I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. Philippians 1:23 ESV
About ten years ago, I used to pay a weekly visit to an elderly couple from our church, who were no longer able to come to the Sunday services. Since they enjoyed singing, so I would always bring my guitar. Though their apartment was small, they made room for a cage where they kept two little parakeets, and the highlight of our singing sessions was when those two parakeets joined in. During the slower hymns, they would tweet to each other and dance on their perch, but whenever we sang the hymn, “I’ll Fly Away” they got so excited that they flew right out of the open cage door and sat up above the kitchen cabinets, where they joyfully tweeted with all their might!
That memory from years ago came back to me yesterday with the passing of yet another dear friend into the presence of Jesus. It reminded me that while we are here on earth, we are in a body that like the bird cage is not our permanent home. We can sing and praise the Lord the best we can from our low perch, but at the time that God chooses we have an appointment to keep with Jesus. Because of His death and resurrection, our cage door has been opened and when we hear His voice, we will spread our own wings and fly up and away. There He has prepared a high and heavenly new perch from which we be able to sing a hymn of praise forever – on that highest ground of all!
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 ESV
On July 26th, the Olympic Summer Games will begin in Paris. There thousands of athletes will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in 32 sports. Like the ancient Greek games, the winners will proudly go home with those medals and mount them in display cases for everyone to see. But Jesus told His disciples that following Him, was not like that. Individual achievements were not to be their hallmark. Instead, Jesus made it clear that everything we do was about being connected, and specifically, being connected to Him. He told us that without Him, we could not accomplish anything. I know that in my nursing home ministry, there have been times when, just adding up the services put on, the number of people coming, or seeing how many children can be persuaded to sing carols at Christmas become goals in themselves. But Jesus said that living for Him was to be nothing like that. Instead, we are to simply remain in connection with Him, and He will accomplish the work of bringing about the fruitfulness. Yes, having a crowd show up for a service is fulfilling, but connecting people one by one to Jesus is what really matters. Think of the ministry of Jesus Christ. Certainly, He drew large crowds, to the point that He fed 5,000 men in one and 4,000 in another. But the goals of Christ were always far different than what ours would have been. He didn’t have folks sign “New Visitor” cards, collect contact numbers or start planning for an even bigger event. Instead, Jesus turned to His disciples and said, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. ” (John 6:56) Jesus was not pursuing popularity, but connection. He didn’t want to know how many were visiting, He wanted to know who would abide in Him. This was nowhere more evident than at the end of His life as He hung on the cross. There, the earthly ministry of Jesus ended as He connected to one disciple, one parent, and one soldier. Though countless millions would later come to faith in Him, that day Jesus focused only on those three who were nearest to Him. Alone and suffering terribly, He did not debate theology, but He prayed for forgiveness for those who had put Him there. He finished the work of our salvation, by being cut off and forsaken, so that we could be included and connected to Him. And if the Son of God loved us so much that He gave up everything so that we could be connected to Him, then we must be willing to give up whatever He asks to help people, get connected to Him. Last Friday we just returned to one facility where services had been cancelled for the past month due to another Covid outbreak. It was so great to get together and be connected again, and today’s video is the closing song of that service. I hope you join us in celebrating that connection by the grace of our wonderful Lord Jesus Christ!
Not long ago, one of my fellow seniors in our Bible study group remarked that when the youth from the worship team do an occasional hymn, they sing everything soooo slowly! They must think that because we are older that we just can’t keep up a faster pace. Here is a pretty lively selection from a meeting a couple of weeks back at an assisted living facility that ought to put that idea to rest! I hope you tap your feet, clap your hands and sing along these three favorites which my fellow senior saints have no problem keeping up with!
Clap your hands, all you nations;
shout to God with cries of joy.
Psalm 47:1 NIV
praise2worshipdotnet 
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