Founding Pastor Scotty Smith's Blog

A Prayer About Our Sea-less Future

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:20:00 GMT

A Prayer About Our Sea-less Future

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. Revelation 21:1

Dear heavenly Father, as the gift of fresh coffee helps my transition from a good night’s sleep into a new day’s mercies (Lam. 3:22-24), so your Word is quickening all of my senses. As you greet me this morning with your steadfast love, I can hear the roar of waves breaking along the Gulf coast. It’s a stormy morning—one which connects me with John’s hope-filled vision of our sea-less future.

How I praise you, Father, that this very universe… this very earth… this very beach has been bought back by Jesus. How I praise you, Father, that, even as you’re redeeming your sons and daughters from every single tribe, language, people and nation, so you are restoring the world, this world, in which you placed us. For as surely as the waters cover the sea, so the knowledge of your glory will cover the earth one Day (Habakkuk 2:14). The “passing away” of the first heaven and the first earth doesn’t speak of its replacement, but it’s restoration… to which I say a very loud, “Hallelujah!”

I smile really, really big when I try to image the glorified beaches of the new heaven and new earth. I can hardly wait for Day when I get to hear (and join!) “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them singing: ‘to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!’”

Indeed, Father, John’s vision is not about a beach-less future, but a “sea-less” one—an eternity and a world delivered and devoid of all chaos and evil—no more sea-beasts, only beauty… no more angry leviathan, only dancing dolphin… no more tempest, only the triumph of the Lamb!

I can only imagine such a glorious state of affairs… but may John’s vision compel and propel me and my friends to engage, not retreat… to show up, not disappear… to be filled with missional hope and gospel-servanthood as we seek first your kingdom and the righteousness that is by faith... as we wait expectantly for that Day. So very Amen, I pray, in the name of our resurrected and reigning King, Jesus.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About the Restoration of Joy

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:17:00 GMT

A Prayer About the Restoration of Joy

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Psalm 51:12

Dear Lord Jesus, I’m realizing afresh that Lent, like the rest of the Christian life, is a personal but not a privatized affair. I cannot seek you alone and remain alone. Soon after I bring my longings and needs before you, you expand my gaze to see the faces and engage with the cries of others. Your words to Peter echo in the chambers of my meditation. “Do you love me? Then feed and care for my lambs.” Any fresh grace-bread you bake and serve me is always to be shared.

So today, I bring before your occupied throne of grace a whole bevy of family members, friends, and colleagues. Every one of us is like King David. Every one of us has stories of failure and fear… disconnect and disillusionment… brokenness and brooding… heartache and heart-need. The details of our stories differ, but each of us needs you, Jesus, just as much as the other.

So I ask with confidence… I appeal with hope, restore to us the joy of your salvation for us, Lord Jesus. It’s your salvation, because we could never ever save ourselves. Like Jonah, we humbly cry from within our own hard places, “Salvation comes from the Lord!” (Jonah 2:9). Bring us back to the joyful, childlike love we had for you at first, Jesus (Revelation 2:4)—a love totally generated in response to the undeserved, unparalleled, unwavering love you have for us (1 John 4:19).

For your joy is our strength, Jesus—strength for repenting… strength for obeying… strength for hoping… strength for serving others… above all, strength for adoring you, for you alone are worthy of our heart’s attention, affection, and allegiance.

The only sacrifice we cling to is yours, Jesus. Only your cross… only the gospel enables us to offer up a contrite heart free of all condemnation… a broken spirit free of all self-contempt. And we cry out together, “Hallelujah, what a salvation! Hallelujah, what a Savior!”

So very Amen, I pray… we pray, in your most holy and loving name.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About My Prayin'

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:55:00 GMT

A Prayer About My Prayin’

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt… Colossians 4:2-6

Dear Lord Jesus, as I try to maintain a prayerful focus during this season of Lent, I’m increasingly aware of my trigger-happy distractibility. I feel like such a prayer-pigmy. Giving heart to my prayer list soon morphs into thinking about my “to-do list,” or my grocery list, or my laundry list of all kinds of things just hanging out there screaming for my attention.

So today, I want to pray about my prayin’. When I threw out a lot of my old prayer formulas, Jesus, I didn’t really replace them with anything much better, so teach me to pray—free for a life of prayer.

Just meditating through this one passage reminds me, yet again, that everything must be gospel-driven, including prayer. Jesus, there’s no way I’m going to engage with Paul’s admonition to devote myself to prayer if I’m not increasingly aware of your devotion to me in the gospel. This call to prayer offered from a prison cell, like all of Paul’s praying, is saturated with the good news of who you are and what you’re up to in our world. Paul’s not really Rome’s prisoner, he’s your prisoner. He’s not primarily concerned about his jail door opening as much as he wants more doors for the gospel to be opened—even while he remains in chains. What an incredibly free man.

