It is the Word of God, as Luther says, that is the very “cradle of Christ.” Each page is a lens through which I see Christ and the unfolding plan and wisdom of God. 

 “No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him,’ but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2: 7-10). 

The Word of God alone enables me to answer the question that God asked to Adam and Eve in the Garden: “Where are you?” Ever since then, people have been trying to respond and answer that question. Scripture alone is able to give us the answer. It is one that can only be found at the foot of the Cross. 

As the Lord is revealed through the lens of His Word, we are then invited to magnify that view through one more lens—the lens of worship. 

God-pleasing worship is about Him. When Mary was told that she was pregnant with the Christ, she worshipped. Her first words were, “My soul magnifies the Lord.” What a great definition for worship: “My soul magnifies the Lord.” Helping me to get a handle on this, I find these words helpful from the King James Version of the Bible: 

 “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11). 

 “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom and strength, and honour, and glory and blessing . . . Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever” (Revelation 5:12-13).
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Rev. Dr. Brent L Parrish

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet all flocks and herds, and the beast of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth” (Psalm 8). 

The earth and the universe celebrate the majesty and glory of God. Talking rocks and clapping and singing trees. He is a God that just makes you stand back and smile and stand in awe. The awe of God is different than the fear of God. Fear makes us shrink back while awe draws us in. The awe of God is “to sense in small things the beginning of infinite significance, to sense the ultimate in common and the simple, to feel in the rush of the passing, the stillness of the eternal” (Heschel, p. 75). 
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Rev. Dr. Brent L Parrish

Microscopes and telescopes caught my interest as I was growing up. What is not to love for a junior high kid looking through the lens of a microscope and seeing all types of crawling and creepy things? It was as if I was looking at another world within a world. As for the telescope, I stood in wonder looking through it at the vastness of the universe. I suspect that in seventh grade the word “vastness” was not in my vocabulary. “Huge” and “gigundo” are words that better describe my thinking at that time. 

Whatever the words, the lens of the microscope and the telescope gave witness to God. Microbes and stars shouted out with His praise: 

 “Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy” (Psalm 96: 11-12). 

It is a pretty amazing universe when you think about, where rocks can talk and trees sing and clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12). Just the picture of that in my mind makes me laugh. I especially like the way Psalm 96:11-12 reads in the translation from The Message: “Let’s hear it from Sky, With Earth joining in, And a huge round of applause from Sea. Let Wilderness turn cartwheels, Animals, come dance, Put every tree of the forest in the choir.”
 

At the speed of light, you could travel from Earth to the center of the Milky Way in 33,000 years. It is estimated that the Milky Way contains about 100,000,000 stars. It would take you more than 3,000 years to count them at the rate of one per second! That is just our galaxy. There are thousands of others. 

 “For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary” (Psalm 96:4-6

Jeremy Camp, a Christian songwriter, had only been married for a few months when his wife, Melissa, was diagnosed with cancer. She had come home from the hospital and asked him to get his guitar so that they could sing and worship. The song she wanted him to play was, “For You Are Good.” Even in the midst of her dying, Melissa knew that God alone deserved the praise that her heart could offer. Weeks after Melissa’s death, Jeremy wrote a song entitled, “I Still Believe”: 

Scattered words and empty thoughts 

Seem to pour from my heart. 

I’ve never felt so torn before, 

Seems I don’t know where to start. 

But it’s now that I feel your grace 

fall like rain From every fingertip, 

washing away my pain. 

I still believe in your faithfulness. 

I still believe in your truth. 

I still believe in your Holy Word, 

Even when I don’t see, I still believe. 

Though the questions still fog up my mind 

With promises, I still seem to bear, 

Even when answers slowly unwind, 

It’s my heart I see you prepare. 

But it’s now that I feel your grace 

fall like rain From every fingertip, 

washing away my pain. 

I still believe in your faithfulness. 

I still believe in your truth. 

I still believe in your Holy Word, 

Even when I don’t see, I still believe. 

The only place I can go is into your arms, 

Where I throw to you my feeble prayers. 

In brokenness I can see that this was your will for me. 

Help me to know you are near. 

I still believe in your faithfulness. 

I still believe in your truth. 
 

I still believe in your Holy Word, 

Even when I don’t see, I still believe.
 

Even in the midst of pain or in days when we are confused and torn, the Cross assures us of God’s love, and the empty Tomb proclaims His victory. I love the words from Romans 8: 

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that has loved us” (v. 37). 

