When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,Count your many blessings, name them one by one,And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. Count your blessings, name them one by one;Count your blessings, see what God hath done;Count your blessings, name them one by one,And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.   I’m thankful for the cross and the empty grave, that Jesus paid the price for my doubts and denials and

The Psalmist sang with joyful thanksgiving because of God’s greatness and grace!   “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness, through all generations” (Psalm 100:4–5). “Give thanks!”   “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart celebrates, and I give thanks to him with my song” (Psa

While Jesus had compassion for the Samaritan woman and encouraged her to worship “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24), He chastised the “Pharisees and scribes” (Matthew 15:1).   Quoting the Old Testament prophet (Isaiah 29:13), Jesus said: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines human commands” (Matthew 15:8–9).   The Samaritan woman, known to most of us as the “Woman at the Well,” was a despised h

I worship on Sundays at South Georgia Baptist Church. Maybe you worship somewhere else. Our church has a building with a large room especially equipped for our worship. Pulpit, piano, and pews… We call it the auditorium, the sanctuary, or the worship center.   Jesus had a discussion with a woman who was confused about the proper location for worship. “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem” (John 4:20).   Ten cent

King David sinned a great sin! Crushed by guilt and shame, David cried to the Lord for forgiveness! “I waited patiently for the Lord, and he turned to me and heard my cry for help. He brought me up from a desolate pit, out of the muddy clay, and set my feet on a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God” (Psalm 40:1–3). Forgiven, transformed, made new, David sang a new song!   The early church sang new songs. Most likely, the ch

Moses, with God’s precise blueprints, built the Tabernacle as a dwelling place for God’s glorious presence in the Wilderness (Exodus 25-40). Again, with God’s detailed instructions, Solomon was tasked with building the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 3-5).    When Solomon’s construction project was complete, the Nation was invited to come near. Like a shining beacon of light on a hilltop, the Temple symbolized God’s greatness and glory, His magnificence and majesty,

Congregations worship. Families worship. Individuals worship.   Worship includes sacrifice, surrender, and service… giving, serving, praying, singing, listening.   Adam and Eve worshipped. Noah worshipped. King David worshipped. Peter and Paul worshipped. And the angels in Heaven worship.   South Georgia Baptist Church worships. So do sister churches around our town and around the world … in Africa, Europe, India, the Far East and the Middle East.   The first time that the wo

After wandering in the Wilderness for forty years, the nation of Israel crossed the Jordan and began the conquest of the Promised Land. Their famous first battle was at Jericho, where God miraculously toppled the walls and defeated the enemy. Their second battle, against the smaller, less fortified city of Ai, included sin, defeat, repentance, and finally, victory.   Before another battle, God led the nation to Shechem, situated between two bald hills, the place where Jacob h

When you hear the word “worship”, what’s your first thought? Most people think of singing memorable old hymns or more contemporary choruses. Worship is singing about the Lord and to the Lord.   The word “worship” also conjures up thoughts of gathering with God’s people on a Sunday morning in a church’s sanctuary. We get together on Sunday mornings to pray, sing, and hear the Word of God proclaimed from the pulpit. Christians gather on the Lord’s Day to worship.   Paul defines

When the angels in Heaven gather around the throne of the Glorious One, they sing in spine-tingling harmony, “Holy, holy, holy!” (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8).   They don’t sing “almighty, almighty, almighty” or “omniscient, omniscient, omniscient” or “all-knowing, all-knowing, all-knowing” or even “gracious, gracious, gracious.” They sing “holy, holy, holy!”   After crossing the Red Sea and witnessing God’s greatness, Moses and the emancipated nation sang, “Lord, who is like