Raw Worship – Peter Gowesky

Carry the conversation

May 26, 2009 4 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZhsHsCuR5g&feature=channel_page]

As usual, here is the rundown from last night’s service. Honestly, Sunday night was kinda funky, huh? There were just so many crazy things happening. Sound issues, technical issues, and all kinds of strange things… I know that I was feeling like there was something going on under the radar… With that in mind, can I challenge you to keep praying for the Five? We would really appreciate your prayer…

So, we were picking up in the series Raw Worship, where we take a look at what happens when worship and life collide. We were in Psalm 130 last night and we were taking a look at what does it mean to worship God in and through the waiting? As always we look forward to and encourage questions/comments, here are this weeks…

You mentioned that you are tired of all the “smallness”, referring to what we wait for God to do. What encouragement and assurance do we give to those God calls to do the boring, unpopular, uncool, and truly small tasks?

This specific comment was made by me while we were discussing the concept of hoping in the Lord. What I was referring to was how I feel that we as the Church for the most part do not expect God to do incredible things. I think that instead what we expect from God is for Him to show up and do small things (as I mentioned); pay the mortgage, make sure that the budget is met… etc… See here’s what I mean… Why are we shocked when we hear stories about how God provides miraculously… As if this was like an unbelievable feat for God to provide? I mean honestly, this is the God of the universe that we are talking about! Why is the box that we think/allow God to operate in so stinkin small? When we read verses like 1 Cor. 2:7-9, or Eph. 3:20. do we go, Man God is huge, or do we say, eh, God is pretty powerful I guess. I realize that we can’t comprehend how HUGE God is… so, why then do we make Him so small? Whew, I better stop here and actually answer the question before I turn this into a book…

The seemingly “small” tasks that we have the privilege to be responsible for are not just that: small and insignificant. Those types of tasks may be uncool, unpopular, and even monotonously boring. We would be sorely mistaken if we viewed God’s calling on our lives to be small and insignificant. The gifts and talents that God uniquely gives each one of us are given to us in order that we can bring honor to God, and cause others to see God for who He is… I don’t care if you are filling communion cups, or cutting the church lawn… Your role in this huge organization that God has established; The Church, is not insignificant. You are vitally needed. Paul was a hero for this cause… watch what he does here in Ephesians 4;

11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

To the one who feels marginalized, underused, unimportant, small, insignificant, negligible, frivolous, and peripheral: You are incredibly important. Your work may not be cutting edge, it may not be flashy and all that attention getting… In fact you may not be thanked or praised much, if at all. However, we work not for the approval of man. We work diligently, unswervingly, whole-heartedly dedicated to the cause of Christ! We sacrifice our time, efforts, talents, money, and everything else we have in order that we may see the Gospel go forward to just one more person. The part you play is vital in the ministry of the Gospel. Don’t you for one minute think that you are unimportant, expendable, or peripheral. Just because your task may be borin, unpopular, or uncool, I don’t believe for one minute that it is small. As a pastor I praise God for people like you. You are the types of people that allow me to do what I do. (Go do a study on Acts 6:1:7)

To the one who submitted this question: thank you! It is conversations like these that get me charged up to keep doing what I do, and to help equip others to keep doing what they do! It really is all about Jesus. It is about introducing more people to Him. We are all charged with that mission…

To those who have a public ministry, a flashy ministry, a lot of responsibility, get a lot of thanks because of the publicity of your position: Find three people today who are behind the scenes people; i.e. The counters, the janitors, the lawn maintenance guy, the one who changes the sign out front, the one who folds and stuffs the worship guide… THANK THEM FOR WHAT THEY DO! CHANCES ARE YOU WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO DO WHAT YOU DO IF IT WASN’T FOR WHAT THEY DO!

Who do you see in your church that is a great example of an unnoticed servant? Share their story! Click on the comment button below and let it rip… Let’s encourage one another…

Thankful for those behind the scenes people…

~Peter

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Carry the conversation

May 19, 2009 No Comments

Well as promised, we have some answers to some of your questions…

Why r we blessed?

The Israelites, the priests and the God-fearers (Psalm 115:8-11) were blessed because they chose to put their trust in God. They trusted God to save them, to be their help, to be their shield. We are blessed when (because) we choose not to have any idols (Psalm 115:4-7). We are blessed when (because) we choose to remind others of the many ways that God has worked in our lives, and in so doing we tell them that we serve an awesome God.

In Psalm 115 what indicates the purpose?

