Praise and Thanksgiving

Yesterday our church had a service of celebration and praise. Our pastor began the service by reading from Psalm 29.

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,

Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

After we sang a few songs, there was an open mic for anyone who wanted to praise God for what he has done over the past year. There were some moving stories of renewed health, healed emotions, comfort in the midst of heartache, and answered prayer. A common thread was experiencing love, support, friendship, and community through house church.

Here's some of the things that I praise and thank God for.

• There is comfort in the midst of sorrow and hope in the midst of tears. 
• My parents' living out their faith in God's loving and sovereign control.
• After two years of living in the Twin Cities, I am in a living situation where some of my needs for friendship and community are met.
• I have finished the 1st semester of the occupational therapy program and I've been enjoying it.
• There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. I often condemn myself and that can feel like God's condemnation. In reality, his conviction is gentle, gracious and kind. He invites me to repentance while assuring me that I'm already accepted, loved and a full member of his family.
• The message of Colossians (where we spent a lot of time this year as a church) is that Christ lives in me so I can be thankful, kind, patient, pure, humble, forgiving and loving. I'm slowly learning what it means to live that out.

Back in August I wrote the words to a song based on what I had learned from Colossians. A friend wrote the tune and another friend sang it yesterday.

Jesus, Creator, Sustainer  

and the purpose of all things.

He is supreme, ruling in love,

preeminent over all.

He came into this broken world

crucified to bring us peace,

risen to conquer sin and death

the God-Man sets all things right.

This is Jesus living in us  

Reconciling us to God,

Making us holy and blameless

As we put our hope in him.

Christ above all authority

Sets us free from guilt and shame.

Made alive by him who fills us

He is our hope of glory.

He came into this broken world

crucified to bring us peace,

risen to conquer sin and death

the God-Man sets all things right.

This is Jesus living in us  

Reconciling us to God,

Making us holy and blameless

As we put our hope in him.

Jesus fills me leaving no place

for impurity, anger, covetousness or malice.

The old is gone, the new has come

Bringing kindness, thanksgiving, patience, forgiveness, and love.

This is Jesus living in us  

Reconciling us to God,

Making us holy and blameless

As we put our hope in him.