It would seem that Paul lived a life of unceasing prayer because of his unceasing preoccupation with you, Jesus. His conversations with you… with those to whom he was chained… with those who would read this letter, were full of grace because that’s what it means to listen to you in prayer. Your words to us are always full of grace, Jesus. You are constantly preaching the gospel to us by the Holy Spirit—unveiling the mystery of your glory and grace to us…

Why would I not devote myself to prayer if it’s less about a list and more about listening to you, Jesus… less about convincing you to do things and more about simply communing with you? As Lent continues, please, please burn this truth deeper and deeper into my heart. So very Amen, I pray, in the holy habitat of your name.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About More Freedom from Shame

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:44:00 GMT

A Prayer About More Freedom from Shame

The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. Genesis 2:25

Dear heavenly Father, it’s nearly impossible to imagine the day when there was no need for the emotion of shame. In their innocence, our first parents were absolutely free of any need to turn away from your gaze, or that of one another. There was no need to fear, cover up, hide, pose, pretend, get defensive, feel guilty, make excuses, blame the other, want to disappear, do penance, numb out, medicate… or try any other broken attempt to deal with the disintegrating effects of shame.

It is only in you Jesus, that we now find hope to deal with both our guilt and our shame. For in light of the joy set before you by the Father, you endured the agony of the cross for us, scorning its shame—the shame of being made sin for us, that in you we might become the righteousness of God! (Heb. 12:2; 2 Cor. 5:21). Indeed Jesus, those who trust in you will never be put to shame, for you took our shame and made it yours (1 Pet. 2:6), that we might know the present and eternal favor of God. How can we EVER praise you enough for such love?

Therefore, Jesus, we cry out for freedom today… I cry out—freedom in our ongoing struggles with shame—the shame we feel and the shame we give. Though my guilt has been completely exhausted by your work on the cross, I’m still hunted and haunted by varying degrees of toxic dis-grace, and I act out in a variety of destructive ways. At times I vacillate between self-contempt and other-centered contempt, and both of these contradict and sabotage the very love that you’ve lavished upon me. Indeed, I need the freedom you alone can provide, Jesus. Bring the grace and truth of the gospel to bear in profoundly healing and liberating ways to this ole’ heat of mine. So very Amen, we pray in the fullness of our Lenten hope.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About Pant-Theology

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:11:00 GMT

A Prayer About Pant-Theology

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? Psalm 42:1-2

Dear Lord Jesus, most of the time I’m quite wary of the sensation of thirst and I’m quick to slake its beckoning demands. In fact, I try to stay well-watered, staving off the remotest possibility of dehydration.

But the more I see of your beauty and the more I taste of your bounty, the louder my cry becomes, “Jesus, intensify my thirst for you. Keep me panting like a deer after streams of water—the unpolluted undistilled streams which you alone provide.

Quickly drain the broken-cisterns of my own making. Don’t let me be even temporarily satisfied with any other beverage than the draft you draw… the potion you pour… the quintessential libation I know as the wine of holy communion. For the thirstier I stay for you the more I will experience of you. What a glorious paradox…

If I take up King David’s lament, “When can I go and meet with God?”, you answer back in a nanosecond, “Right now, my beloved… do not delay. If you’re thirsty, come to me and drink right now. Whoever believes in me… streams of living water will flow from within him (John 7:38).”

If I should say, “But Jesus, where can I find you?” You answer back even quicker, “Not in your strivings, not in your labors, not in your earnestness, not in your self-loathing’s, not in your vain promises… but only in the gospel. Open wider your heart to the gospel of my grace and I will overfill you with everything you need and more than you want.”

Even so and evermore, Lord Jesus, school me well in pant-theology, so very Amen, I pray, in your all glorious and all generous name.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About Contagious Gospel Renewal

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:05:00 GMT

A Prayer About Contagious Gospel Renewal

This is what the LORD Almighty says: "In those days ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, 'Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.'” Zechariah 8:23

Dear heavenly Father, every day, no exceptions, I need to be reminded of where the history of redemption is heading, for I’m both a forgetful man and way too easily distracted. How I praise you that a great promise you made through a minor prophet is the major hope I need this day and every day. International headlines and personal headaches can rob me of the joy of staying engaged with the main storyline in all of history—your commitment to redeem your pan-national family and make all things new through the work of your Son, Jesus.

