God Wants Us to "Chill Out"

or those that did not get to know me last Wednesday, my name is Art Sauer and I am your new Choir Director. I can give you details about who I am in person, but let me take a few sentences to charge my heart with you. My heart is for each of you to worship God and lead others in worship. In order to lead others in worship, you must be first worshipping the One true God first. Let me share with you what I believe God says about worship.

Worship is not necessarily music. Music is a clear tool to worship, but not all music is worship and not all worship involves music. There are a good many people that are serving in the preschool area that are worshipping just as much as the person on stage. One of my favorite passages in Scripture is: 

Psalm 46:10 - “Be still and know that I am God.”

Is it possible to be still and worship? Being still is not part of many people’s regular routine. I may need to explain being still. When I first read this verse I imagined a Buddhist monk, with his legs crossed, eyes closed, and chanting. That is a version of being still. Being still in this verse means to “drop down, sink, relax.” Ironically, the Bible tells us to “chill out” and know that He is God. So first we have to literally push “pause” on our lives to know God.

We are a busy people. Cell phones, laptops, clock watching, alarm clock people. We enjoy microwaved bacon, fast food, immediate emails, texts, Twitter, and online chatting. We want it fast and we wanted it yesterday! God tells us to relax. It is only through quiet, silent, slowing down of life that we can ever really know God.

Think of Elijah. 

[11] Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, [but] the LORD [was] not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, [but] the LORD [was] not in the earthquake; [12] and after the earthquake a fire, [but] the LORD [was] not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. - (1 Kings 19:11-12 NKJV)

God speaks often times so quietly in our busy lives that we cannot hear Him. The verse doesn’t say to hear Him, but to know Him. What does it mean to know God?

To “know” God in this verse is a personal relationship with Him. This isn’t a casual acquaintance. This is an intimate knowledge that only comes through spending time with God.

So what does “being still” and “knowing God” have to do with worship? If your not spending time to know who God is, or taking time to listen, you are worshipping something else. What is it that takes more time in your life, or more influence in your life, than God? It could be your job. It could be your family. It could even be the work of the church. 

As lead worshippers, we are expected to take time and prepare ourselves to lead other people to the throne of God. If we are not there ourselves, how can we lead people to somewhere we’re not regularly going? I pray, through the weeks and months ahead, that we give, not just time, but our lives to God so that we are able to take others with us each week as we stand leading in praise each week.

God Bless,

Art

Operation Inasmuch

One of the greatest mission opportunities that I have been involved with is our “Operation In As Much” here at SHBC.  It is a one-day community blitz where the church goes out into the community to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

Matthew 25:40 “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”  

A couple of years ago as we were participating in this one day mission blitz, we were able to do some yard work for a very sweet lady.  She had a beautifully landscaped yard and it was in need of a little TLC, so we donned our gloves and hedge clippers and headed out!  One of the jobs we needed to do was put out some fresh pine straw and remove any old, dead bushes.  Someone asked where the dead bushes were and she said that we would definitely notice them in the bunch.  Well, she was right.  In the middle of all those beautiful bushes and trees were two bushes that were dead.  No leaves, dry, brittle branches, yep! They were dead.  We took an ax and started at the bottom.  As we pulled on the branches to bring it out of the ground, they just started breaking off.  What an eyesore to such a serene setting.  They were of no significance to that setting because they did nothing.  They could not produce any flowers or leaves and they just caused the others to seem dull.  Once we removed the dead bushes, the landscape was once again a place of serenity and beauty.  The same is true with our lives.

John 15:1-2 “I am the vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

Are our lives producing fruit for the Savior?  Jesus’ words here distinguish between those lives that are producing fruit, they will be cut back to promote new and more fruitful growth, and those that bear no fruit, they need to go.  They will be cut off at the trunk.  Ouch!  This is serious stuff!  I want a tree that is beautiful and bountiful with fruit!  Sure those times that God prunes my branches can be painful, but oh so necessary to strengthen my character and promote new growth that will bring him glory.  Those that choose not to follow and lead unproductive lives will be cut off in order to keep the rest of the tree from being infected.   How do we produce this fruit for him?

