A Letter from the Pastor

    I recently began a sermon series on the Psalms of Ascents.  Over the past couple of years I have spent much time studying the cycles of worship and the rituals that took place in the Old Testament and in the early church.  Studying the festival cycle keeps leading me back to the book of Psalms.  Now as we work our way toward Easter and remember the Passover that brought Jesus to Jerusalem, we will be studying together the Psalms that the travelers sang and recited on their way to the temple.

   There is one verse from the Psalms of Ascents that has gone through my mind more than any other.  Psalm 122:1 has been on my mind more often than not as I have walked up the steps to enter a church on Sunday morning.  "I was glad when they said unto me, 'Let us go into the house of the Lord'."

As it turns out that is the attitude than I am supposed to have as I come to the place of worship.  This is a relief for me because my attitude is usually the thing that gets me in trouble.  I have also noticed that everyone in worship on Sunday morning is glad to be in the house of the Lord most of the time.  I say most of the time because there are times when it is more of a sacrifice than a joy to be in worship.  However, we still come to worship.

   You probably know someone who doesn't attend worship for reasons other than being sick or legitimately homebound.  Begin to pray for them if you haven't already that the Holy Spirit would stir in their hearts a desire to worship God.  It is a wonderful thing when our unchurched friends reach the point where they can say "I was glad when you said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord."

Rev. Jimmy Cook               2/1/2011