Indeed, Lord Jesus, you are the “one Jew” of the Father’s promise. You are the faithful remnant of Israel… you are the second Adam… the only Nazarene in whom there was no guile… the Lord who became the Lamb… our substitute in life and in death. We lay hold of the hem of your robe only because of your grasp of us in the gospel. I leap for joy in this season of Lent because of who you are and what you’ve already accomplished on our behalf!

As you live out your resurrection life in our hearts and in our midst, I implore you…I beseech you… manifest your real and vital presence in our churches, Jesus. How awesome it would be for contagious gospel renewal to break out afresh in our local congregations… and our neighborhoods.

How incredible it would be for rumors of you being with us and for us to be easily substantiated by every people group that lives anywhere close to where you’ve placed us… the rich and the poor… the educated and the uneducated… the religious and the irreligious… the washed and the unwashed… the found and the lost… the unrighteous and the self-righteous. How profound it would be for the first fruits of the new heaven and new earth to be seen in our own communities. Why not us, Jesus, and why not now… and why not me? So very Amen, I pray, in your most majestic and merciful name.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About Velcro Friendship

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:06:00 GMT

A Prayer About Velcro Friendship

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24

Heavenly Father, you made me, so there’s not a lot… no, there’s nothing I can tell you about me. When I confess my sins, I never inform you of anything. I’m only echoing the call to greater freedom whose origin is in the concert hall of the gospel. When I express a need, the repository of heaven has preceded my cry, readying sufficient grace and supplies beyond my imagination. How I praise you for being privy and prior to everything, Father. O, the freedom the peace the assurance…

However, my muse and meditation this morning is about friendship. As you know, I’ve always been quite guarded when it comes to friendship. I’ve lived in a large pool of people, but have most often preferred to swim alone. Notice me, but don’t know me has been a pretty constant theme in my story. Fear, insecurity, selfishness, control issues… there’s any of a number of reasons why it’s been this way. But this morning I’m relishing the fact that you didn’t leave things that ruinous way, Father.

I praise you for sending Jesus, not only into the world, but also into my heart. I praise you for befriending me in the gospel. I dare whisper the phrase, “I am a friend of God,” only because of what you’ve done for me in Jesus. For Jesus is the quintessential friend that sticks closer than a brother. Like fraternal Velcro, He’s the friend who loves in every season—born for my adversities… present in every complexity… the reason I enjoy any prosperity.

But Father, I also praise you for letting me know how Frodo felt having Sam… how Butch Cassidy felt having Sundance… how Pooh felt having Piglet. I praise you for making friendship a non-optional part of life. I praise you for the gift of a few very dear friends, whom you handpicked to thaw this frozen heart. I will neither die alone nor live the rest of my life as a lonely man. Help me to give my friends a better taste of friendship fueled and formed by the gospel, until the day we commit one another to God for eternity. So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus’ loving name.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About Being Pursued by Jesus

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:56:00 GMT

A Prayer About Being Pursued by Jesus

I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My lover is knocking…” Song of Songs 5:2

Dear Lord Jesus, there’s nothing more profound and precious to me than to hear your knock—to realize afresh, it isn’t me that’s seeking you, but you are the one always seeking me.

In every spiritual discipline, in every Lenten exercise, in every employment of the means of grace… you are the one who most committed, engaged and present in the relationship I share with you. I’m known, accepted, desired and enjoyed by you. How can this be? You, the Lord of all things, I dare call the lover of my soul…

If the gospel wasn’t true, such a claim would be unparalleled presumption, quintessential arrogance, archetypical foolishness. But because the gospel is true, less of a claim is unacceptable ignorance, the prison-house of unbelief and the most tragic of all thieveries—robbing you of the glory you deserve for being such a wonderful, merciful, loving Savior.

Jesus… to have a heart that stays awake for your knock, even when I enjoy the gift of deep sleep… to hear your voice above all the clamoring, yammering and gibberish of my day… to know that every time I open the door… every time I respond to your pursuit… every time I risk being found by you… I will only experience the gaze of your grace and the kiss of great hope…

“Amazing love! How can it be, that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?... No condemnation now I dread; Jesus, and all in Him, is mine; alive in Him, my living Head, and clothed in righteousness divine, bold I approach th’eternal throne, and claim the crown, through Christ my own… Amazing love! How can it be, that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?” So very Amen, I pray, in your holy, loving pursuing name.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About Lenten Weeping & Dancing

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:05:00 GMT

A Prayer About Lenten Weeping & Dancing

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Heavenly Father, as I continue to pray-read my way through Lent, it’s portions of your Word, like this one, that make me want to weep and dance, at the same time. I feel like weeping over the years I spent in gospel-ignorance—a stranger to the ways of grace. Grateful that you brought me to Jesus, but clueless about how you actually change your sons and daughters… I suffered much under the hands of bad theologies, man-centered remedies, and Christ-less formulas.

