God spoke in our worship

Sunday, T & I attended First Baptist Church of Charleston. We had debated about where to attend church this week, as we've been attending a different one that we all like. But J & E were not with us this weekend, & this is a church we have wanted to visit for a long time. Afterward, we both agreed that this was where God wanted us on this day, because we needed the encouragement that this pastor presented in this message.


All passages are from:
New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984
by International Bible Society


The Unison Reading was from Psalm 63:1-7 (NIV)

A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.

1 O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.

2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.

3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.

4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.

5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.

7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.

The choir sang this meditation, a favorite that I sang with a choir many years ago:

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God
by Carl Mueller

Create in me a clean heart, O God;
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from Thy presence;
and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation;
and hold me, uphold me with Thy free Spirit.
Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways;
and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Then the pastor, Marshall Blalock, used these passages in his message:

Romans 8:1 (NIV)
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus...

Micah 7:8 (NIV)
Do not gloat over me, my enemy!
Though I have fallen, I will rise.
Though I sit in darkness,
the LORD will be my light.

Hebrews 12. The pastor's main emphasis from Hebrews 12 was on verse 6, but I have included more verses, because they really speak to me:

Hebrews 12:5-11
5And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Ephesians 3:14-21

A Prayer for the Ephesians

14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Sometimes, we've wondered where God is in all the changes we're facing right now. Sometimes it seems hard to see where He's leading us, but this message helped confirm that since we are in Christ, that He is always with us. We know these things, but it is comforting to be reminded.