Day is dying in the west;
heaven is touching earth with rest;
wait and worship while the night
sets the evening lamps alight
through all the sky.
Refrain:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts!
Heaven and earth are full of thee!
Heaven and earth are praising thee,
O Lord most high!
After the Sunday worship I love to pronounce '
Benediction:Benedictions are greeted in our churches, with great delight, for it
means that the service will soon end and the people will be free to go! But
benedictions are also meant to impart a gift from God of unusual grace and mercy
on all our lives. Benedictions must never be taken for granted or treated in a
casual way; they are enormously important. Perhaps we should hold our hands out
as if we were already receiving the blessings that the Lord has been pleased to
bestow on us as the prayer is offered up on our behalf as a
congregation. One of the benedictions I use is recorded in
Hebrews 13:20-21. It reads: "Now may the God of
peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of
the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect, in
every good work, to do His will, by working in you, that which is well-pleasing
in His sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory, forever and ever,
Amen."
As Shepherd, He feeds His sheep, ruling over them and instructing them. But this Shepherd also lays down His life for His sheep, thus He is a priest who offers Himself as a sacrifice. What a Shepherd we have. Look how gentle and affirming He is for every one who goes astray!
But He is a "great" Shepherd. He is, as the whole book of Hebrews affirms, great in His person. Therefore, He is greater than even the angels or any mortals. He is also "great" in office. No one can compare to Him: not the High Priest Aaron, the Priest-King Melchisedek, the leader Joshua or even Moses. He is also "great" in His power, in His presence and his Promise. Indeed He is our Desire. He is our Life. He is our peace. All that we ever needed is in Him. He is more than wonderful. Let us continue to serve Him and worship Him. May He become our passion.
C.S. Lewis gave us the following insight: "Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
Lewis is saying that we are often satisfied by the things of the world. Instead of searching for the deep things of God we are content with making mud spies when we could be building the kingdom of God!
As we say good night here people in the East are saying Good Morning.
Brown
http://youtu.be/-XKxqqhOgVM
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