Context with Clayton: For July 31st
Hey Church! Welcome to Context with Clayton!
This is a way for me to communicate with you about what songs we are singing this week, why we are singing them and some ideas that really emphasize what we are going to be learning about this through our scripture this week. I want to use this space to say what I wish we had time to say on Sunday mornings.
This week our scripture passage is Judges 3:15-30. We will be learning about Ehud and how he is the last person in that culture to be utilized by God in an impactful way. We will reference Psalms 139:14 – emphasizing that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and how we can be used by God.
God used a Ehud, an outcast of his day, to deliver the Israelites after they had turned from God. We will be addressing the consequences we face when we fall away from God and keep messing up. Even though we have been shown the light and still turn away from Him, God continues to use people in our life and can use US for His kingdom too. He does not call the perfect and blameless, He calls the willing.
So are we willing?
Sunday July 31st
Rest On Us – Maverick City Music and Brandon Lake
We selected this song to open with because it is an upbeat, deeply centering song. We are calling upon the spirit to rest on and move through us. First thing, right off the bat after greeting one another, we will declare our gratitude and praise for the Spirit of Lord’s presence among us.
In the bridge we simply sing out our prayer for the morning – “Holy Spirit come rest on us, You’re all we want”. What a simple, yet powerful prayer. Can you imagine what it would be like when we truly invite the Holy Spirit into our heart and darkest places of our soul? That is what we hope to do in this moment: invite the spirit in, on, and around us.
Build My Life – Passion
This song is the proclamation that there is no greater or more powerful name than Jesus. This song is the prayer for our lives as we move through the week ahead. That we will build our life on Jesus and Jesus alone. The bridge is so powerful: “I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be shaken”. Not just singing words but PRAYING them. I want to drive that point home with this song.
While we are actively singing praises, we are simultaneously engaging in prayer through the words we are singing. This relates to our scripture as we see the the Israelites draw close and trust in the Lord and then drift away and become distant from God. But here we are declaring that we will build our life, whatever the circumstance, regardless of situation on Jesus alone.
Brokenness Aside – All Sons and Daughters
Beauty as a result of Jesus saving us is the thesis of this song. This song describes our human condition. The verses of this song wrestle with the idea that we run from God and break away from him on a daily basis. Much like the Israelites we are cyclical in our disobedience. The chorus contrasts our sin directly with the grace of God and His power to make all things work together for His good.
The chorus says “I am a sinner if it’s not one thing, it’s another. Caught up in words, tangles in lies. You are the Savior and you take brokenness aside and make it beautiful.” This recognition we sing, that Jesus not just our savior but the savior of the world, is imperative for our reconciliation and repentance. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God but, He and only He takes our brokenness aside and makes it beautiful. Not as an excuse to sin but as a hope for our redemption and sanctification.
As You Find Me – Hillsong
This song is a reflective piece about how we are nothing without the presence of God in out lives. It is the story of Grace and Redemption. This song speaks to our lives to have everything one moment and nothing the next. ‘As You Find Me’ drives home the point that we are learning in our scripture this week, that no matter how far away we go from God, He is right there waiting for us to come back into His arms. His GRACE is abundant and overcomes all of our transgression, struggle, and sin.
The bridge of this song says “If You want my heart, I wont second guess. Because I need Your love more than anything. I’m in, I’m Yours – Your love’s too good to leave me here.” Let these words be the prayer you have as we go through the week. We know God does want our heart, and His love is too good to leave us as He found us (before we accepted Him into our hearts). He is refining us, making us knew, and giving us purpose as we draw near to Him.
During your reflection time this week think on this – let the spirit move through the words and remember your own journey and path that led you to find God. Remember all the struggle you went through before and still go through. But take time to assess how different your response is to all the victories and tragedies in your life since you have known Jesus.
Thanks for sticking around this long! I encourage you to take a listen to these songs and I hope you find value in this and deep connection with the Lord as you engage with these considerations and songs throughout the week.
Grace and Peace,
Clayton