FBC Tecumseh FBC Tecumseh, Oklahoma is a Southern Baptist, family-friendly church focused on making disciples. https://fbctecumseh.org Fri, 15 Mar 2024 12:02:49 +0000 Fri, 15 Mar 2024 12:02:49 +0000 hourly 1 3600 SnapPages.com Come Thou Fount Cameron Clark https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2026/02/19/come-thou-fount Thu, 19 Feb 2026 15:00:00 +0000 https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2026/02/19/come-thou-fount

Come Thou Fount

More Than a Song:
The Theology of Our Worship

Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
(Matthew 11:28-30 NRSVUE)

I thought for our next song, we'd look at one that many of us are familiar with. Many who grew up in a Christian context probably encountered this song. My home church where I grew up leaned toward more contemporary worship, but even we sang this classic hymn. If all our technology suddenly quit working some Sunday morning, I bet most of our congregation could sing this song from memory. It's a classic for a reason. With familiarity, however, it becomes easier to disengage from the depth of this song when we sing it. Though many of us could recite the text of this hymn in our sleep, we couldn't tell someone what that text really means. I hope that through our exploration of the song, you'll be able to sing this classic song with renewed meaning.
Before we look at the hymn itself, a little backstory on the man who wrote it: Robert Robinson. Truth be told, there isn't much record of Robinson's life. At best, we have a handful of stories from his life, some of which may or may not be true. What we do know is that Robinson was born in 1735 in Suffolk, England; that he lost his father at the age of 8; and that in his teenage years he ended up in London, where he fell in with a gang. The story goes that around the age of 17, he and his friends were harassing a Romani fortune-teller when she singled him out and told him, "You will live to see your children and grandchildren." For whatever reason, this encounter had a profound effect on Robinson, because shortly after, he wandered into a tent revival where none other than George Whitefield, the great Methodist evangelist, was preaching on the words of John the Baptist in Matthew 3. This set of circumstances led to a three-year period of transformation, culminating in Robinson finding the "full and free forgiveness through the precious blood of Jesus Christ" (his own words) at the age of 20. Two years later, he penned the poem that would become the text for "Come Thou Fount."
But Robinson's story doesn't end at the age of 22. He moved from the Methodist church to Congregationalism, eventually settling in the Baptist tradition, where he became a preacher for close to thirty years. Throughout his life and ministry, however, he seemed to struggle deeply with his faith, though the exact details of his struggles are unclear. Out of this period of Robinson's life comes a very powerful story. (This particular story may only be a legend, but it is still impactful.) The story goes that Robinson was traveling by stagecoach with a woman he didn't know. This woman started humming the tune to "Come Thou Fount," which piqued Robinson's interest. Not knowing who he was, she asked him how he felt about the song, to which he is said to have responded, "Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then." Hearing the heartbreak in his response, the story goes that the woman replied, "Sir, the streams of mercy are still flowing." Now, whether the various stories of Robinson's life are historical fact or not, they illustrate the message of the hymn well. Here was a man who knew firsthand the reality of struggling and wandering, even after having his life changed by Jesus, and the need to rely on him more and more every day.

Verse 1

 Come Thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it
Mount of Thy redeeming love
Though it contains a lot of flowery language and poetic imagery, at its core this verse is a reflection on the joy of salvation. About a year ago at the time of writing, I preached a sermon on worship from Romans 12:1-2. One of my main points was that worship is our reasonable response to God. What I mean is simply that, if we truly recognize who God is and what he has done for us, worship is the only appropriate response. When we are confronted with the majesty of God and the abundant blessings he has poured out on us through Jesus, any other response would simply be unreasonable. But in order to arrive at that response, we must constantly remind ourselves of the truths that should lead us to worship. So it's appropriate that this song begins with a reminder of who Jesus is. He is the "fount of every blessing" - the ultimate source from which all blessing flows. From him flow "streams of mercy, never ceasing." His mercy and grace toward us are unending. No matter how far we fall or how empty we feel, his grace is more than sufficient to meet our needs.
But even when we recognize these truths, worship may not come naturally or easily. We may recognize that worship is the only right response, but we may not feel that we have anything to offer in return. Often, it's when we come to Jesus in our time of greatest need that we have little to give back in worship. But this song also reminds that, in those moments, worship might look like asking God to help us worship. When our hearts are out of tune with God, he is the one who tunes them and brings them back into harmony with himself. When we don't have a song to offer, God is the one who teaches us a new song. The grace that inspires us to worship is the same grace that enables us to worship. Jesus is the beginning and the end of all our worship.