John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

We need to remain in him.  There is no way to produce fruit without him.  We have it plain and clear and I am so grateful that he guides me and shows me everything I need.  His Word is my source of guidance!   I choose this day to follow and obey my Savior, to produce fruit that is sweet and pleasant for him.  

Have a blessed week~

Allison Jordan

 SHBC Praise Team

5/1/11 worship set

You, You Are God
All The Earth Will Sing Your Praises
Give Me Faith
Awakening
Break Through

Stop Doubting and Believe

What a blessed day it was!  Easter Sunday is such a time of celebration as we praise our Risen Savior!  The whole weekend was a time to focus on the ultimate love of our Jesus as he suffered and died for us but then conquered death and the grave and rose again!  It literally makes me want to shout!  I love this special weekend and I think that most of us can say the same things.

Now that Easter Sunday has come to a close for this year, what do we do now?  I was studying through scripture as all the disciples began to see Jesus after his resurrection; it says, “they were overjoyed” (John 20:20).  As you read a little further and realize that Thomas was not with the other disciples when Jesus appeared, you can almost hear the conversation as the disciples began telling Thomas what had happened.  I have to chuckle a little as I can imagine Thomas’ response to the disciples telling him that Jesus was alive!  There was probably some “NO WAY!” or “Ya’ll are crazy!” (by the use of ya’ll, I’m assuming Thomas was southern like me!  Ha-ha!)

Of course, scripture records Thomas as saying in John 20:25 “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

No wonder he is nicknamed “Doubting Thomas”.  He earned that nickname! Lol!  Oh, but the best part is yet to come as a week later and the disciples were all hanging out at the house and Jesus comes through the door.  Now, mind you, Jesus could have knocked on the door that was locked, but instead he came through the door…that was locked and looked at Thomas and said, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” (John 20:26-27)  I love it!  

Though Thomas had been with Jesus before his crucifixion just as the other disciples, and had listened to all that Jesus told him would happen, he still did not believe it.  He wanted physical proof that it was Jesus before he believed.  But as Jesus walked right through that locked door and stood before him he told Thomas “Stop doubting and believe.” You go Jesus!  Thomas no more doubted that it was Jesus, no; instead he looked at Jesus and said, “My Lord and my God!”  He knew it was his Lord!  And as Jesus looked at this disciple, this friend that walked so closely with him, he said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29

What struck me about all this, is if Thomas could doubt even walking all that time with Jesus, knowing Jesus as he did, how many now still doubt Jesus? We have his Word, we know the whole story, and we know what happens at the end!  We say, Yes! Jesus is alive! But how many times do we doubt his presence in our lives? How many times do we ask, “Where is he?” “Are you there, Lord?”

Well, my friend, Jesus is ALIVE! Jesus is here and active!  He says right here in scripture that “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” It is time to put away doubts, get into God’s Word, and spend time talking and listening to your Savior!  His love for us is so great!  It is hard for me to fathom the vastness of his love for me, but I know that he stretched out his arms and died for me, rose again, and IS alive and active in my life! Hallelujah!

Easter Sunday is over but a new day is here and life to be lived for our Risen Savior!  Celebrate this life that he sacrificed for!  There is so much to do!  Souls out there that don’t know, don’t believe that we can share the good news to!  The time has come!

I pray that you all have an awesome week of celebrating and serving our Lord! And in the words of my Jesus…”STOP DOUBTING AND BELIEVE!”

Believing~

Allison Jordan 

SHBC Praise Team

4/24/11 Easter worship set

Alive, Forever, Amen
     **choir special
Let God Arise
Christ Is Risen
O The Blood
All Because Of Jesus

4/10/11 worship set

Arise *choir special and worship song
My Savior Lives
How Great Thou Art
Christ Is Risen

Directing My Path

It is hard to believe that I am coming up on my 20^th anniversary of graduating high school!  Whew, just saying that makes me feel old! Haha!  I took a little walk down memory lane recently and started flipping through my senior yearbook.  I had a good laugh as I relived all those memories.  I also shed a few tears as I remembered 2 very special friends that have both gone to be with the Lord leaving behind their husbands and small children.  We had a small graduating class of 15 so we were all very close.  I was sharing with my kids all the wonderful memories we had and also giving them some tips because they now have some of the same teachers that I had when I was there.  Oh, the joys of school!  

