An Advent Message

Tracy’s notes forr the December 18th message given at Cornerstone:

Isaiah 61
1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”
4 And they shall rebuild the old ruins,
They shall raise up the former desolations,
And they shall repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.

8 “ For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery for burnt offering;
I will direct their work in truth,
And will make with them an everlasting covenant.
9 Their descendants shall be known among the Gentiles,
And their offspring among the people.
All who see them shall acknowledge them,
That they are the posterity whom the LORD has blessed.”
10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Advent is remembering that Jesus came and preparing for Jesus to come. When Jesus walked on earth, He fulfilled these scriptures and said the Kingdom of Heaven had arrived because the purpose of God was fulfilled; Jesus fulfilled the scriptures and we see that clearly in this passage in Isaiah:

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”

Later in the passage, we see a different pronoun though,

“And THEY shall rebuild the old ruins,
THEY shall raise up the former desolations,
And THEY shall repair the ruined cities…
I will direct THEIR work…”

These passages are directed at us, the believers. Just as Jesus fulfilled the scriptures and proclaimed the Kingdom arrived, I believe also, that when we fulfill these scriptures, it is the Kingdom come. I specifically want to explore verse 11 in chapter 61 and be encouraged that the Lord is fulfilling his good purpose when we worship…

For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

A LESSON FROM NARNIA

I recently saw the movie, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” I had read the book just a few weeks before to refresh my memory. The movie made me think about some things I hadn’t before. For example, I noticed in the movie that as soon as Lucy passed through the wardrobe into Narnia, she was immediately recognized in all her authority and purpose, even though she was only six years old.

I believe that is how it is with us too. When Father knits us together, he pours into us all his purpose and authority and our unique gifts and graces are there. When we enter into the Kingdom (passing into Narnia) all will be present in its intended fullness. Coming into our full identity in Christ, our purpose and authority while we’re on earth seems to be the tricky part. Worship then, holds part of the key to understanding our Kingdom identities, because worship is something we do on earth and in heaven!

IGNITING WORSHIP AND PROPHECY

We read in the New Testament, when people were healed or forgiven by Jesus, they often would start worshiping God and prophesying. It was all they could do to respond to Him. There is a very close relationship between worship and prophecy. Revelation 19:10 gives us a little more insight. Remember, John had been taken up into heaven and was a bit distraught. An angel spoke to him and so he bowed down before it.

At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Worship is a stream that ignites in the presence of God.

EXPRESSION

It’s not my intent to rank different expressions of worship. I love liturgy because it allows us to remember the season’s of Christ’s life and enter into a journey together focusing on the Eucharist. I love Taize and how it emphasizes contemplation and intercession. I love crazy worship with electric guitars and no time limits or boundaries. What is most important is offering our unique expressions both as individuals and as communities.

As I have studied the Psalms, I see repeatedly that one of the reasons we worship is to bless God. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around that. How can anything I have to offer bless God? The biggest revelation I have is that, as God made us uniquely and gave us unique grace and purpose and perspective, our worship and expression must also be unique. So when we worship in that uniqueness, I believe God is blessed.

So then, as we explore who we are as a community, our first steps should not be to find out what the biggest church is doing and mirror their programming. Our first steps should be discovering our unique purposes, perspectives and people. After all, our success will not be measured in numbers, but in our obedience to what God has called us to be.

I am a worship leader. This is part of my journey and experience. I’m not trying to arrive anywhere or offer a 5 step process to more intimate worship, but I do hope that we can be encouraged by God’s good and eternal purpose and that we might find more meaning and always long for greater intimacy whatever our expression is.

Finding More Purpose in Worship

1 Chronicles 25

1 David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals.

Does anyone see anything strange about this verse? How about, “David, together with the commanders of the army”? Here and in otherscriptures, we see the worship leaders on the front line of the armies. The worshippers, you see, would declare who God was, and often prophesy who would win the battle.

2 Chronicles 18:11

All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious,” they said, “for the LORD will give it into the king’s hand.”

So as we remember and prepare, let’s not loose sight of God’s eternal purpose. I’m excited to be a part of the Kingdom being established as we fulfill the scriptures:

11 For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Thoughts on Mission…

Just two weeks into leading this developing worship community, I asked the people whether any kind of mission statement had already been written. Even though I’ve just arrived, this group of 30 or so people has been gathering regularly for a year. I see clearly the group has identified values and hopes. It was like they had laid down stones on the sides of a stream to see where this new flow of water would take them.

