Happy New Year! I am excited to worship our Lord and Savior with you this Sunday morning January 8, 2012. I was reading Revelation 19:11-16 this past week and it reminded me of the majesty of Jesus. As you read it notice all of the descriptions of Jesus.

Revelation 19:11-16
11 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.”[a] He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Our Foundation hymn is taken from this passage. Crown Him with Many Crowns written by Matthew Bridges. He considered this a “sermon in song”. Jesus is the Lord of love, the Lord of life, Lord of Heaven; He is the Lord of Lords!
As we worship Him I want us to realize the Majesty and the Greatness of our Lord. He is the King of Glory, the King of all Creation, the King of Kings! All of our songs this morning will set our minds on the majesty of Jesus.
All Hail King Jesus, How Majestic is Your Name and Majesty will take us to the throne of God.
We will also sing, You are Holy, written by Michael W. Smith. The last line in the song is “I will live my life for You”. I hope that you will see who Jesus is and choose to live your life for Him.

You are Lord of Lords
You are King of Kings
You are Mighty God
Lord of everything

You’re Emmanuel
The great I Am
You’re The Prince of Peace
Who is the Lamb

You’re the saving God
You’re my saving grace
You will reign forever
You are Ancient of Days

You’re Alpha, Omega, Beginning and End
You’re my
Savior, Messiah, Redeemer, and Friend

You are my Prince of Peace and I will live my life for You.

Many hymns come from the author’s dramatic experience. H. P. Spafford, (It is Well With My Soul), for example wrote about his own feelings after his wife and children were tragically taken in a ship wreck. Our foundation hymn for November 20, 2011 comes simply from the author’s realization of God’s great faithfulness. Great is Thy Faithfulness was written by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1866 – 1960.
Thomas wrote many poems in his life. In 1923, he sent several of his poems to Rev. W. M. Runyan, a musician associated with Moody Bible Institute. Thomas included his record of the unfailing faithfulness of his Covenant-
Keeping God. This poem spoke of the many wonderful displays of God’s providing care. Thomas had been amazed by the way God provided for him. He had no college degree or even a high school diploma. He never made much money yet he always felt the hand of Jehovah-Jireh, The Lord Will Provide, on his life.
Thomas wrote,
“Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth. Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide. Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Blessings all mine with ten thousand to beside.”

Thanksgiving is this week and we will open our worship service with “Count Your Blessings”.
“When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed
When you are discouraged thinking all is lost
Count your many blessings name them one by one
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done”

After we have “Counted our blessings” we will sing Hosanna (Praise is Rising) “Come have Your way among us. We welcome You here Lord Jesus” is the phrase in this song that is so meaningful to me. It is an invitation to Jesus to have His way in this church. “Lord this is Your church. Let Your will be done in this church” is my prayer.
Next, we will sing Holy is the Lord. This morning pay attention to the words that you sing. This song says “For the Joy of the Lord is our strength”. We have strength through the Joy of the Lord! Great is Thy Faithfulness will lead us to a chorus simply named Sanctuary. This chorus is really a prayer. “Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary for you”. As we come to a time of prayer, lead by Pastor Al, be willing for God to “Prepare you”. This will take a heart that trusts God and a spirit that is surrendered completely to Him. Is that you? Are you ready to be “Prepared” by God?

The $6.00 Hymn

Johnson Oatman Jr. was a preacher who never pastored a church. After his father’s death he went into the insurance business. In 1892 he started writing gospel songs. Over the next 30 years he wrote approximately 3,000 hymns. His hymn lyrics were very much in demand and he would often receive about $1.00 for each text that he sold. He authored popular songs such as Count Your Blessings, No Not One and our foundation hymn for Sunday November 6, 2011, Higher Ground.
Charles Hutchinson Gabriel is the composer of the music for Higher Ground. He sold the tune for a grand total of $5.00, which brings monetary value of this great hymn to a whopping $6.00.

The verses that Oatman penned are as current as if they were written in 2011. The second verse talks about not dwelling where doubt and fear live.

“My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay;
Though some may dwell where those abound,
My prayer, my aim, is higher ground.”

Too many of us live in this trap set by the world. We allow fear and doubt to rule our lives. Our aim is off! Are you aiming for God’s will in your life or are you settling for what the world is offering, doubt and fear?
“Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!”
Hebrews 12:1-2 The Message

The rest of our songs include:
HIGHER, written by Eugene Gregory (1965-2009)
Mighty to Save
JUST A CLOSER WALK WITH THEE
ALL THAT THRILLS MY SOUL IS JESUS

“I PRESS ON TOWARD THE GOAL TO WIN THE PRIZE FOR WHICH GOD HAS CALLED ME HEAVENWARD IN CHRIST JESUS.” PHILIPPIANS 3:14

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.

How Firm A Foundation, my all time favorite hymn, is a hymn with a mystery.  It has been attributed to “K” in “Rippon’s Selection of Hymns” compiled in 1787.  We don’t know who wrote the lyrics or the music. I read that it was once sung to the tune of “O Come All Ye Faithful”. The hymn became very popular in both the North and the South during the Civil War. It is really a sermon in verse. The first verse tells us that the sure foundation of the Christian faith is the Bible.

• Verse 2 comes from Isaiah 41:10

Fear not I am with thee O be not dismayed

For I am thy God I will still give thee aid

I’ll strengthen thee help thee

And cause thee to stand

Upheld by My gracious omnipotent hand

• Verse 5 is from 2 Corinthians 12:9 and Hebrews 13:5

When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie

My grace all-sufficient shall be thy supply

The flames shall not hurt thee I only design

Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine

Verse six is my favorite verse. I used to think when I would sing these words it was me talking to God. Then one day I realized it is God talking to me. God says to me, “Morri, you have put your life in my hands. I will not desert you. No matter what comes along to try to shake you, I will never, no never, no never forsake you!

(I am now standing on my chair, shouting and praising God!)

•  Verse 6

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose

I will not I will not desert to its foes

That soul though all hell should endeavor to shake

I’ll never no never no never forsake

I am sure that this one hymn will be all we need this Sunday to bring us into God’s presence but we will go ahead and sing a few more.

Blessed Be Your Name is a contemporary song that spans the generation gap right along with How Great is Our God. And then we will sing one of the greatest hymns of the 20^th Century, How Great Thou Art!

This will be a worship service you will not want to miss!