As I read through my “last will & testament” from my senior yearbook, I got a big smile on my face.  You see, I am a planner, and I knew my senior year just what direction I felt the Lord was leading me and I had no problem putting that in print.  To some of you this may come as a surprise, but, Matt & I became engaged the first week of my senior year and we knew without a shadow of a doubt that God intended for us to be husband and wife.  Of course, our wedding would not come for another year and a half, but we knew it would come.  So, my “last will and testament” declared what my plans were.  We also, as seniors, documented where we thought we would be in 5 years, 10 years, etc.  That was a lot of fun looking ahead and making all our predictions.  My predictions were in 10 years, I would be married to Matt and have 3 kids.  I also loved working with children and doing accounting but chose my college major in accounting because I knew I would have my own children one day and decided to go that route.  Well, today, 20 years later, I am still married to Matt, have 3 kids, work at a preschool where I get to do accounting as well!  How great is that!  I am by no means saying that can I see the future.  I believed, and still believe, that God is in charge of my future, but it is also my belief that we are to have a plan.  

Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.”

My senior year was a turning point in my life!  I recommitted my life to the Lord that year and really looked to the Lord for direction and discernment.  I made decisions that some looked at as “crazy”, but God’s will for my life was my focus and I desired a life that honored and glorified him and him alone. Though I had a “plan”, I see how God was really directing my steps.  Matt & I did get married 9 months after I graduated from high school and we began living a beautiful life as a married couple.  I finished college, got a job working in accounting and then it was time to start a family.  Everything was going according to this master plan of mine, but the steps to that plan began to take a different path.  When I look at the difficult steps that encountered my path, I can see those opportunities that God had for us to draw closer to him.  These painful, but oh so precious, challenges that came drove our marriage into a place that made us even more dependent and thankful to our God. Never in “my” plan did infertility and miscarriage have a place, but there it was.  Painful and heart-wrenching, but such a growing experience that brought me to the very throne of God to see his comfort and healing in ways I had never experienced.  God brought us through and as we welcomed our 2 blessings, Ben & Callie, we decided that we were done.  God blessed us with 2 and we were thankful and DONE!  Well, guess what, God was not done.  He opened our hearts to adoption and directed our paths in that way.  Through that adoption to our precious Caleb, he reminded us of his great and perfect love as he adopted us as his children.

Ephesians 1:5 “In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will”

Through the blessing of my 3 children, God brought with each one of them, a special attribute to grow me into a deeper relationship with him.  After years of infertility and miscarriage, God blessed us with Ben and through that process God brought healing.  God worked in my life through that very difficult circumstance and healing came not only physically, but spiritually as well.  When Callie entered our home without years of doctors and medication, God brought hope that not everything in life had to be hard.  When Caleb came into our home, God strengthened our faith.  We, in obedience, took a step out of faith and God carried us all the way.  Our faith was strengthened in a mighty way. Though 3 kids were part of “my” plan, God had bigger plans and used each one of them to grow me in my trust of him and brought healing, hope, and faith!  Only my God can do such amazing things!

God has shown me that having a plan is great, but he is in control of my destiny. He is the “Master” planner!  I trust the Lord to know what was and is best for me and I will continue to look to him for direction in my plans.  When the plans we make don’t exactly take the path we think, do we still have that complete trust in him?

When life’s challenges arise, will that trust waiver? Or will I still trust him completely because I know from experience he loves me and knows what is best for me?  Even now as I type this, there are challenges in front of me.  Were these challenges part of “my” plan?  Absolutely not! But as God’s Word tells me; 

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

What comfort I have in his Word!  What I learned my senior year of high school is right here in front of me.  God loves me and his desire is to prosper me.  My love for him has grown so much over these last 20 years.  It took the challenges to really know his love and I am so grateful to him for that.  So I trust him completely through the joys and the difficulties because he is God and I am NOT!  A verse that became so special to me as an 18-year-old senior and is still so sweet now is;

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

This week as you go over your plans, remember that God directs your steps. It is only in his steps that spiritual growth happens and love becomes deeper and sweeter than ever!

Blessings~

Allison Jordan

SHBC Praise Team