Verse 2

Here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by Thy help I've come
And I hope by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood
Let's start by addressing the elephant in the room: What the heck is an Ebenezer? I admit that most of my life I never questioned or thought about this line. Only recently did I decide to do a quick Google search to figure out what it meant. Apparently the line comes from a story in 1 Samuel 7, and it's likely that Robinson wrote this poem to accompany a sermon on this passage. In the passage, the Israelites come to Samuel and promise that they will stop worshiping foreign gods (we've heard that one before, right?) if God will help them defeat the Philistines. Samuel agrees to pray and make sacrifices on their behalf as they go out to battle. In the end, the Israelites win a decisive victory and drive the invading Philistines out of their land. In commemoration of the even, Samuel sets up a stone at the site of the battle and calls it Ebenezer, which means "stone of help." So an Ebenezer has come to mean a reminder of what God has done in the past which encourages obedience and hope in the future.
So what's the Ebenezer that this song wants us to remind us of? Simply put, it's Jesus. It reminds us that, while we were strangers wandering away from God, Jesus sought us out and rescued us by shedding his blood on our behalf. It's only through Jesus that we are restored to God and called his people. And it is only through Jesus that we can endure to the end. The power that rescued us and brought us victory is the same power that will carry us safely to the end. As another great hymn proclaims, "'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home."

Verse 3

Oh to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be
Let Thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart Lord
Take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above
Before we get too far into this verse, I want to invite you to take a step back with me and just observe how odd these words are for a worship song. In general, human need for God is not an uncommon theme in our worship. We often sing about our weakness prior to following Jesus in order to further demonstrate God's grace and mercy. But what's unusual in this instance is the honesty about struggling to remain faithful to God even after beginning to follow Jesus. Very rarely in worship do we sing about how, even as followers of Jesus, our hearts are still inclined to wander from God.
Maybe now you can see why I think that this song is such a beautiful reflection of not only Robert Robinsons' life, but the life of every believer. No matter how much we recognize that we ought to worship, no matter how much we remind ourselves of who God is and what he's done, we are in a constant state of need for Jesus. Our need for him doesn't end when we receive forgiveness or start following him. Our hearts are in the process of being transformed, but precisely because this is a process we will never outgrow our need for grace. All three verses of this song are true at the same time. We have experienced God's grace through Jesus and been restored to him in the past, but we still have a daily need for that same grace in order to remain in him. And in remaining in Jesus, our greatest need is met. What is that need? For that, let's look at the final section of the song.

Chorus

My restless heart finds rest in You
At this point, some of you will be confused why we didn't finish with verse 3. Even if you remember this version of the song from our own worship services, you might already know that this section of the song is not original to Robert Robinson. These words were only added in a very recent arrangement by a group called the Worship Circle, along with Charlie Hall. Their inspiration, however, is far older than even the hymn. They come from the fourth century AD, from the pen of St. Augustine of Hippo. In his Confessions, an autobiography of sorts and arguably one of the greatest pieces of Christian literature outside of the Bible, Augustine tells the story of his early life and his conversion to Christianity. He begins this work with a prayer that in many ways sums up his own life. In this prayer, he pens the famous line, "You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you." I don't have the time or space to recount Augustine's life for you here, but trust me when I say that this line is a beautiful summary of his journey, and indeed of every believer's experience coming to follow Jesus. 
Restlessness is a fundamental part of the human experience, and it manifests in many ways. The most obvious ways are in the sinful desires that the Bible warns against. We are dissatisfied with what we have, and want what we do not have, so we covet and steal. We build up wealth and possessions for ourselves to give us a sense of security or comfort. But the more we have the more we realize how unfulfilling material gain actually is, so we amass more and more. But even if we set aside sinful desires, restlessness manifests in other ways. We want to be part of something bigger than ourselves, so we commit ourselves to causes intended to make the world a better place. Or on a smaller scale, we want to feel accomplished so we pursue a new hobby, a new experience, a new relationship. The exponential growth of the self-help industry in my lifetime is a sign that people simply want to feel fulfilled. And this is not a bad thing. In fact, it's what we should expect if we believe the story of the Bible.
Scripture teaches us that humanity wasn't an accident. Much more than that, we were created with a purpose in mind. Sometimes in philosophy, we talk about a thing's telos - Greek for "end" or "goal" - the purpose for which a thing is intended. This purpose is fundamental to what it means to be that thing. A fundamental aspect of what it means to be a hammer is to drive nails, and a hammer that has lost its ability to do so would cease to be a hammer in the fullest sense. Likewise, Christianity witnesses to the fact that humanity was created with a telos, and that losing it means losing a fundamental aspect of what it means to be human. What is this telos? That has been the subject of much Christian thought over the last two millennia, so I won't presume to have the definitive answer. But if I had to sum it up, I would say that it is to walk in communion with God, as we did in Eden in Genesis 1-2. The problem is that in Genesis 3 we have lost the ability to fulfill this purpose. And this is the core of restlessness according to Christianity - losing our telos, losing a fundamental part of what it means to be human. Luckily, God didn't leave us unfulfilled and broken. He provided a solution to our restlessness: Jesus.
Jesus is the ultimate source of rest. He is Lord of the Sabbath. (Matt 12:8) He brings rest to the weary, offering a new way of life that is neither burdensome nor heavy. (Matt 11:28-30) Even more, he solves the problem of our restlessness. Humanity lost its communion with God. We were separated from him. But Jesus proclaims that, in him, the Kingdom of Heaven has come down to earth. (Matt 3:2; 4:17) God has come to walk with his people and commune with them again. Through his death and resurrection, we are reunited with God in Christ and his Spirit comes to dwell with us. In Jesus, humanity's telos is restored to us. We know once again what it means to be fully human. In Jesus, our restless hearts find rest once again.
]]> https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2026/02/19/come-thou-fount#comments 0 Christus Victor Cameron Clark https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2026/01/29/christus-victor Thu, 29 Jan 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2026/01/29/christus-victor

