Peter cried out “Save me Lord!” He was in the midst of a storm and all he could see around him were the waves and wind. (Matthew 14:30) Jesus reached out and lifted Peter from the water. The hymn writer, James Rowe(1865-1933) had this passage in mind when he wrote the words to Love Lifted Me.

I was sinking deep in sin
Far from the peaceful shore
Very deeply stained within
Sinking to rise no more
But the Master of the sea
Heard my despairing cry
From the waters lifted me
Now safe am I

Is there anything causing you to sink this morning? Is there a storm around you that is making you doubt? As we sing, let the words remind you of His great love for us. We don’t know what He has planned for us. We only know that we are in His hands. I hope you can come to a point this morning where you can continue to trust Him even when you don’t feel like it.

Our second song is Rise Up and Praise Him. “Let the people of God sing your praise all over the land.” Lord I Lift Your Name on High is our third song. This song tells the Gospel story.

You came from heaven to earth
To show the way
From the earth to the cross
My debt to pay
From the cross to the grave
From the grave to the sky
Lord I lift Your name on high

Our final congregational song is a repeat of the new song we learned last week. I like to do a new song two weeks in a row to help it become familiar. Our God has become one of my favorite new worship songs.

Our God is greater
Our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is healer
Awesome in power our God our God

What great words for us to sing about our God this morning. Let’s take our eyes off of our storms today and fix them on Jesus.

Pastor Morri

wor·ship  noun, verb, -shiped, -ship·ing
the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity: the worship of God.

When does worship begin for you? When does your feeling of adoration for God start? Does it start when you get to church? Is it the parking lot that reminds you of your creator? Or is it when you walk into the Worship Center? Maybe it’s when you see a friend and they ask you how last week went and say that they prayed for you. Or maybe you are like me and you have so much stuff going on in your mind that it is hard to focus on one thing. For me, worship begins with focus. Do you ever wonder why I close my eyes sometimes when I am leading worship? It’s so I can get focused. When my focus is on God my worship begins. When my focus is taken away from God my worship ends.

In 1994 when I first came to Crossroads (Known as E.V. Free then) there was a sign at the entrance of the Worship Center that read, “Silence is the best preparation for worship”. I am sure that is true for some people. Silence is a way to prepare for worship. I prepare for worship by thinking of how great our God is. For me, singing is a great way to prepare for worship. Wait a minute, you say, isn’t singing worship? No singing is singing. Singing becomes worship when I focus on God. I am completely capable of singing and not worshipping. That’s why sometimes I have to close my eyes and talk to God while I sing and then all of the sudden I am worshipping, expressing reverence and adoration for God. Sometimes it is one of you that will catapult my singing into worship. Last Sunday this was the case. I looked into the front rows and noticed an elderly man with his hands raised a little bit and his eyes turned toward heaven as he was singing. “Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna”, were the words he was sending to Heaven. As soon as I noticed him I shut my eyes and thanked God for this man’s testimony. All of the sudden I was no longer thinking, “Is this song too contemporary? Are the guitars too loud? I wonder how it sounds out there?” I was just worshipping and my worship did not stop until after we sang “Just As I Am”. Then I had to start thinking about the announcements and taking the offering. But for a moment I was alone with God in our Worship Center. I felt Him speak to me about surrender. I said, “Yes Lord”.

What is your worship like? Think about it this week. Remember that worship is a feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity. I hope my experience will help you experience Him.

Cliff and the Ensemble will be leading worship this Sunday. I am taking the weekend off. Robin and I are going to Disneyland with my son, Garett and his fiancé Kaitlin. Then on Sunday I will be preaching at a small church in Strathmore. Let’s pray for each other as we worship our God this week.
Pastor Morri

Life was not going so well for Charlotte Elliott. “If God loved me He would not have treated me this way”, Charlotte would say. She was continually battling health issues. One thing after another had made her very angry with God. On May 9, 1882, while she was having dinner with her family and their guest, Dr. Cesar Malan, a Swiss minister, she lost her temper. She directed her anger and God and her family. The outburst was so great that it embarrassed her family and they left the room leaving only Dr. Malan and Charlotte at the dinner table. He said to her, “You are tired of yourself, aren’t you?” She was holding in so much anger and hatred. “What is the cure”, she asked. “The faith you are trying to despise”, was his answer.
She wanted to become a Christian but she did not know what to do because of so much bitterness and anger in her life. Dr. Malan told her, “Give yourself to God just as you are now, with your fightings and fears, your hate, love, pride and shame”. She replied, “I would come to God just as I am? Is that right? And that is what Charlotte did and her life was changed. She still had health problems but her heart was healed of all the hatred and bitterness. Years later she wrote a poem, which she sold copies of to help raise money poor children. That poem said, “Just as I am without one plea. But that thy blood was shed for me. And that thou bidst me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come”.
Charlotte did not get cleaned up to take a bath, she just took a bath. It was a bath in God’s love and forgiveness. God wants us just at we are and then He will clean us up. The more we try to do it ourselves the bigger mess we will make of our own lives. I guess I am really talking about surrender. Trust Him, surrender to Him, worship Him. This week ask God if you are surrendered to Him. If you are not, then I encourage you lift your hands to God and Surrender.
This Sunday, October 9, 2011 we will sing Just As I Am along with I Surrender All as our foundation hymns. We will also sing Hosanna (Praise is Rising) and Here I Am to Worship. Our opening hymn will be To God Be the Glory.
I hope this will help you prepare yourself for worship.