Be Thou My Vision is an old Irish Hymn which celebrates the intimacy of God's presence with us, and pleads for more of it!

I have to be forced to see the wonder of God the creator as his glory is expressed in my family- I would miss it otherwise.
I have to be forced to reckon with the ways I have wronged the people nearest to me who are made in his image, and thereby wronged him- I would miss it otherwise.
I have to be forced to stop and remember that God loves me and has forgiven me because of what Jesus has done- I would miss it otherwise.
I have to be forced to participate wholeheartedly in worship, and not just mail it in while the people on stage do the religious performance. I have to be forced to make God's story MY story- I would miss it otherwise.

At CTK, for the duration of this pandemic, we will not live stream our service. NOT because its wrong (it isn't!), or unhelpful (it can be so helpful!), but because we believe that this is a great time to take responsibility for making the rhythms of worship our own. For taking responsibility for our own spiritual lives, instead of exporting that responsibility to the religious professionals. For reclaiming spiritual intimacy with those who live with us. For getting to know our own spiritual selves.

Here is a link to Christ Presbyterian Church Nashville's livestream on Sunday morning. But if you only do one thing this Sunday, do the liturgy. Pray together. Confess your sins. Sing a song. Read the Bible. Talk to one another about God, and talk to him about yourself and your circumstance. I will send out a short order of worship. with readings, prayers, and discussion questions that you can adapt to suit your household, I would encourage you to do it as a family or as an individual. What if God is calling us, in this Lenten season, amidst the disruption of our regular meetings, into a renewed closeness and intimacy with himself?

A quote:
“The way of Jesus cannot be imposed or mapped — it requires an active participation in following Jesus as he leads us through sometimes strange and unfamiliar territory, in circumstances that become clear only in the hesitations and questionings, in the pauses and reflections where we engage in prayerful conversation with one another and with him.” - Eugene Peterson

For discussion:
1. What are some of the ways we have tried to live vicariously through other people's spirituality? Do you want more? Its ok to be honest!
2. How do you feel about leading prayer and scripture reading with your family, or just doing it yourself? Don't judge that feeling... interrogate it! Why do you feel that way?
3. Guilt at past failures always prevents us from trying again. Do you see yourself as a beloved child, who the Father loves, and who he delights in even in our stumbling attempts to follow him? Can you hold that love in front of you? What a great time to dust yourself off and try again. Blame it on the pandemic!
4. Talk to your family or prepare yourself to read the Bible and pray this Sunday. What are their fears? Don't judge those fears...accept them. And yet... God promises to be with us when two or three are gathered in his name.

A prayer for God's courage, from the Lorica of St. Patrick:
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.
Amen.

“Rock of Ages” is a plea that God would not stop revealing us to ourselves until the truth is out there… and that he would be our comfort in this sometimes painful unveiling.

Apocalypse Now

Until we gather again as a community, CTK will release a daily devotional each morning. Each devotional will include a song to sing, a short devotional (to be read alone or with your family), questions for discussion or reflection, and a prayer. See the rest of our series on our blog.

Devotional
The word "apocalypse" has some strange associations. For some of us, "apocalypse" was a terrifying story told when we were children, to frighten us into behaving. For others of us, the impact is more corny than terrifying. But one thing that is true (or, was true, until a week ago) for all of us- apocalypse seems extraordinary, fantastical; something that happens in fiction.

The biblical usage of this genre of literature is very different from our modern American conception. The term "apocalyptic" actually means "unveiling, or revealing." Apocalypse is what happens circumstances in our lives reveal who we are, and what we are made of. An apocalypse pulls back the curtain to reveal the men and women underneath. No more hiding, no more pretending: in apocalypse we are exposed. Its not that we have a choice to make; it's more like the reality of the choices we have been making our whole lives is made plain to us ("you've been putting it up your whole life").

In this way of using the term, apocalypse doesn't happen out there, to somebody else. It happens to all of us, in little moments, every day. Moments where who we are and what we are becoming is revealed to us in a flash, in the way we respond to our situations- a jolt of anger, an unexpected kindness, a flash of shame. Sometimes these apocalypses pass in microseconds.

What has the recent version of apocalypse revealed about you? Your community? Your church? About who and what you love? About where you find security? About how you schedule your time?

What if apocalypse is both a tragedy, and an aid to devotion? God is calling us to take stock of our lives by exposing to us some pretty hard truths... and some pretty beautiful ones. Don't let this apocalypse go to waste- seek Jesus in the revealing.

For discussion:
1. What are some fears that have been exposed in you in recent days?
2. What are some hopes that have been exposed in you in recent days?
3. Take some time to sit with your family, or on a phone call, and tell one another some glory and some tragedy that has been revealed in one another over the past week.

A prayer for God's presence in apocalypse, from Psalm 139:

   [1] O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
   [2] You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
       you discern my thoughts from afar.
   [3] You search out my path and my lying down
       and are acquainted with all my ways.
   [4] Even before a word is on my tongue,
       behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
   [5] You hem me in, behind and before,
       and lay your hand upon me.
   [6] Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
       it is high; I cannot attain it.

   [7] Where shall I go from your Spirit?
       Or where shall I flee from your presence?
   [8] If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
       If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
   [9] If I take the wings of the morning
       and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
   [10] even there your hand shall lead me,
       and your right hand shall hold me.
   [11] If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
       and the light about me be night,”
   [12] even the darkness is not dark to you;
       the night is bright as the day,
       for darkness is as light with you.

   [13] For you formed my inward parts;
       you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
   [14] I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
   Wonderful are your works;
       my soul knows it very well.
   [15] My frame was not hidden from you,
   when I was being made in secret,
       intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
   [16] Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
   in your book were written, every one of them,
       the days that were formed for me,
       when as yet there was none of them.

   [17] How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
       How vast is the sum of them!
   [18] If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
       I awake, and I am still with you.

   [19] Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
       O men of blood, depart from me!
   [20] They speak against you with malicious intent;
       your enemies take your name in vain.
   [21] Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
       And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
   [22] I hate them with complete hatred;
       I count them my enemies.

   [23] Search me, O God, and know my heart!
       Try me and know my thoughts!
   [24] And see if there be any grievous way in me,
       and lead me in the way everlasting! (ESV)