Christus Victor

More than a Song: The Theology of Our Worship

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” (Revelation 5:13 NIV)

Hey everyone! Thanks for taking time to check out this new series: More than a Song! In this series, we're going to be taking a deeper look at the theology of the songs of FBC Tecumseh - the Scripture behind them, what they teach us, or sometimes just weird stuff we don't usually think about, like what's an Ebenezer? (Hint: not Scrooge.) Hopefully, this will help us to better connect with the songs we sing week in and week out as a church. I know better than most how easy it is to fall into the habit of just repeating words on a screen, following a melody, and not having a single active thought relevant to actually worshiping the Lord. Hopefully, this will revitalize your understanding of our worship or even help you to love for the first time a song that you never really paid attention to. If one person gleans one nugget of wisdom or inspiration from this series, I consider that a success.
Now, I thought it would be appropriate to begin this new series with a new song: Christus Victor by Keith and Kristin Getty. Depending on when you read this (and how long it takes me to write), you may or may not have heard it yet. Regardless, it is an especially dense song and there is a lot we could explore. I don't have the time or space to exegete or explain every single bit of Scripture that informs this song, but we'll look at a few central passages, as well as some of the theology behind it. Additionally, the Getty's have a great article on the writing of this song on their own website. This post will be a mix of expanding on things that they said, as well as adding my own insights. Again, hopefully something here helps you to connect with the song just a little more and allows you to worship God through knowledge and understanding. With that in mind, let's dive in!

Verse 1

O Most High, King of the ages 
Great I AM, God of wonders 
By the blood You have redeemed us 
Led us through mighty waters 
Our strength, our song, our sure salvation
In this verse, the writers connect the Old and New Testament in a subtle way. If you look at lines 3 and 4, you see them connecting Jesus' sacrifice on the cross to God leading Israel through the waters on their way out of Egypt, all the way back in Exodus. This is a common theme in the Gospels - that Jesus is a new Moses, redeeming his people out of captivity and leading them to new life. Our captivity may not be an outward one - we may not be physically enslaved in the same way that the Israelites were to Egypt - but we are inwardly enslaved to sin.
Sin dictates our lives in many ways. It tells us that we know better than God, so that we begin to trust our own wisdom. Maybe we dictate good and evil for ourselves, without the guidance of the revelation of Scripture. Maybe we seek good things, but we want them on our terms and not God's terms. Sin also tells us that we are better than others. We can justify abuse and mistreatment of others because sin tells us that we are better than them, more deserving than them, or worth more than them. In one way or another, we all live at some point as slaves to sin.
But this song reminds us that, just as Moses led God's people out of captivity to Egypt, Jesus leads his people out of captivity to sin. His sacrifice pays the price of our freedom, and as we follow him through the waters of baptism, he leads us into a new way of life that is not dictated by sin. He shows us what it looks like to live in complete obedience to God, trusting his wisdom over our own. He also shows us how to love our neighbor as ourselves, seeking the good of others through sacrificial service, rather than taking from them in pursuit of sinful self-exaltation. Jesus even sends us the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us and transform us as we live in obedience to God, so that we don't have to do any of this on our own. Praise God that he hears the cry of his suffering people, redeems us by paying the price of our freedom, and leads us into a new way of Kingdom living!

