Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?” Matthew 16: 24-26 (See also Mark 10: 17-22 and Luke 9: 57-62!). Jesus didn’t mince words when explaining what following Him would mean. Reflecting on this fact, Christian musician, Bryan Sirchio, wrote a song called “Follow Me (87 times),” the chorus of which goes...

“Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful. Let Israel be glad in its Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.” Psalm 149:1-3. Song and prayer were constantly on the lips of many. It was simply their habit, and they were totally unselfconscious. The joy they shared was almost tangible.

“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2: 5-11. Jesus knew He was headed for death, a painful death. Unlike me, He chose not to take any action at all to avoid it, though I must suppose that, being fully human, He was frightened.

“For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.” Malachi 3:2b-4. A group of women were studying the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three which says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

“O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.” Psalm 95:6-7. There’s a popular song by Matt Redman called, “The Heart of Worship.” For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, here are the words:

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.’” Isaiah 6:1-3. I don’t know about you, but whenever I hear these words from Isaiah, I think of that great hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy.”

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:2-3. If you were raised in a Lutheran congregation as a child, there’s a very good chance that somewhere along the way you did some memory work with Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. (Of course, the chance is probably not so good that you remember all the stuff you once had memorized – but maybe some of it is still locked away up there!!!)

“O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!” Psalm 95:1-2. As a pastor friend of mine likes to say, “Worship is not a spectator sport, it is a participatory event.” That is to say, it’s not something that I come to “watch” on Sunday mornings, instead it is something that I “do.”

“Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long.” (Psalm 146:1-2). The psalmist is expressing his desire to worship God all of his life. I have worshiped God all my life, but I’m not sure that I have yet to match the psalmist’s enthusiasm for the worship of God. The psalmist says that he will worship God all his life, but I get the sense that he also means all day, every day.

“It is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Hebrews 10:10. One definition of “futility” would be for us to do the same thing over and over again but expect a different outcome each time. Now this may sound odd, but I would suggest we all routinely do this in our family and professional lives.