Weekly Worship 8/02/20

Call to Worship: Devotional (By Pastor Dan Loch)

1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, ² make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. ³ Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; ⁴ do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. ⁵ Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸ Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:1-11 (NASB)

Many times my appreciation of a gift is directly linked to how much sacrifice went into giving the gift. If a car manufacturer were to gift me a car I would be appreciative but if a friend were to give me the same car I would be amazed at their generosity. Why is there this difference in appreciation even though the gift is the same? Because I know my friend would have made a substantial sacrifice to give the gift where as the company may have just had too many in stock.

So with this in mind, how much do I appreciate Christ’s sacrifice? If I focus just on the gift and what I get out of that gift then I slip into thinking “Oh, that’s nice”. But “Oh that’s nice” falls so short of describing the sacrifice that Christ made to secure eternal life for me. When I see that Jesus, the creator of all things, the Lord of all heaven and earth, my all powerful, all knowing, ever faithful God, took on flesh, lived, suffered, and died, in order to bring all of those who believe into eternal life with Himself to the glory of God the Father, when I understand that I am amazed. It is not just a “nice” gift that I have received, it is a gift of infinite value that I could never earn nor repay. All I can do is receive it by God’s grace and pray that His Spirit guides me to live a life worthy of one who is called a child of God.

May our wonder and amazement grow along with our knowledge of Christ. Then may we follow in His footsteps, submitting to the Father’s will, not just through religious traditions, but as living sacrifices who glorify God in all that we do.