Chorus

Now to the Lamb upon the throne 
Be blessing, honor, glory, power 
For the battle You have won 
Hallelujah! Amen
With every tribе and every tongue 
We join the anthem of the angels 
In the triumph of the Son 
Hallelujah! Amen
This chorus pulls from Revelation 5:13. (Scroll back up if you want to read this verse.) As I've reflected on this chorus and the Scripture behind it, I noticed a small interpretation the Getty's make that I think is helpful to point out. In the larger context of Revelation, the One who sits on the throne is distinct from the Lamb, so that it has traditionally been understood that the One on the throne is God the Father, while the Lamb is God the Son, Jesus. The Getty's, however, do NOT make this distinction. Instead, as you'll see in the first line of the chorus, they present an image where the Lamb himself sits upon the throne. Now, before heresy hunters start complaining about altering Scripture or collapsing the Trinity, I think the song makes an important interpretive point. The Lamb who was slain to "purchase persons for God from every tribe and language and people and nation" (5:9) is the same God who sits on the throne, rules and judges heaven and earth, and receives worship from every part of Creation. In other words, the same Jesus who died and was buried also lives and reigns over all Creation. A full picture of who Jesus is and what he does requires that we remember not just his death and sacrifice, but also his victory over the powers of sin and death, as well as his resurrection and ascension to rule over the heavens and the earth. (More on this in a later section)
I also want to make a quick note about the word "amen." I think it would be fair to say this word gets used more than almost any other word in the Christian vocabulary, other than maybe God or Jesus, but ironically I think it's also one of the least understood. We know that we're supposed to say it at the end of prayers, and sometimes when the pastor says something you agree with. (Not Baptists, though. God forbid we show any emotion.) But outside of knowing when we should use it, most of us probably couldn't tell you what it means. It's actually a Greek word that we transliterate - or write in English letters - that simply means "truly." Eventually, it came to be a response of affirmation, like saying "let this statement be true."
This also helps to understand the point of the song's bridge a little bit better. I won't devote a whole section to it, because it's only one word repeated. And, admittedly, singing the word "amen" over and over again seems odd at first glance, but we can understand it as simply an affirmation of everything we just sang in the rest of the song. Singing it three times (three bridges, each with three "amens") is following an old Hebrew tradition. Repeating a word once was a way of upping the degree or intensity of it. Repeating it three times was taking it to the max. This is why we sing "holy, holy, holy." God is not just holy, or super holy, he is the most holy. Likewise, saying "amen" three times is a way of affirming something to the highest degree. I don't just agree with this a little bit, or a lot a bit, but I affirm this with every ounce of my being, so that I am willing to devote myself completely to the truth of this thing. Now I'm probably interpreting a little bit, but you get the idea. "Amen" is a way of affirming the truths we proclaim, both through our prayers and through our songs.

Verse 3

O Most High, King of the nations 
Robed in praise, crowned with splendor 
On that day who will not tremble? 
When You stand Christ the Victor 
Who was, and is, and is forever
I know I'm skipping the second verse, and it bothers me, too. But, as I said in the beginning, I simply don't have the time in this little blog to look at every single detail of the song. So don't think it's because verse 2 is shallow or not as rich. You should definitely take time to meditate on what it teaches as well. I skipped ahead because I want to hone in on one phrase in verse 3 that is central to this whole song: "Christ the Victor." If you haven't picked up on it yet, this is the title of the song in English.
"Christus Victor" is the Latin version of the phrase, which is where the song gets its name. It kind of sounds like the English version if you say it like an Okie. Interestingly, however, this phrase doesn't pop up in the records of the early church, who actually spoke Latin. It was actually coined much later, in 1931 by a Swedish theologian named Gustaf Aulén. Aulén used it to refer to his theory of the atonement. Before we go any further, let's ask the question most of you are already asking: What is atonement theory? (Some of you just rolled your eyes or groaned. That's fair. Unfortunately for you, this is my favorite part.)
First, atonement is the theological term we use to refer to Christ's death on the cross, as well as the effect that it has on humanity. Atonement theories are ways of attempting to understand and explain what exactly that effect, or those effects, is or are. For example, the atonement theory the majority of people are most familiar with, whether or not you know it by name, is penal substitution - penal referring to penalty, and substitution referring to... well... substitution. This theory of the atonement explains the effects of Christ's sacrifice as a substitutionary suffering of the penalty that we deserve. In other words, because of our sin, we deserve a certain penalty, namely death. Rather than paying that penalty ourselves, Jesus serves as a substitute on our behalf and pays our penalty by his death on the cross. Those who believe in and follow him have their penalty paid and are not condemned to the penalty of death anymore.
Aulén's theory, Christus Victor, describes the effect of the atonement as Christ having victory over death. This theory doesn't get as much airtime in Baptist theology, so there is a lot about it we could explore. But most simply, this theory says that the effect of Christ's death is that he is established as the victor over sin and death. On the cross, Jesus let sin and death, embodied in the Jewish opposition and the Roman Empire, do their worst to him. But in his resurrection, he demonstrates his mastery over sin and death by rising again, and in such a way that death can never touch him again. Additionally, in granting the same Holy Spirit that raised him from the dead to his followers, Jesus robs sin and death every time someone steps into new life with him.
Now a bit of interesting (to me) background. Aulén developed and put forth this theory in response to the dominance of "satisfaction" theories, like penal substitution, in the Church. In his view, during the medieval period and especially the Reformation, the Church had become almost too fixated on one aspect or effect of the atonement, at the cost of other important ones. Now, we can have a debate about whether Aulén was right or about which theory of atonement is most important (I tend to think they're all equally important), but the point is that, without a healthy recognition and celebration of the resurrection, we run the risk of seeing Jesus only as the slain Lamb. Again, this is an essential aspect of who he is. But just as essential is the view of him as the King who has victory over sin and death and who reigns even today. Both are equally true and equally important. Likewise, our worship and the songs we sing should celebrate not just the cross and its effect on us, but also the resurrection and its effects on all of Creation.

