When You Feel Inadequate
Worship
Bright Intervals
40 Brief Worship Services and Meditations for Any Occasion
Object:
Greeting and Call To Worship
The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship God in spirit and in truth. God is spirit, and those who worship God must worship in spirit and in truth.
Opening Prayer
Almighty God, we come into your presence with all our needs. We need your mercy to forgive us for our sins. We need strength to bear us up in our weakness. We need your wisdom to guide us in our perplexity. We need your courage to deal with our fears. We need your healing love to mend our broken hearts. O God, touch us with your life-giving Spirit, that we may be renewed in both body and mind in this time of worship. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Lord's Prayer
Special Hymn
"How Great Thou Art"
This wonderful hymn comes to us after almost seventy years of literary activity, involving several different writers and translators. The original writer was a Swedish pastor named Carl Gustav Boberg, who was a well-known preacher and religious editor and at one time a member of the Swedish Parliament. His initial title was "O Great God." A resident of Estonia translated the Swedish hymn into German, and from there it traveled to Russia where it was published in a book of Russian evangelical hymns. An English missionary couple, Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Hine, used this hymn in their work in the Ukraine, and then brought an English version back home to England during the Second World War. There they added the final verse, and named the hymn "How Great Thou Art."
Scripture Reading
John 6:1-13
Meditation
Almost everyone has heard of Michael Jordan, the great basketball player for the Chicago Bulls. Several years ago, in a pressure-packed playoff game, Jordan scored a record high 63 points! A few days after that game another Chicago Bulls player was being interviewed by the press. He was asked what was the highlight of his professional basketball career, and without a moment's hesitation he responded, "I'll never forget the night Michael Jordan and I combined for 65 points!"
Whenever I read this incredible story of Jesus feeding 5,000 hungry people with a little boy's barley loaves and fish, I recall the legend connected with this passage that says the little boy ran all the way home that night and burst into his house saying, "Mama, you'll never guess what Jesus and I did today!"
Do you see the common thread in both of those stories? Wonderful things happen when our little lives are linked with a source of power and greatness. The spiritual lesson in this story is that God can take our little and make it into a lot! If we offer God whatever we have, however inadequate it may seem, God can use it for amazing good.
The real hero in this biblical story is that little boy. If you were to visit the Holy Land today, you would see a wall with a mosaic on it depicting Jesus feeding the 5,000 people. What do you think that the early artist felt was most significant in this story? Was it the abundance of food? Was it the frantic disciples, wringing their hands in the face of so much need? Was it the hungry crowd crying out for bread? No, the central figure in the mosaic is the little boy handing over all he had, his five loaves and two fish, to Jesus. The message is still clear: if we bring whatever we have to the Living Christ, God can still make a lot out of our little!
History is full of examples of faithful women and men who brought to the Lord whatever they had, and dared to trust in our great God for all they needed. An old lady came to Booker T. Washington when he was trying to raise funds for the building of Tuskegee Institute. She was clad in rags, and obviously was a person with a very small income, but this is what she said: "Mr. Washington, God knows I have spent the best years of my life in slavery, and God knows I am ignorant and poor. But I know you are trying to make better men and women for the colored race, so I want you to take these six eggs I have been saving up, and use them to help those children get an education."
Booker T. Washington said afterwards that no other gift he ever received touched him so deeply. The story of that woman's willingness to share what little she had for the advancement of God's Kingdom touched hundreds of other hearts, and their financial gifts made Tuskegee Institute a reality.
So, bring your feelings of inadequacy; bring your worries and your troubles; bring God your time and your abilities no matter how limited they may be; and, most of all, bring God your trusting heart. Then watch as God once more makes a lot out of our little!
Closing Prayer
Teach us, O Lord, that you are a great God who is more than adequate to meet all of our needs. May we learn to trust you even as a little boy once trusted Jesus enough to give him his lunch in order to feed 5,000 people.
