I see God

In an apple tree I see him as the Creator and sustainer of life and flavor.
In a flower, I see him reveling in color and transformation
In a rock I see Him as timeless and unexplainable
In a meadowlark, I see him as a lover of sight and sound. 
In wind I see His refreshing presence.
In a thoroughbred, I see power and purpose, speed and grace.
In a storm I see the breadth and height of wonder
In the sleeping breath of an infant I see trust and provision
In sand and waves I see the constancy and movement of His work.
In stars I see His fingers’ fearsome and infinite reach
In moon, it’s perfect circular presence, I see His love of quite nights– The kind of nights that inspire romance and cherished words spoken beneath it’s ambient beauty. 
He is in all things, through all things, and beyond all things.
These sights speak words that poets cannot exceed.
A love song to the lost 
They are revelation to the doubting
But most of all, in each oft ignored marvel of the divine, He whispers, “I did this for you.”

Bring Me Back

The following reading works well as a prayer to end a sermon or worship set on brokenness and repentance.

Father God, the one who pursued me…

I repent of my prayerlessness
My carelessness
My discouragement because of flesh
My pride when I need brokenness.
Too many times I have fallen back on my own devices
Seeking things, seeking answers, seeking acceptance
I cry out to circumstances
And the more I seek to do
The more a fall away from You.
I use words to manipulate
To compensate
To demonstrate my own righteousness
I trust my public spokeness
While You long for my private brokenness
Holy brokenness of pride
Where grace and mercy reside
Grace that pierced your hands and side.
Brokeness brings self-confidence to dust
That turns my doubting into trust.
Every hurt that I’ve been through
When I’ve wondered what to do
Brings me back to faith in you
I find in these days, in my fallen ways
That I’m so far away from what’s true
And now my cry is Lord bring me back to you.
Bring me back to my passion
A divine realization,
the days of pure joy in salvation
Bring me back to total trust in your grace
When all I seek is Your holy face.
My trust in self tends to misconstrue
So God bring me back to You.

Your Great Name: Worship Intro

Before there was anything there was a Name.
Before seas and land, before dust was formed into flesh
Before Babel’s broken tower, before the ark was set in place
Before there was anything
Before prophet, priest or king…
There was a Name.
No other name in history
could banish demons, calm the sea.
It echoes through eternity.
Chains are broken, souls set free
by His Great Name!
His Name birthed stars and pinned them in the sky.
His Name brought angels to Bethlehem
from the greatest and the least
To see the One True Name
And when we speak His Name all heavenly hosts revere.
It reaches past our weakness and our fragile, thin veneer.
It’s a Name above every name- spoken in each race and tongue.
There is power and blessing
Perfection and peace.
There’s  understanding!
Even when we feel pain,
there’s healing, faith and redemption,
at the mention of His name.
And it doesn’t matter the size of your burden,
the scale of your mountain,
the weariness of your journey…
In that Name there is hope and joy and rest
In his Name we are blessed.
His Name is listening for the echo of worshipers.
In the midst of this earthly mess
His Name redeems.
The all-sufficient king
The warrior of righteousness
Over every living thing…
And no matter how deep the hurt,
or the chains you have bound you for years,
We are free! All those things that drive us insane
are stepping stones to holiness with the power of that Name.
What is that name that changes us?
Who is the fourth person in the furnace
The One who closed the mouths of lions
Who crushed the head of the accuser
And exiled demons from the weak.
And opened muted mouths to speak.
What is that Name?
What is the greatest name we’ll ever say?
Who remains victorious to this day?
Who is this one greater than the grave?
Who lived and died to save?
Who conquered death and walked away
With scars of crimson stain
The one who bears the mark
Jesus is His Great NAME!

10 “Must-do’s” of Worship

• I must give up control.
• I must stop selfish ambition
• I must end my bitterness
• I must want it bad.
• I must stop looking around.
• I must stop wondering what other people think.
• I must identify idols and burn them up..
• I must let go of traditions of men.
• I must be willing to change.
• I must bring somebody with me.

Paint on the Wall

There once was a church upon a hill,
where everything was fine until
the paint inside was getting old
and peeling in some spots, I’m told.
The pastor called a business meeting.
After the preliminary meeting,
The deacons cried, Come one! Come all!
What color should we paint each wall?
They gathered in the sanctuary,
each determined and contrary.
Sister Gail said, What do you think
about a very chartreuse pink?
Brother Dave said to the crowd,
Isn’t that a bit too loud?
I prefer a subtle blue.
It makes the walls look clean and new.
Six women rebuked, We wanted gold!
It seems much warmer. Blue’s too cold!
A man in the back began to bellow,
Yellow! Yellow! Yellow! Yellow!
The pastor said, I’m here more than all of you.
I agree with Dave. The walls should be blue.
From that point on, their voices grew stronger.
Each emotional plea became longer and longer.
Then a voice of strong and stern love
silenced the church as it spoke from above.
You wonder why you can’t hear My call
when your greatest struggle is paint on the wall.
Paint your church the pale color of skin,
for you let no other races come in.
Paint your church a wealthy green,
for you ignore starvation you’ve seen.
Paint it white and clean as uncallused feet,
for you refuse to share My joy in the street.
I agree that your walls could be painted blue,
for your hearts, so cold, are given to few.
You give many renditions of church as a game,
but you fail to give water in My holy name.
You pray using eloquent thees and thous,
and yet you forget about the heres and nows.
You struggle to be an earthly saint,
but My love must not be covered in paint.