I am a director, an overseer, a leader, who can perhaps see where that stream is pointed. I can help steward these visions and values and help bring them into our experience of worship. But to avoid being tossed back and forth by the water, I believe we need to understand our unique graces, our unique place, and our unique expressions of worship. Otherwise we will find ourselves being spit out into an ocean and lost, or wandering into white water we are not equipped navigate. In other words, we need a mission statement that will create some safety, accountability, and purpose as we journey together.

In my years of touring, I definitely went through the “I’ll take any gig, anywhere, and play for anyone who will listen.” It led me to prisons, drug rehab centers, large suburban churches, other countries, coffee shops, colleges, youth gatherings and more. That’s OK, There should be a season of discovery; it was exhausting and stressful though. As I matured, I started to realize I only had grace for a few different people groups. When I ventured outside of my grace, it stressed me out, made me feel a little like a failure, and always left me comparing myself to others.

I believe our success in the Kingdom of God is not measured in how we’re doing compared to everyone else. Our success is measured in our obedience to what God is asking of us. So now, when I play for 40 young people at a college, and no one has ever heard of me before, I am still successful because that is what God has laid on my heart. I know what my purpose is in that situation, to bring hope and healing to this generation.

I find much comfort in watching Jesus. At the pool of Bethesda for example, where people came to bathe, and the sick would gather (the NKJ version in John 5:1-12, actually says “a great multitude” of sick people were there), Jesus came to visit. I know, in general, it is God’s heart to heal people. But that particular day, Jesus went to one man. Later on Jesus tells us he only does what the Father tells him to do. I find great comfort in that. I have deep concern for people and nations all over the world, but I am constantly listening to what Father would have me do, and most of the time it’s just a few things, and always to trust Him more.

So what is God asking of us here, at the corner of 4th and Kimbark in Longmont, CO? I believe that listening to what God has put on our hearts, recognizing the people we are with, and knowing our own unique graces as a community will help us answer that question. So some of us talked about what the strengths and graces of the community were and these are some of the answers.

Our community:

Values the journey of a person and deep relationship.

Is warm, friendly and accepting of people.

Is small and approachable.

Is multigenerational and full of families.

This is a good start. I was also given over a years worth of notes from brainstorming meetings. The desire in everyone’s heart, to dig deeper into worship and reach the lost in the area was very apparent. And yes, it turns out there was an original mission statement and vision laid out by a few leaders. It read:

“Worship is the submission of all nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by his holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by his beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of will to His purpose.” -William Temple, a great Anglican theologian

The Vision for Cornerstone:

-To bring this kind of worship to more and more people in fulfillment of the Great Commission.

-To allow people to express their love for all that God has done for them.

-To bring people together to love and care for one another.

Wonderful. I can see that on the foundation of worship, the three main priorities are outreach, expression and community. What is less specific and still being discovered are the specifics of how this unique community comes into this purpose and vision. But remember this, God is faithful and good and loves us and the people in Longmont far more than we could ever imagine.

The Beginning of Our Journey

In the fullness of worship, with a community, full of the Holy Spirit, declaring who God is, when people are genuinely responding to and engaged in the presence of God, all aspects of the Kingdom come to life. Evangelism happens, prophecy happens, teaching happens, all in the context of worship! Knowing this, our first priority and pursuit is stepping deeper into worship. Cornerstone is a worship community. In doing so, outreach and evangelism will happen because we will be prophesying and declaring who Christ is to a broken generation. We will be humble and walk together and in doing so, knit ourselves together as a vibrant community discovering and encouraging our unique expression and purposes as we go.

I purpose that we consider changing the name of this adventure to “Cornerstone Worship Community” as well, that people might have just a little more insight into who we are with just two extra words.

What do you think?
-Tracy

a vision

Tonight I saw that your mercy, Father, is like a robe, that everyone you have ever created has sown into with the skill of a royal seamstress. It drapes from your shoulders like an ocean of velvet and gold and flows so you cannot see it’s beginning or end and if you handed it to anyone it would most certainly crush them by it’s weight.

Tonight I remembered that your thoughts are higher than my thoughts and my ways are not your ways. I asked you to show me. I saw you weeping but I saw that your sorrow does not release sorrow upon the earth, but rather peace. I saw that your pain does not release pain upon the earth, rather mercy. I saw that your joy releases freedom on the earth, and that your justice releases your glory on the earth.

Mercy and goodness flow from you, it is all I have ever known.

Mercy and goodness flow from you, it is all I have ever known.

And your mercy will flow over the earth and fill the borders between nations where we have claimed our own kingdoms, like fresh porcelain poured over a cracked plate, and all nations will flow to your mountain, a restoration of your creation, and we will not be able to resist going to you.