Whys of Worship (part 3) Sermon Preview

I want to take you back to an event from the distant past … 450AD to be precise. And I want to take you to a place far away … Cashel Rock in Ireland. And, I want to introduce you to a famous person from that era and location – Patrick (yes, THAT Patrick … Saint Patrick!)

There is a story told of Patrick, a missionary to Ireland from his home country of Britain, regarding a very peculiar baptism ceremony he led for King Aengus of Ireland in 450AD. Apparently the King had heard of Patrick’s activities in Ireland and had Patrick personally brought to him at his home in Cashel Rock. Upon arrival, Patrick spent many days preaching the good news of the Gospel to King Aengus, leading to his ultimate conversion to Christianity.

After placing his faith in Christ, the King’s next step was to be baptized, so arrangements were made for an elaborate (and most likely influential) baptism ceremony for the King. Rather than having the baptism occur in front of only a few people in a forest stream, the King wanted his kingdom to know of his new allegiance, so he had his servant build a baptistry inside the palace and all the area’s finest were invited to the worship gathering.

On the day of the ceremony, the King’s friends gathered at the palace around a beautifully and newly dug pool, filled with water and ready for the immersion of the King in Jesus’ name. Before the baptism, Patrick took the opportunity to preach a powerful sermon pointing all in attendance to faith in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins … and Patrick’s colleague Finnean mac Eoran records that many heads were nodding and leaning in as the Gospel was shared. After the sermon, and after asking the King if he had truly placed his trust in Jesus Christ, Patrick went to pray, and all bowed their heads.

While Patrick prayed, he lifted high above his head his staff pronouncing a blessing over the King and all who would trust in Christ. Halfway through his prayer of blessing, Patrick brought his staff down forcefully, striking the ground. When Patrick did this, he inadvertently stabbed King Aengus in the foot, piercing it through! The King and the watching audience, having never seen a baptism before, thought this was simply part of the ceremony!

Patrick completed his prayer, said AMEN, took off his robe and stepped down into the baptistry. The King slipped off his robe also, and began hobbling toward the water, his foot badly bleeding! It was only then that Patrick realized what he had done. Not wanting to disrupt the ceremony further, though, he continued to proceed and baptized the King in front of the watching crowd.

Though the King’s court had previously been intrigued by Patrick’s preaching, Finnean reports the following of their interest in baptism after witnessing what happened to Aengus, “Unfortunately, we received no further requests for baptisms that day. All those previously eager souls were nowhere to be found.”

Ha! I bet!

But Finnean continues, “It wasn’t until many weeks later that I and my fellow clerics, after much quiet convincing, brought half the king’s court down to a forest stream, where Patrick dunked them – with their feet intact.” (NOTE: the details of this account have been adapted from author Mark Fisher’s work which has attempted to reconstruct in narrative form the events around Saint Patrick’s life.)

Now, I tell you that story today not to swear to its authenticity … these events happened a long time ago, and there are certainly events in Saint Patrick’s life that have been exaggerated. My point in sharing this is to allow its humor to ask us an important question: Do we understand what Christian baptism is all about? Do we know what the New Testament teaches about baptism: who it is for, what it symbolizes, and what it accomplishes? If we don’t know what baptism is all about, we might “pierce our foot” with a parallel folly.

This Sunday, January 21, at Wildwood Community Church in our 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00 service, we will be exploring why we baptize in part 3 of our “Whys of Worship” sermon series. We will look at the New Testament testimony concerning baptism to help us understand its significance and role in Christian worship.

See you Sunday … and bring friends!

Whys of Worship (part 2) Sermon Audio, Video, & Questions

On Sunday, January 14, 2024, at Wildwood Community Church, I preached a sermon based on Colossians 3:16. This message was part 2 in the “Whys of Worship” sermon series. Below you will find questions related to the message for personal reflection or group discussion. You will also find audio and video of the message to listen to/watch, download or share.

Sermon Questions:

Pray
Read Colossians 3:16
Do you have any particular songs that can “transport you to another place and time”? A song from high school that makes you remember high school? A song from your wedding that makes you remember your wedding? etc.
What is your attitude toward singing at church? Do you consider this something “lesser” than the sermon? Do you consider this something for only the “gifted”?
The Word of God should influence all our singing in the church. What are some ways you can have the Word of God illuminate the words we are singing more for you?
How have you seen singing unite groups of people before (both inside and outside the church)?
What are some ways music and singing AMPLIFY your experience?
What are some ways you have had Christian music encourage your soul in a time of difficulty or stress?
What is one particular application you took away from this passage/message?

To access these questions in pdf format click here.