© Matt Tullos

The Father’s Love (An Acrostic Sermon)

 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”  Luke 11:11-13

This Father’s love never fails. It is astounding, resounding, and completely confounding . It never finds the end of itself. It redeems, restores, and repairs. Higher than all the works of man. His opus grand, his open hand. It crashes through the gates of hell. No sweeter story tongue may tell. It is before time and space. a continuum of grace. It fears no devil, no king, or foe. It sees us- every part of us- the brokenness in the heart of us and it will not depart from us. It resolves the mystery. It absolves my history. It never, ever lets go. It is simple, good and steadfast. Nothing can outlast this love because it is stubborn in it’s intent. It doesn’t change and will not relent. It is not capricious, whimsical or flighty. It is the love of God almighty. It is a real as rocks, as right as rain. It is satisfies, clarifies, and sanctifies. It is not earned. There is nothing in the universe like the mighty love of God.

God’s love is Lavished

See what manner of love the Father  has lavished on us,  that we should be  called children of God! 1 John 3:1

There is nothing too big for God. Nothing!  Nothing catches Him off guard.  A recession doesn’t.  Cancer doesn’t. Unemployment doesn’t.  There isn’t a time in the history of the universe when God said: Light and there wasn’t light. Victory and there wasn’t victory. Forgiveness and there wasn’t forgiveness.  He never once uttered the phrase, “I didn’t see that coming.” He is all-powerful, all knowing, all loving, all right and all ready. And this amazing God filled with furious love and absolute power is asking, Do YOU TRUST ME?  That’s it.   That’s his one question to you today.  Do you trust me. He has set you apart.  He is calling you. He has chosen you.  You have been made perfectly sufficient for the role he has given you. You don’t have to freak out, give in, look back, give up or shut down. He only whispers to you, come with me.

 God’s love is overcoming

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

God’s love is victorious

He canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Colossians 3:15

God’s love is everlasting

Brennan Manning’s Story

“Ironically, it was April Fool’s Day 1965 that I woke up at 6:30 in the morning in a doorway on a commercial boulevard in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. I woke up in an alcoholic fog, smelling vomit all over my sweater, staring down at my bare feet. And coming along a sidewalk was a woman, maybe 25, blonde hair, attractive lady. She had a 4-year-old son on her hand. The boy broke loose from his mother’s grip right at the doorway and stared at me. The mother came up quickly behind him, cupped her hand to cover his eyes and said, “Don’t look at that filth. All that is, is pure filth.” And 29 years ago, that filth was Brennan Manning. The Abba I’ve come to know through experience, the Abba I’ve come to know by faith loves me as much if I’m born in the state of grace as He does this “born again” state of grace. For His love is NEVER, NEVER, NEVER based on our performance, never conditioned by our moods of manipulation or oppression. It knows no shadow of alteration or change. The love of Abba in Christ Jesus is reliable.”

The story of the Gospel is Romance!

You may fear tomorrow- You may ask why, when, what, how, and where.  God doesn’t have to ask those questions.  He is Lord of the past, the King of the present and the ruler of the future.

He is not expecting you to save the day.  The day is his and he is enough.  When you don’t know the solution, he will guide your steps.  When you can’t see the reason, he will supply resolution. When you run out of answers, He will step into the question. When you face rejection and affliction, He is righteous and available. When everything seems to go sideways, he moves forward with surprises.

His word to you this morning is fear not, trust me, I’ll be right beside you no matter what happens.  Why?  You know the answer.  You know but if you’re like me you sometimes forget it.  Why will he stay with you no matter what?  It’s because that’s what a good father does. And you can dance in the eye of the hurricane. You can run ahead of the circumstance.

