Sabbath experience promotes worship
The Apostle Paul and I have something in common: We’re both tent makers, so to speak.
No, I don’t work for Coleman, or L.L. Bean; however, like Paul, I have another job that helps pay the bills in the Trexler household. Paul made tents to help put bread on the table while preaching the good news. I put out news — some good, some bad — to pay the bills while preaching the good news.
Prior to becoming a part-time pastor in 2001, I had spent about five years leading the contemporary worship team at Middlebrook Pike United Methodist in Knoxville. Do the math and you can see that for the past 11 years, I’ve been working in worship.
Sounds sort of strange, when you put it that way, but that is often how it seems.
With two jobs, I often find myself living day to day, week to week without truly experiencing Sabbath — that time of personal rest and renewal. Yet, I am grateful to serve a community of faith that understands and provides a number of Sundays “off” so I can experience renewal.
Such was the case on New Year's weekend, when my family took up three chalets at Fairhaven Ministries, a retreat for clergy, missionaries and Christian lay workers in Roan Mountain.
On Sunday morning, I decided to walk the trails on the grounds along Roaring Creek. It was a wonderful time of quiet contemplation ... a time that I greatly needed.
The weather had an early spring-like feel to it; the breeze was cool and brisk. At one point, I stood on a trail that was transformed into a wind tunnel and watched rhododendron leaves shimmer rhythmically. It seemed all of Creation was dancing in the Spirit!
A beautiful waterfall caught my eye in the distance, but the trail only allowed my tennis-shoed feet to pursue it but so far. As I journeyed toward an easier passage I stopped at the creekside: Rushing water steadily roared in my ears and a brisk breeze heightened my senses. Instinctively, I lifted my arms in praise, with my face to the heavens.
Worship ...
The late A.W. Tozer served in the Christian Missionary Alliance and is considered by many to be a prophet and possibly the closest thing to a mystic Protestantism has produced. Tozer once wrote, “It is a fact that God made us to worship Him, and if we had not fallen with Adam and Eve, worship would have been the most natural thing for us.” He later adds, “In the Bible, God takes the matter of worship out of the hands of men and puts it in the hands of the Holy Spirit. It is impossible to worship God without the impartation of the Holy Spirit!”
Buzz’s exposition on Tozer: It’s difficult, if not impossible, to experience the full impartation of the Holy Spirit in the absence of Sabbath experiences.
Grace and peace ...
No, I don’t work for Coleman, or L.L. Bean; however, like Paul, I have another job that helps pay the bills in the Trexler household. Paul made tents to help put bread on the table while preaching the good news. I put out news — some good, some bad — to pay the bills while preaching the good news.
Prior to becoming a part-time pastor in 2001, I had spent about five years leading the contemporary worship team at Middlebrook Pike United Methodist in Knoxville. Do the math and you can see that for the past 11 years, I’ve been working in worship.
Sounds sort of strange, when you put it that way, but that is often how it seems.
With two jobs, I often find myself living day to day, week to week without truly experiencing Sabbath — that time of personal rest and renewal. Yet, I am grateful to serve a community of faith that understands and provides a number of Sundays “off” so I can experience renewal.
Such was the case on New Year's weekend, when my family took up three chalets at Fairhaven Ministries, a retreat for clergy, missionaries and Christian lay workers in Roan Mountain.
On Sunday morning, I decided to walk the trails on the grounds along Roaring Creek. It was a wonderful time of quiet contemplation ... a time that I greatly needed.
The weather had an early spring-like feel to it; the breeze was cool and brisk. At one point, I stood on a trail that was transformed into a wind tunnel and watched rhododendron leaves shimmer rhythmically. It seemed all of Creation was dancing in the Spirit!
A beautiful waterfall caught my eye in the distance, but the trail only allowed my tennis-shoed feet to pursue it but so far. As I journeyed toward an easier passage I stopped at the creekside: Rushing water steadily roared in my ears and a brisk breeze heightened my senses. Instinctively, I lifted my arms in praise, with my face to the heavens.
Worship ...
The late A.W. Tozer served in the Christian Missionary Alliance and is considered by many to be a prophet and possibly the closest thing to a mystic Protestantism has produced. Tozer once wrote, “It is a fact that God made us to worship Him, and if we had not fallen with Adam and Eve, worship would have been the most natural thing for us.” He later adds, “In the Bible, God takes the matter of worship out of the hands of men and puts it in the hands of the Holy Spirit. It is impossible to worship God without the impartation of the Holy Spirit!”
Buzz’s exposition on Tozer: It’s difficult, if not impossible, to experience the full impartation of the Holy Spirit in the absence of Sabbath experiences.
Grace and peace ...
posted by Pastor Buzz at 3:48 PM
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