A Worship Magazine
Easley Presbyterian Church
Easley, SC
August 2018 Vol. 4 Issue 4
A common thread that joins us together with Christ and with each other.
Joy in the Journey We are starting a new season with a new theme: “Joy in the Journey.” One of my favorite “journey” bible verses comes from Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Trying to follow and walk by faith can sometimes be a frightening thing to do. The word of God is not a “Spotlight” shining out into the distance, it is a lamp at our feet. And in that is the faith — we do not see our destination, we do not even clearly see the path — we see a small, dimly lit step. But in the light of the word of God, that one step is enough. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Learning to trust god in each of those steps is the beginning of finding the Joy of trusting in God. Another favorite “journey” verses comes from Micah 6:8 — “What does the Lord require of you? Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.” When I was younger, there was a lot of thought and prayer about “finding the will of God for my life”. And there is was in the little book of Micah — do justice, love mercy, and walk with God. (Easier said than done). Some days, the journey is more successful than others, but “God’s mercies are new every morning”. Wait patiently for the light at my feet, step into the journey; love deeply; walk with God. There is a joy in the journey—led by Christ, encouraged by one another, inspired by beauty along the way. As many of you may know, one of my favorite singer/songwriters is Michael Card. I have song many of his songs in our worship services. Many years ago, he wrote a song “There is a Joy
in the Journey”. When I heard about this year’s theme, I immediately thought of this song. This is a devotion that Michael Card wrote about this song.
“Joy in the Journey” click on title to listen That first Easter was an ordinary day. A good number of the Jews were probably in an inn halfway between their hometowns and Jerusalem, returning to the ordinariness of their daily routines, wondering to themselves how the joy of Passover could have disappeared so quickly from their hearts, thinking back to the wonderful feast of Passover as they sat in the motel, eating their peanut butter sandwiches (or whatever was their “ordinary meal”). Jesus chose an ordinary day to transform the world and give us a chance to know joy. Joy is hard to find on ordinary days, in the routine of daily life. If real joy is to be found it must come from the outside. On those mystical occa(continued on the back page)