We worship a God who is the slain Lamb, risen Victor, and reigning King.

]]> https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2026/01/29/christus-victor#comments 0 Mission: Alaska 2024 (Day 8 - Friday) Clint Bryant https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2024/06/08/mission-alaska-2024-day-8-friday Sat, 08 Jun 2024 08:42:08 +0000 https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2024/06/08/mission-alaska-2024-day-8-friday
Day 8
The last of VBS ended great with 44 attending. The total enrollment was 56 with the weekly average of 47. All of the VBS workers enjoyed a delicious lunch at the church which included some red salmon.  We left for Anchorage at 1:15 and arrived there at 7:00 pm. The scenery was as beautiful the second time as it was the first. We saw one moose & a calf! Upon arrival in Anchorage we immediately went to eat then to our AIRB&B to get a little sleep since we were needing to get up at 3:00 am to get to the airport at 4:00 am.
]]> https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2024/06/08/mission-alaska-2024-day-8-friday#comments 0 Mission: Alaska 2024 (Day 7 - Thursday) Clint Bryant https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2024/06/07/mission-alaska-2024-day-7-thursday Fri, 07 Jun 2024 09:42:25 +0000 https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2024/06/07/mission-alaska-2024-day-7-thursday
Day 7
Today Started with another drizzly day but still great. Having time to visit together before we head out is an encouraging time.

What a blessing each team member is.

We Have continued to increase in attendance each day with a total of
47 today. They don't let a little rain and cool stop them up here.

In my (Carolyns) Kindergarten class their are several challenged students that can be extremely Challenging but God sent a much needed Miracle. Two brothers just moved here this week. One with Autism and the other some social issues. Yesterday was extremely trying, exhausting and emotional. Having worked with Special Needs and having an autistic Granddaughter my heart was breaking for the boys and their parents. Plus physically tired from trying to engage and corral them. As I'm trying to get one of the boys to cooperate but not having much success his mother walked in to pick him up and was so embarrassed he was in the middle of his difficult actions. She kept apologizing over and over. We reassured her not to be sorry that this is what we are here for.  By the end my emotions just needed a time to cry and pray.

Cheryl, Phil and I were asked to eat lunch with a couple of church members. While we were sitting there, in came the boys and their family. When seeing me they were over filled with excitement and hugs. Like they had never been  upset or difficult. Nothing remaining of their frustration. All smiles and excitement. Oh, how my heart and Spirit needed that. How amazing it is to serve a God who knows your heart and your needs then orchestras the exact thing to encourage you. The parents were over filled with appreciation. It totally made not only my day but my whole trip.  God sent us a break through. Today we had a special bond and the day went amazing. When telling their Mother how great they did today her words rang out in tears..."You don't know how happy it makes my heart to hear this ...Thank you so much." I certainly forever will keep these boys and their family in my prayers. We came to be a Blessing but I received the blessing.

We have continued to raise money  for the Alaska Disaster Relifef. Each 100 dollars raised fills a bucket of items to help those in disaster areas. We have raised enough for 6 buckets so far.

Phil has used his time here to help do many repairs on the church. Spotting issues that need to be addressed with the building.

Trouble shooting and repairing the heating system in 2 classrooms. A couple of smaller issues. Helping to repair a snow damaged fence of one of their widows. They have picked his brain on many things they needed help repairing in the future. He is certainly in his element doing this.

The people here have certainly treated us all so lovingly. It makes you feel like you've been here forever.

After VBS we came back to cook Breakfast for lunch and spend some time together before Family night tonight. We can't wait to see all the kiddos singing their songs and reciting their memory verses.

