One of the favorite things our friends at Life Care Center love to do during worship is to lift up their hands in praise. Baptists, Catholics and Presbyterians are all joining in to lift those hands up in the name of Jesus. We who live in the comfort of our own homes, have a lot to learn about worship from them. We can just jump in our car to go to church but sometimes might rather sleep in or go to the beach. But they push only get around in wheelchairs, they eagerly push themselves up the hall and with big smiles on their faces join us for the Friday service. Why not join in with us? Let’s give God thanks for today and lift up your hands in His name!
Nursing Home Music
Preparing for the AI Storm
Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. Joel 2:1-2 ESV
There is a storm coming called artificial intelligence, the likes of which we have never seen. It is hard for us to even imagine the power of this new force that is no longer coming, it is here and growing more powerful daily. Whether on the topic of medicine, or national defense, AI is viewed as a tool to be used, and an uncommon urgency seems to have gripped our society to develop it as fast as possible. It makes me wonder if anyone stopped to ask why, and what will be the outcome of turning those segments of our society over to this brand-new force. We are either at the point now or soon will be that some AI model somewhere will know the names and personal information of virtually every single person on our planet. They will or are in the process of consuming all our works of literature, art, and theater. Every star, every discovery, every medicine will be part of its database. Even every state secret, every weapon system, and the internal structure of every unit in our military is only just beyond its reach but only for now. How should we prepare? How should we as Christians think about how AI will affect us and the work of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? There has never been an adversary like the one we are facing. Yet, no matter what lies ahead, we need to remember that there is still no one like our God. There will never be any power greater than His. If He is on our side, who can be against us? So, let’s prepare, but not fear, plan but not panic and keep walking by faith because with the strength that only Jesus gives, He has promised that we will not faint! This week we sang, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” The message that Helen Lemmel wrote about trusting God in confusing and difficult circumstances is never more true than now. When we don’t know what to do next, who to trust or where to turn, we must turn our eyes of faith towards Jesus, and then “The things that are of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace!”
Our Hope of Heaven
Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides Thee.
Psalm 73:25 KJV
Hoping for heaven has sometimes been given a bad rap, because many of the old hymns and sermons of yesteryear focused exclusively on heavenly bliss, while ignoring the importance of our time on earth. But the Bible says that neither our greatest victories nor our worst failures can compare with what lies ahead for us in heaven. It reminds me of when our boys were teenagers. In shop class they made themselves wooden plaques with their names carved on them to hang over the doorways to their rooms. Though no one had any doubts as to whose room was whose, they simply felt they needed to stake out their own personal territory. In the same way God has staked out a territory in heaven for everyone who has put their hope in Jesus Christ. God has personally engraved our names over the doorways of our rooms. So don’t worry. There is nothing wrong with a joyful longing to be together forever with Jesus in the place He has prepared for us. We need to be able to say, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides Thee.” Then our hope of heaven can strengthen our hearts in the storms that come our way today and lighten our load so we can carry the burdens of others. This hope comes from God and will shine through any dark night and will light our paths all the way to our Heavenly home!
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