No matter what Satan throws at us, no matter how unfairly the world treats us, we are more than conquerors. We do not merely win out over evil because Christ—He even takes every wound, every hurt, every failure, and weaves them into the fabric of our life’s story. More than conquerors. 

Today is the day. “This is the day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Christ is ready to reveal Himself as the Victor.
 

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Rev. Dr. Brent L Parrish

There is a story of a little boy who came home from Sunday School on Easter Sunday very excited about what he had learned. He raced into the kitchen and shouted, “Wow, I learned what Jesus said when He burst out of the tomb on Easter morning!” His mom and dad were excited too, and they asked him, “Well what did He say on the first Easter morning?” And the little boy ran up to them, threw his hands up in the air, and shouted “TA-DA!” (Bimler, p. 14). 

Obviously, the young boy has paraphrased Jesus a little bit. I suspect, though, that he is capturing the essence of joy and celebration that were evident that first Easter morning. “TA-DA—Here I am! I am alive, just as I said!” As a result, our lives are “TA-DA!” lives. We are able to enter each day in the confidence that Jesus is alive. Wherever we go, we give witness and bear testimony to the truth that Jesus is alive and ready to reveal Himself. Even in those days when the challenges are overwhelming, Christ stands ready to say to us, “TA-DA!” His resurrection gives us the ability to say with joyous defiance, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). What day is the Psalmist referring to in this verse? Look two verses earlier at verse 22:

“The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (vv. 22-24).
 

What so many thought to be worthless (the life of Christ, and so they discarded it), God raises up and uses it as the cornerstone for what He is building. The day He has made is the Day of Resurrection, which makes every day a “TA-DA!” day—a day for rejoicing and celebrating. The joy of the resurrection is so great and timeless that it cannot be confined to one single day.
 

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

“But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.” 

Lost or found. Dead or alive. Damned or saved. Foolish or wise. There is no neutral ground when it comes to things spiritual. There is no middle road when it comes to one’s walk with Christ. 

When the RMS Titanic sank, more than twenty-two hundred people were cast into the frigid waters of the Atlantic. On shore, the names of the passengers were posted in two simple columns: Saved and Lost. God’s list is equally simple (Lucado, p. 148). 

The angels rejoice and celebrate with God over each person that repents. How many times has it been that this party was thrown in my honor? How many times have I been the one that strayed off, only to be rescued and carried home in the arms of love and grace? Shall I now sit here and watch as some neutral spectator? Why is it that I show more joy watching my favorite team celebrate a win on the field than I do in knowing God’s joy in just one person who is safe at home with Him? Celebrating is the response of those who are passionate about the mission Christ has given us. God is looking for churches that will join Him in rejoicing over the lost coming home. He is looking for churches that know how to throw a great homecoming party.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

It’s rather amazing, isn’t it? Jesus portrays the sheer delight that goes on over one sinner who repents. In the movie, “It’s A Wonderful Life,” Clarence, the angel, explains that each time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings. That is nothing compared to the picture here. Jesus portrays three different views. In the parable of the lost sheep, Jesus says: 

“I tell you that in the same way there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:7). 

 “There is more rejoicing in heaven.” Who is it that shares in this rejoicing? Is it the angels? The saints? It is left unsaid, but this much is clear: When one sinner repents, there is a party in heaven.

In another parable, the picture is one of God leading the rejoicing. 

 “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). 

 In his commentary on Luke, Dr. William Arndt writes: “Bringing a lost one back into safety is the basis of joy before the angels of God, that is, in God Himself, who is here thought of as sitting on His throne, surrounded by the heavenly servants, who see Him rejoice and share His joy” (p. 348). 

I can only begin to imagine the angels looking on as God dances around, cheering and applauding wildly in joy over just one sinner who is back home again. What must go through their minds to see God in all of His glory taking such delight over one person—a mortal, no less—being carried back home on the shoulders of Jesus? 

That leads me to ask, “Where am I in that crowd when the cheering starts? Do I share in the joy?” God is exuberant, but I am afraid that I am not always quick to join in the celebration or to invite people like that prostitute to the party. 

In the parable of the lost son, at the very end, the picture of rejoicing is much different: “But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:32). 

This parable portrays that the rejoicing is more by those on earth. Those who are a part of the family and community of this prodigal son are the ones who rejoice and celebrate. That would seem to place this question directly at the feet of the church today: How shall we rejoice and join with God and the heavenly hosts in rejoicing over the lost who have come home?
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,