Afterwards we plan to take a drive to hopefully locate some of the local bears. The beauty of this land is breathtaking.

To wrap it up I can say we have all worked extremely hard to make this a VBS they will never forget. We know we won't.

Thank you for all your Prayers and support.
See you soon.
 
]]> https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2024/06/07/mission-alaska-2024-day-7-thursday#comments 1 Mission: Alaska 2024 (Day 6 - Wednesday) Clint Bryant https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2024/06/06/mission-alaska-2024-day-6-wednesday Thu, 06 Jun 2024 07:53:05 +0000 https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2024/06/06/mission-alaska-2024-day-6-wednesday
Day 6
Wednesday has come and so has the rain! We had to trade out our shorts and t-shirts for rain jackets and boots! Despite the gloomy weather, we were still going strong with 43 students at VBS!

Afterwards, Pastor David treated a group of us to tours of 2 more museums, showing us the rich history of this little town. How events such as the 1964 earthquake and the Exxon Oil Spill both devastated Valdez, while also making it stronger.

We braved the weather to join the church family in a bonfire on the beach! While we were waiting, we took advantage of the scenery and went walking on one of the many trails this town offers. We even saw a bald eagle on the way!

As we are on the downhill slide of our mission, some of our team have fallen ill. Whether it’s from the weather change, or just exhaustion, please pray for us as we push through our final days and plant more seeds in the lives of the kids and families.

Now, it’s past our bedtime ~ Kaylee and Taryn (the young girls)

(Haha jokes on us, Vicki and Tony took us bear hunting! The proof is in the pictures!)
]]> https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2024/06/06/mission-alaska-2024-day-6-wednesday#comments 0 Mission: Alaska 2024 (Day 5 - Tuesday) Clint Bryant https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2024/06/05/mission-alaska-2024-day-5-tuesday Wed, 05 Jun 2024 06:59:51 +0000 https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2024/06/05/mission-alaska-2024-day-5-tuesday
Day 5
We began our second day of VBS with prayer time at 8:30 a.m. VBS attendance increased by thirteen students compared to the first day. The team was excited to meet the needs of students and support First Baptist Valdez VBS workers. First Baptist Church Valdez has made our group feel quite welcome and supported, allowing for a cohesive partnership between the two sister Churches. Students and workers gave an offering of more than $300.00 to support Alaska Disaster Relief, of which Pastor David and Cindy Bradley are members.