Bitterness

It’s hard to know where the seed of bitterness began
Perhaps before the dawn of man
When an angel of light,
Heaven’s delight
Wasn’t satisfied with reflecting someone else’s might.
And in bitterness he shook his fist at his Creator
Satan born
Now the author of scorn.
And in bitterness he roams the face of the earth
Killing…
Lying…
Hating…
Defying…
Bitterness snaked its way into the soul of nations,
Defiling God’s most precious creations.
Bitterness- born out of shame
for justifiable reasons of so it seems
“She left me without a word.”
“He broke my spirit.”
“My father never loved me.”
“No one listened to my side of the story.”
“Someone stepped in and took my glory.”
“The decision was made and I didn’t get a choice.”
You were deflected, neglected, corrected
And the resentment brewed in a putrid still
Intoxicating your life
With anger, backbiting, sorrow,
Tainting every hopeless tomorrow
With bitter nights
You drink your own poisonous nectar
You fantasize your moment of sweet revenge
Flames of rebellion begin to singe every moment of the day.
Resentment spoils every part of the road.
Instead of running to the healer
We find a place with a killer
Bitterness toils
It spoils
It recoils
It paralyzes fathers and mothers
Incites wars between sister and brother.
Instead of churches and an agent of grace
We choose nails and thorns and spit on Christ’s face
That’s what we do when we huddle in anger
The devil’s our father and Christ is a stranger
And runs through the church
Crushing every beautiful thing God blesses
Turning holy moments into public messes
Bitterness doesn’t care

Resentment grows in an insatiable feasts
Killing the bride
And feeding the beasts
of gossip, evil declaration
an unmerciful generation
it settles in our homes
it crushes our bones
it leads wives into despair
it kills children unaware
of the toxic venom
that settles within them
Bitterness breeds shame
It says, I’ll never trust again
It exiles pure joy to the wilderness
Making pain out of a marriage of bliss
You see it was bitterness and pride that sent Jesus to the cross
And yet we listen willingly to it, no matter the cost.
And there is bitterness in this room.
You might not see it right now
It’s like a dormant disease
Waiting for the command of demons
It can bring a church to its knees
And families stand before the gallows
Of opened wounds
What once was alive nested in the tombs.
All because of bitterness.
It took root.
Malice and rage are its scornful fruit
While well-meaning Christians stand and salute
the furious, unfettered rise of scorn
Born from the seeds of bitterness.
Still there’s another path God has given us
It’s a journey toward the bread and the cup
It’s offer of freedom
And blessing
And peace
It’s an offer to turn
An offer of release
From the bitterness that’s stealing every part of your life
From the sin you’re concealing – your anger and strife
The table has been set.
The offer is here.
To let go of regret.
And in peace draw near.
That’s the meaning of this wine, this bread and this time.
Banish your rage inside of you.
Return to the one who makes all things new.

I Keep Seeing You

 i saw You six days ago near a bus stop downtown. You stopped to help a drunken man. I went into a store for a notebook and some mints. You were still there when i came out. i passed him by. My agenda was my salvation.

And then there You were again—half past ten in the morning in the adolescent oncology wing. You were laughing with a child–hairless head. You whispered something to her and she pressed her ear to Your chest. Her eyes widened. What did You say?

i saw You in a pub, celebrating the birthday of a 50 year-old waitress named Betty Rae. i cannot say why, but it surprised me somehow that You were there.

Once more i saw You, Monday 2 a.m. i wondered if You were following me or if i was following You. You were in the kitchen of the Waffle House, serving hashbrowns and eggs to the chain-smoking trucker, his rig warm from the I-40 passage west to east. You knew his name. i overheard Your conversation. The life-weary driver went on and on. This was the third divorce for Ted. i didn’t believe his story. You did, as if You had been next door.

i keep seeing You, my Jesus, in the wanderlust of grace amazing. Deep calls to deep and bids me come.

You’re the Only You

Remember…
You’re the only one on the Earth
That could ever, at all, be you!
Your story is different your mind is unique
In all that you say and do.
I really believe we could change the world
As long as we are who we are.
Choosing to be the authentic YOU
Is better than masks by far!
The task is gigantic. The mission extreme
We can’t do it all alone.
God wants you to be who He made you to be
Not simply a self-righteous clone.
Don’t make the mistake of being like me.
That’s missing the point of it all!
God’s child you are and God’s child you will be
For the task whether big or small.
Yes, you’re the only one on this earth
That could ever at all be you
I’m so glad you are here, so glad you are near.
We got something big to do!

Beloved Remember (God Says)

There is no place you can be that I can’t find you. I am the Master of the landscape, and I know your location. So don’t spend your time searching for hideouts and closets. You can never be so enslaved that My love can’t set you free. I break through iron, and I demolish the chains. I am greater than the chains, the whips, and the pain. I am ready to set you free. Just fix your eyes on Me and not your captors. You may be making history through personal glory or failure, but never forget that I will have the last word. You think you know Me? Take your present knowledge of who I am and then enhance it dramatically and that will be a start. I am greater than anything you ask or imagine or dream or think. Asking a human to describe My power is like asking a cow to do algebra. Just wait with expectation. Unlike you, nothing catches Me by surprise. I saw everything–I speak of your future before you have experienced it. You can believe Me and trust that I don’t wring My hands every time you mess up. You are human. Just keep chasing after Me and loving Me passionately. I will cover you. You think I’m not involved sometimes when things aren’t perfect. But I am there. I am in the furnace with you, and neither one of us should fear the flame. You shouldn’t because I created everything, and My plan is greater than all this. Fix your eyes, your voice your everything upon My existence, and I’ll see you at the house. Be Mine.