Benediction
Go now in peace, and know that God goes beside you, showing you the way. Amen.
The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship God in spirit and in truth. God is spirit, and those who worship God must worship in spirit and in truth.
Opening Prayer
Almighty God, we come into your presence with all our needs. We need your mercy to forgive us for our sins. We need strength to bear us up in our weakness. We need your wisdom to guide us in our perplexity. We need your courage to deal with our fears. We need your healing love to mend our broken hearts. O God, touch us with your life-giving Spirit, that we may be renewed in both body and mind in this time of worship. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Lord's Prayer
Special Hymn
"How Great Thou Art"
This wonderful hymn comes to us after almost seventy years of literary activity, involving several different writers and translators. The original writer was a Swedish pastor named Carl Gustav Boberg, who was a well-known preacher and religious editor and at one time a member of the Swedish Parliament. His initial title was "O Great God." A resident of Estonia translated the Swedish hymn into German, and from there it traveled to Russia where it was published in a book of Russian evangelical hymns. An English missionary couple, Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Hine, used this hymn in their work in the Ukraine, and then brought an English version back home to England during the Second World War. There they added the final verse, and named the hymn "How Great Thou Art."
Scripture Reading
John 6:1-13
Meditation
Almost everyone has heard of Michael Jordan, the great basketball player for the Chicago Bulls. Several years ago, in a pressure-packed playoff game, Jordan scored a record high 63 points! A few days after that game another Chicago Bulls player was being interviewed by the press. He was asked what was the highlight of his professional basketball career, and without a moment's hesitation he responded, "I'll never forget the night Michael Jordan and I combined for 65 points!"
Whenever I read this incredible story of Jesus feeding 5,000 hungry people with a little boy's barley loaves and fish, I recall the legend connected with this passage that says the little boy ran all the way home that night and burst into his house saying, "Mama, you'll never guess what Jesus and I did today!"
Do you see the common thread in both of those stories? Wonderful things happen when our little lives are linked with a source of power and greatness. The spiritual lesson in this story is that God can take our little and make it into a lot! If we offer God whatever we have, however inadequate it may seem, God can use it for amazing good.
The real hero in this biblical story is that little boy. If you were to visit the Holy Land today, you would see a wall with a mosaic on it depicting Jesus feeding the 5,000 people. What do you think that the early artist felt was most significant in this story? Was it the abundance of food? Was it the frantic disciples, wringing their hands in the face of so much need? Was it the hungry crowd crying out for bread? No, the central figure in the mosaic is the little boy handing over all he had, his five loaves and two fish, to Jesus. The message is still clear: if we bring whatever we have to the Living Christ, God can still make a lot out of our little!
History is full of examples of faithful women and men who brought to the Lord whatever they had, and dared to trust in our great God for all they needed. An old lady came to Booker T. Washington when he was trying to raise funds for the building of Tuskegee Institute. She was clad in rags, and obviously was a person with a very small income, but this is what she said: "Mr. Washington, God knows I have spent the best years of my life in slavery, and God knows I am ignorant and poor. But I know you are trying to make better men and women for the colored race, so I want you to take these six eggs I have been saving up, and use them to help those children get an education."
Booker T. Washington said afterwards that no other gift he ever received touched him so deeply. The story of that woman's willingness to share what little she had for the advancement of God's Kingdom touched hundreds of other hearts, and their financial gifts made Tuskegee Institute a reality.
So, bring your feelings of inadequacy; bring your worries and your troubles; bring God your time and your abilities no matter how limited they may be; and, most of all, bring God your trusting heart. Then watch as God once more makes a lot out of our little!
Closing Prayer
Teach us, O Lord, that you are a great God who is more than adequate to meet all of our needs. May we learn to trust you even as a little boy once trusted Jesus enough to give him his lunch in order to feed 5,000 people.
Benediction
Go now in peace, and know that God goes beside you, showing you the way. Amen.