Following VBS, the team had lunch at the Bradley’s where they were served a scrumptious meal featuring native Red Salmon and Pacific Cod. Members of the team were then given a tour of the Maxine and Jesse Whitney Museum, located at Prince William Sound College in Valdez, which featured collections of Native artifacts, Valdez history, and native taxidermy specimens. Cindy gave some members a tour of local sites while explaining their historical significance. Groups were able to explore the scenic areas and enjoy the unseasonably warm and dry weather which is forecasted to change to possible rain and snow tomorrow. The team met for their evening devotional dealing with team unity, then each member described their Grow, Connect, Serve mission trip experiences up to this point, resulting in increased unity.
]]> https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2024/06/05/mission-alaska-2024-day-5-tuesday#comments 1 What is Worship? Cameron Clark https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2024/06/03/what-is-worship Mon, 03 Jun 2024 17:12:58 +0000 https://fbctecumseh.org/blog/2024/06/03/what-is-worship
What is Worship?
Worship is a word that most churches and followers of Jesus are all too familiar with. It doesn’t take long to see that it’s present all throughout Christian culture. Just look at any given church and you’ll find the word “worship” somewhere. One church might call the music portion of their gathering “praise and worship.” Another might welcome people to gather in their “worship center.” Still another might simply call their whole gathering a “worship service.” Wherever you might find the word posted around the church or sprinkled throughout our vocabulary, it seems that the idea of worship is important, perhaps even vital to the life of the church.
However, despite how often we use the word “worship”, it’s hard to tell what we really mean when we say it. If you were to go into a church and ask a few random people what exactly worship is, you might get a number of different answers. Most will say it has something to do with music. Some might say that there are other forms of worship, like prayer or reading the Bible. You may have encountered a snarky person in your Sunday School class who says something like, “Worship is about more than just the music.” But if you asked them to expand on that, they still wouldn’t be able to tell you what exactly worship is. No shame in that, I used to be that person.
And while none of these answers are wrong, they are, at best, only small pieces of a much larger picture. If worship is simply music, then what about people who aren’t gifted musically? Is their worship worth less than that of the musically talented? If praying is also worship, does that mean that every prayer I throw up when my check engine light comes on is an act of worship? If it’s an attitude, then what attitude is it? And can I only worship when I feel that way? I ask these questions simply to show that the common ways we try to explain worship don’t give us a clear answer about what worship is. And if we can’t answer that question, it’s hard to answer the equally important questions of how and why we worship. So in this blog post, I’m going to do my humble best to tackle the question: “What is worship?”
As I began to think through this question for myself, my first response as a good Baptist-raised boy was to see what the Bible says about worship. Then the OBU graduate in me asked what the original Greek and Hebrew words for worship were. Now I can hear the groans even as I’m (re)typing this in my office by myself on a quiet morning, so don’t worry, I filtered out all the nerdy stuff as best I could (no promises, though). But if anyone is interested and wants to read more about these words themself, I got all the information below from the Bible Hub, so feel free to read more over there.
We’ll start in the Old Testament with the most common Hebrew word translated as worship, which is the verb shachah (pronounced “shaw-khaw”; pro-tip – clear your throat to make the “ch” sound). It occurs 172 times in the Old Testament, and in addition to being translated as some form of “to worship,” it is also commonly translated as some form of “to bow down.” In fact, most concordances give “to bow down” as the primary definition of shachah. In quite a few cases, it’s even used alongside some other word that also has to do with bowing or lowering oneself. So to shachah is not just to sing a song or say certain nice things to God, but involves the imagery of physically lowering oneself as a sign of respect.
Moving on to the New Testament, the most common Greek word for worship is the verb proskuneó (pronounced “pros-koo-neh-o”). It occurs sixty times in the New Testament and the technical definition is “to do reverence to,” but because that’s awkward in modern English, it is most often translated simply as some form of “to worship” or “to bow down.” Sound familiar? One additional detail about this word is that it’s a compound word made from the two Greek words pros, meaning “toward,” and kyneo, meaning “to kiss.” Because of this, scholars have generally concluded that proskuneó is meant to invoke the image of someone bowing down before a king or ruler in order to kiss the ground in front of them. You might have seen something like this in a TV show or a movie set in the ancient world. That’s the image that the word proskuneó is trying to conjure up.
So why are any of these details important? From these two words, we get an image throughout the Old and New Testament of worship as bowing down before God. Whenever the biblical authors talk about worship, they are not talking about a set of religious practices or singing the Psalms. Rather, when they talk about worship, they are referring to the way that we stand (or bow) before God. In other words, for the biblical authors, worship is not an action, but a posture. That gets us closer to answering our original question, but now the question is: What is a posture of worship?
I would guess that when most people hear the word posture, they think about whether someone slouches or not, and maybe how that conveys respect or lack thereof. I think about how I was often told before some kind of important interview to sit up, maintain eye contact, and just generally communicate respect through my body language. An example that comes to mind is the military. Each branch teaches early on that when an officer of a certain rank enters an area, anyone of a lower rank is required to stand at attention and salute until that officer permits them to relax. Now this is probably not quite as extreme as bowing before a king, and is certainly less striking than kissing the ground at their feet, but the message is the same: “This person has authority over me, and I am expressing respect for that authority.” Similarly, we can show respect and honor to God through our physical posture, and many churches still recognize that how we stand physically before God matters. A lot of traditional churches still have kneelers, which are cushions attached to the backs of the pews where worshipers are invited to (you guessed it) kneel at specific times throughout their services. Even here at FBC Tecumseh, we make a point before the musical portion of our service to invite people to kneel as they pray to prepare their hearts for worship.