The purpose of God blessing us is so that we will in turn be a blessing to others. When God blesses us, He expects that we will in response to His blessing, then bless the next generation by reminding them of how God has specifically blessed us. That’s why we need to build altars, stones of remembrance. We need to creatively and personally decide what those altars will look like.

Who r the People watching the Israelites? (Nations)

The people watching the Israelites were the nations who were the neighbors of Israel. At that time they were the Moabites, the Edomites, the Syrians, the Egyptians, the Ammonites, the Canaanites, etc. etc.

Who R the nations 2 Day?

The “nations” for us are all the people within our sphere of influence who we have contact with in our day-to-day existence. The nations for us are all the people around us (in our sphere of influence) who do not yet have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Keep the questions coming… Let’s carry the conversation beyond just Sunday Night!

~Peter

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Carry The Conversation

May 5, 2009 2 Comments

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So we picked up the conversation in Psalm 52 this week in our series, Raw Worship. We are investigating what happens when worship and life collide, or what should happen when worship and life collide. It is inevitable that we are going to be faced with all kinds of circumstances, good, bad, and everything in between. The question must be then, how are we going to respond to God in the midst of these circumstances.

Dean Mellen once again picked up and smashed it out of the park. If you weren’t there and if you were unable to hear Dean, make sure you jump over here and listen… Then, jump in the conversation, let’s interact with each others thoughts and comments… See we are better together than we are apart. There is so much I can learn from you guys, and so much you can learn from each other!

Here are this weeks questions/comments with response from Dean…

1. A cruel and calculating slash of the tongue is far more painful and devastating than a wild and angry strike of the fist!

The difference between the tongue and the hand is the depth of the hurt that can be done.

When we strike someone with our hand, it causes physical pain. Physical injuries heal in a relatively short time, if the injury is not too severe. But, the tongue has the possibility of leaving what can almost be permanent damage. The damage done by the tongue can cause emotional, psychological, and/or mental anguish. Those types of damage do not heal quickly, if ever. With God’s help we can learn to forgive those who hurt us with their tongue.

When I was growing up we used to sing, “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me“. That is not true. The emotional scars that come from the tongue usually have far longer lasting results than what physical injuries carry with them. I agree that the tongue is far more painful and devastating than the hand. Paul agreed. Thatis why we rad in Colossians 4:6 “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”

2. We answered how do we respond to God in tragedy, but how do we respond to those who caused the tragedy?

David called upon God to deal with them according to their sin. He called down God’s judgment upon them. When we are in the midst of terrible tragedy, we tend to respond emotionally. Our first reaction may be to ask God to judge the sinner for his great sin.

Jesus taught us that as soon as we are able to, we need to move to forgiveness. When Jesus was on the cross (Luke 23) He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Stephen was being stoned to death (Acts 7) and he responded, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!”

This is not an easy thing to do, but it has been modeled in the Bible, and repeated time and time again by the saints over the centuries. With some of the mass murders that have been committed in the last decade, there are many stories of believers who responded in love when their children or loved ones were tragicly murdered.

Only by God’s grace will we know how to respond when we are confronted by a terrible tragedy.

Carry the conversation…

~Peter

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Carry the conversation

April 27, 2009 1 Comment

Good morning! What a monday… Whew… Last night at the Five we began a new series called Raw Worship. We are tackling the question what happen when worship and life collide? If you were not there last night, check out the podcast here, and then jump in the conversation.

As usual, we had a few questions come in. Get those phones out! Text some questions… Let’s go! Well, here are this weeks questions. Thanks to Dean Mellen for answering these… (I mean after all, he did just learn how to text…) Let’s interact… Here they are:

1. Choice… of wording, Punishment or Consequence? By definition they are VERY different. God disciplines those He loves. He does not punish but there may very well be consequences. Is there rationale for your choice of words in selecting punishment?

One of the greatest challenges as a communicator is to choose the right words to communicate your intended meaning. What word best communicates what the speaker wants the listener to understand? “Punishment” by definition implies the infliction of a penalty on a wrongdoer. The word can have other connotations too. Some people use it to mean the treatment of someone harshly or injuriously.

In Psalm 1:4-6 the wicked demonstrate that they are wrongdoers by the choices that they make. God punishes them by not allowing them to stand in the judgment. God’s punishment for the wicked is that they perish because of their choices. Sin does bring punishment as well as consequences. The wages of sin is death. When we sin, there is a penalty that will be inflicted upon us, if we do not deal with sin God’s way.

2. Isn’t it true God accepts all forms of worship?

Yes! But I guess I’m not getting the gist of the question. Did I say something that would make you think that God does not accept all forms of worship?

~Dean Mellen