Seems like the economy continues to plague our thoughts. I saw a recent article on the news where a woman stated that “we need to fall on our knees and pray for God to save us.” Hate to break it to you all, but God sent Jesus to give us eternal life and the ancient Egyptians to invent these little financial life savers called scissors. Directions: 1.  Open scissors 2. Insert credit card between the two sharp blades 3. Cut card into tiny bits. We need to be praying that we will stop falling into the trap of consumerism, and then take action to prevent it in our lives.

It was good to have Jason back in the south. I had a great time catching up with him and discussing the differences between America and Australia. We also both exchanged gifts. He gave me his copy of The Shack which I have already began to read, and I gave him the opportunity to loosen up his shoulder with my 12 gauge. It was a lot of fun being able to step out in the backyard and rip into a coffee can.

At The Fellowship we’re currently in our series “What is Worship?” Last week we looked at tools that we use during worship such as the United Methodist Worship Planner, the UM Hymnal, and of course the Bible. Here are a few things we discussed:

1. If worship were like a dinner table then the Bible would be the centerpiece of the table, Christ would be sitting at the seat of honor at that table, and we would be around that table eating and talking.
2. The hymnal contains more than just hymns! Most hymnals (Methodist or not) contain prayers, worship services for things like the celebration of new members, Baptism, Communion, prayers of confession and pardon, responsive readings, and prayers from the saints.
3. The worship planner is a great resource. It contains the lectionary as well as suggested hymns, anthems, visual aids, and liturgical colors.
4. The worship planner could be used as a legalistic tool that causes us to lean on this book rather than the leading of the Spirit.
5. The hymnal contains songs from post 1950!!
6. The Bible has a concordance in the back that helps you to find Scriptures relating to particular topics.
7. The Bible has this to say about worship:

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

John 4:21-24(TNIV)

Hope all of you have a great weekend! God Bless!!