However, we recognize that a certain physical posture alone is not enough for proper worship. When we think about worshiping through music, there are many postures we find acceptable for expressing worship and acknowledge that worship may look different for any given person. Jesus addresses a similar issue in John 4 when he speaks to the Samaritan woman drawing water from a well. For some reason which isn’t immediately clear, the woman expresses confusion over the proper place to worship, and in part of his response Jesus gives us the well-known line, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24 ESV, emphasis mine) So though our physical posture, location, etc. are important things to consider, they are not God’s primary focus in our worship of Him. Instead, if I can offer my own interpretation of verse 24, God is concerned with the posture of our hearts (spirit) and minds (truth). With that, we can get a little closer to what it means to adopt a posture of worship. To do that, let’s apply what we learned earlier from those Greek and Hebrew words, starting with the mind, building up to the heart, and finally arriving at a holistic view of worship which encompasses our whole state of being.
What does it mean to have the right posture with respect to our minds? I think a helpful illustration of this should look like is found in Genesis 2. In this story, God gives humanity dominion over the rest of creation, with the following rule: “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17 NET) As we know, humanity fails to obey this charge and, as a result, they lose the privileges of living in the garden and ruling the earth. But this dilemma about eating fruit also represents a choice that all humanity must make on a daily basis. The choice is this: humans must choose whether to trust God’s wisdom and receive knowledge of good and evil from Him, or to take knowledge and wisdom for ourselves and define them according to our own standards. To put it in more relevant terms, we have the choice to bow down with our minds and submit to receiving knowledge and wisdom from God, or to attempt to define those things for ourselves. Worship of our mind, then, is choosing to trust God’s revelation about the world and our place in it. This revelation is found first in the Bible, in which God communicates and tells the story of His people. But God also reveals much to us through the disciplines of the mind. He reveals certain knowledge about Creation through the disciplines of science and mathematics, and has gifted us with the ability to understand certain abstract truths through disciplines like philosophy. But as followers of Jesus, we acknowledge that all of these forms of revelation come from God first, and true and complete understanding only comes when we use these gifts in submission to Him. Solomon, one of the authors of Proverbs, captures all of this in one of his more popular sayings. “The beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord, and acknowledging the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10 NET)
Now, as we bow down to God with our minds by trusting Him for our understanding of Creation and our place in it, we can also bow down with our hearts by trusting Him with our very selves. Worship of the heart is this: giving my entire identity over to God in an ultimate act of trust and submission, recognizing that His will for my life is better than anything I could come up with. At face value, this may sound relatively simple. At its core, this is the basic message of the Gospel that many of us have heard for most of our lives. But as those of us who have tried to live it out can attest, it’s not simple and it’s definitely not easy. The Old Testament character Job is a testament to this truth.
By anyone’s standard, Job was a righteous man that even God does not find fault in. He trusted God in every way that we have already talked about, yet he ended up losing nearly everything, including all of his children and every bit of wealth he had to his name. On top of that, he never gets an answer as to why any of these things happened to him. After many pleas to God and a lot of arguing with some less than stellar friends, God shows up to Job and gives him something approaching an answer, but which is really a non-answer. As my favorite Bible scholar, Tim Mackie, puts it, God takes Job on a virtual tour of the universe. He shows Job great beasts that he couldn’t have imagined, as well as all these tiny details about the world that Job would have spent his whole life overlooking. Yet God tells Job that He is constantly mindful of all of these bits of Creation and daily provides for all these countless creatures. His response to Job throughout this revelation is the repeated question, “Where were you when I…?” Now I recount this story to bring us to Job’s final response, which I believe is a brutally honest picture that captures this heart posture of worship. Job finally says to God,
“I know that you can do anything,
and no one can stop you.
You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’
It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about,
things far too wonderful for me.
You said, ‘Listen and I will speak!
I have some questions for you,
and you must answer them.’
I had only heard about you before,
but now I have seen you with my own eyes.
I take back everything I said,
and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” (Job 42:2-6 NLT)
In the end, Job doesn’t really understand. God doesn’t provide a systematic answer as to why Job lost his family and his wealth. He doesn’t give Job a convoluted line of reasoning that shows how He is going to use this experience to “strengthen Job’s testimony.” All Job gets is the reality that, as wise and righteous as he is, he’s not as wise or as righteous as God. The kicker, which you should take with a grain of salt, is that Job is not all that happy about this. There is an emerging line of scholarship (as I said, take this with a grain of salt) which believes that Job is dissatisfied with God. He would still rather have an explanation of what the point of all this suffering is and why God allowed it. But, again, God doesn’t give him that. Yet, Job recognizes that God is still wise and, even though he’s not happy about it, ultimately submits his life to God. So he worships. He doesn’t pull out his book of Psalms and sing his suffering away. He doesn’t thank God for this opportunity to prove his faith and strengthen his testimony. All Job does – all he can do – is acknowledge that God is wise and that God has authority over all of Creation, including Job’s own life.
I know that when I began this conversation, it sounded like I was going to arrive at a more systematic, practical answer for what worship is. But as I reflect on Job, I’m reminded that worship is not that simple. It’s not some mystical function where you put in X-attitude/action and it produces Y-response. Worship is submission to God. In that sense, it’s simple. But the reality is that every person must trust God for themselves, and obedience will lead different people to different extremes. Many followers of Jesus, in submission to God, have already been called to lay down their lives, and many more will answer that call. That is their “true and proper worship,” as Paul puts it in Romans 12. For others, submitting their lives to God will lead them through a relatively peaceful life serving their communities and their local church, and that is just as much true and proper worship as losing your life for the Gospel. So I can’t give you a clear, prescribed method for worshiping God in your daily life that applies to every person. Instead, you, like Job, must acknowledge God’s wisdom and authority over your life. You must daily choose to live in obedience and submission to Him, whatever that looks like for you. And you must trust Him for understanding, also trusting that He is still wise and good, even if He chooses not to grant understanding to you. The best advice I can give is to make Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane your daily prayer. Father, not my will but Yours be done.
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