought he was; he is the Son of God.

Not only is he boldly stating his identity as the fulfillment of the prophets, he’s reminding them exactly who the prophets said would come – one who declares deliverance to the destitute. This claim responds to what his mother stated in her song during her pregnancy,

He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things; And sent away the rich empty-handed. Luke 1:52-53

This is a message of profound hope for some, and a bitter, countercultural pill to swallow for others. This Messiah is long-expected, yet nothing like what many expected. Who are you expecting?

Heritage

Re:Verse passage – Luke 2:4-7; 3:23, 31-34, 38 (day four)

This lineage isn’t placed here just for the bookkeeper’s reference. As Danny said last week, Luke doesn’t waste words. This lineage is placed here to show that the birth of Jesus to Mary and Joseph, the very thing we celebrate today, was not haphazard. These events were lovingly planned in God’s omniscience. He didn’t suddenly realize the world needed a savior and begin looking around for the closest faithful couple. Jesus, born to this couple at this time with this heritage, was God’s plan from the beginning. The center point of all of history is located in a real family because he truly is Emmanuel, God with us. The eternal entered the temporal. The omnipresent entered a specific family line at a specific time.

This infant is the fulfillment of all of time, seen in the prophecies of Isaiah 11:1,

“Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.”

And in the prophecies of Jeremiah 23:5-6,

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,“When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch;
And He will reign as king and act wisely
And do justice and righteousness in the land.
⁶“In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell securely;
And this is His name by which He will be called,
‘The Lord our righteousness.’

When we celebrate the birth of Jesus today, we do so as those who participate in this heritage, grafted in by God’s power. When we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we celebrate that God keeps his promises.

Merry Christmas, church family!

Glimpse

Re:Verse passage – Luke 2:21-38 (day four)

When Moses saw a glimpse of the Promised Land from Mount Nebo, it’s a bittersweet picture. Moses had remained faithful in leading God’s people through challenging times, but his disobedience kept him from ultimately experiencing the land for himself. God, in his mercy, allowed Moses to see the promise from afar, giving him confidence that the Lord would lead his people into the land he had promised.

Simeon’s story is similar, but so much sweeter. Simeon not only caught a glimpse of God’s promise fulfilled, he got to hold that promise in his arms. That was all that was needed in order for him to experience the magnitude of God’s salvific power through Jesus. He was not simply holding an infant, he was holding the firstborn of all creation, the One who is before all things and the One in whom all things hold together. What an incredible kindness God showed Simeon. We, too, have been given the kindness to behold the Son of God.