To listen to message offline, click the link:

Whys of Worship #2 1.14.24

To listen online, use media player below:

To watch online use YouTube:

Whys of Worship (part 2) Sermon Preview

“Ain’t it funny how a melody can bring back a memory? Take you to another place in time; completely change your state of mind.” – Clint Black (from the 1993 song “State of Mind”)

It is ironic that I write this lyric today. I have not listened to this country hit from my college days in at least a decade. Yet as I prepare for Sunday’s sermon at Wildwood Community Church, I find myself singing this song in my head … and I can do more than simply hum the tune, I know the words! I literally am singing verses AND chorus in my office as I write this! And as I sing these long remembered lyrics, it is ushering me back to my sophomore year of college. Ain’t it funny how a melody can bring back a memory? Take you to another place and time? Completely change your state of mind?

Music is like that – it is memorable … yet that is only PART of its super power.

Given this dynamic, it is not surprising that God INSTRUCTS His followers to sing. In response, every Sunday as a part of worship gatherings all over the world, Christians lift up their voices in song together.

As we begin 2024 at Wildwood, we are engaging in a series of sermons exploring the Whys of Worship. Why do we gather, why do we baptize, why do we share communion, why do we pray, why do we give, why do we have sermons … and, (specifically this Sunday, January 14) we will be looking at WHY WE SING.

Make plans to join us Sunday in our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 service as we look to God’s Word together (in Colossians 3:16), and sing a few melodies that will change our state of mind … and glorify the Lord. See you then … and bring friends!

Whys of Worship (part 1) Sermon Audio, Video, & Questions

On Sunday, January 7, 2024, at Wildwood Community Church, I preached a sermon based on Hebrews 10:19-25. This message was part 1 in the “Whys of Worship” sermon series. Below you will find questions related to the message for personal reflection or group discussion. You will also find audio and video of the message to listen to/watch, download or share.

Sermon Questions:

Pray
Read Hebrews 10:19-25
What are some examples you can think of from your life where knowing WHY you were supposed to do something (or not do something) helped you do (or not do) the prescribed behavior?
How does remembering who Jesus is and what He has done for you help you DRAW NEAR to Him and HOLD FAST to Him as your only hope?
What are you “drawing near” to right now with your affections/attention? What/who are you looking to for your ultimate hope?
What are some of the reasons why you are tempted to “forsake meeting together” with other believers at church? Did we talk about anything today that challenged you to re-engage or stay engaged with regular fellowship with a local church?
We ended with 3 ways to help prioritize gathering for worship with other Christians in the year ahead: put church on your calendar, prepare for Sundays, and participate when present. Any particular action steps that God was leading you to in light of these challenges?
What is one particular application you took away from this passage/message?

To access these questions in pdf format click here.

To listen to message offline, click the link:

Whys of Worship #1 1.7.24

To listen online, use media player below:

To watch online use YouTube:

Whys of Worship (Series Preview)

Flying on an airplane is a real trip. We arrive at the airport hours before takeoff and then begin taking things off:

We take off our shoes and walk around in our socks.
We take off our belt and hope our pants stay up.
We take out all the contents of our pockets and place it in dishes.
We take out our laptops and place them alone in bins.
We watch agents take our carryons apart looking for 4 ozs of shampoo.

Then we put everything back on our bodies and in our bags then get on the plane. Then they tell us to turn everything off.

Turn off your cellular service.
Turn off your large electronic devices.
Turn off the recline function of your seat.
Turn off your tray table.

And you know what? Everyone does it! It is amazing! As someone with experience leading groups I am amazed at the compliance from all in the airport and on the plane. But why do we do these things? You may know why we do SOME of these things, but does anyone really know why we do ALL these things?

You may remember the shoe bomber, but may be unclear why your cell phone might crash the plane! The more we are in tune with the WHY of each of these regulations, the more we are inclined to adhere to the custom.

But that principle is not just true in air travel, it flies in church as well.

Think about the typical Sunday morning:

People gather into rooms all over the world for church services.
People (who never gather with friends to sing songs in other settings) stand and sing for 20 minutes together.
Often at the end of these gatherings, people eat bread and drink wine/juice in a ceremony called communion.
Every so often people don swimsuits and then allow themselves to be submerged under water in baptism.
Pastors stand on stages and pray out loud while others listen silently, heads bowed.
Church services are free, and yet people give money in bins and baskets as people gather.
For extended periods of time, Pastors read from an ancient book called the Bible and then talk about its significance for our contemporary life in sermons.

All these are parts of the WHAT of worship in contemporary churches, including Wildwood. Amazingly, people do this each and every Sunday. But why do we do these things? Why gather, sing, have communion, be baptized, pray, give an offering, or listen to a sermon? Knowing the WHYS of WORSHIP will help us understand what we are doing on Sundays, and why it is so important.

Throughout 2024, I will be preaching on the topic of worship from a number of different angles. Later this year, we will have a sermon series on the Psalms, Ezra/Nehemiah/Haggai, and more. But we are kicking off the year with a series entitled “WHYS of WORSHIP.” So before we takeoff into another year, let’s unpack why we are doing what we are doing. This Sunday, we begin our series by looking at why we gather from Hebrews 10:24-25. See you Sunday, January 7 at Wildwood Community Church in our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 service … and bring friends!