Gracious Father, this one passage alone tells me that you’re the God who called me to life in Jesus… who is thoroughly transforming me to be like Jesus… who is keeping my whole being blameless until the Day you send Jesus back to finish making all things new… including ME! God of peace, you are, indeed! Where else can such peace, joy and assurance be found?

How did I miss so much of the gospel for so many years? Why was I such an easy target for performance-based spirituality? Why didn’t I despair of the corruptions of the gospel that set me up for the “paralysis of analysis”… growth by guilt-n-grit, instead of grace through faith… seeing Jesus more as my perfect model than as my perfect Righteousness… holding out for a 2^nd, 3^rd, 9^th and 17^th baptism in the Spirit, instead of savoring a life of union and communion with Jesus? How did I miss so much of the gospel for so very long?

Enough of looking back in sadness. I choose to look up in gladness, for you’ve turned my mourning into dancing, Father. You’ve removed the sackcloth of my self-righteousness and have clothed me with the wedding garments of the Lamb. With the music of a coming banquet already emanating from heaven, my prayer is simply this, “Dear Father, more and more, and through and through, make me like Jesus. You are faithful and you will do it.” So very Amen, I pray with profound gratitude and assurance, in Jesus’ holy name.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About Gospel Gush

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:24:00 GMT

A Prayer About Gospel Gush

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly. Proverbs 15:1-2

Patient and forbearing Lord Jesus, as with every other Scripture, so these words immediately make me think of you. There’s no one more filled with kindness and gentle answers than you. Even when I rush into your presence with demands dressed up like questions… arrogance pretending to be confusion… clinched fists rather than raised hands... you remain unnerved, non-defensive and ever so welcoming. Jesus, you are so very much not like me… and I am so very glad.

You’re firm with me, but are never ever harsh. You don’t have to be because you never get irritated… you don’t have any insecurities… you don’t fear losing an argument. Jesus, you’re not into “saving face,” but saving me. When I respond in anger to your wooing, warnings and wisdom, that’s all about me. For there’s nothing about you that justifies any other response from me but humility, gratitude and submission.

Lord Jesus, I’m so glad Lent is about repentance and faith in you, and not penance and work done by me. As we get closer and closer to holy week, let your cross get bigger and bigger in my gaze. For if I had to atone for all the ways I misuse my tongue… if I had to finance redemption to pay for my poor stewardship of words… if I thought I had to, somehow or another, gentle my own heart… I would surely despair.

Jesus, only you gush with words of life, and never the drivel of folly. So come, by the Holy Spirit, and “gush” the gospel to my heart all day long. For out of the abundance of a grace-transformed heart will come the gentle words I so long to speak to your glory, and for the edification of others. So very Amen, I pray, in your ever-so-glorious name.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About Gospel Pottery

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:17:00 GMT

A Prayer About Gospel Pottery

Who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' " Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? Romans 9:20-21

Graciousheavenly Father, it’s during the season of Lent that I am most profoundly grateful for your sovereignty—for your handing Jesus over to wicked men, who put him to death by nailing him to the cross… all according to your set purpose and foreknowledge (Acts 2:23-24). I praise you that Jesus’ death for us on the cross was no accident, afterthought, plan B, or the redeeming of a good story gone kaput. The comfort and peace I enjoy from this supreme demonstration of your sovereignty is absolutely immeasurable, incomparable and irrepressible.

Lord Jesus, no one could’ve put you on the cross apart from your will, and though your own disciples tried, no one could have kept you from the cross apart from your will. Sadly, because of the necessary price, but gladly, because of the forthcoming joy… you endured the cross for us—scorning its shame and exhausting our guilt (Hebrews 12:1-3). A thrice-fold Hallelujah I shout!

So Father, as I celebrate your supreme sovereignty in the cross, why in the world am I such a knuckle-head to struggle with it anywhere else? Why do I want to reverse rolls and make me the potter and you the clay? Why do Iprefer at times to have a Play-Doh or Gumby God, instead of a sovereign Father?

I’ve got no problem with you being sovereign when it comes to overthrowing evil dictators, or busting up drug and trafficking rings, or even giving me good weather for my vacation. But when it comes to you decreeing things that seem unacceptable, unsavory, limiting or a violation of my will… I really don’t need to finish that sentence. My own words expose and mock my foolishness.

Dear Father, my Lenten cry is simply this, make me outlandishly glad to be gospel-pottery. You’ve placed the incredible treasure of Jesus in this jar of clay to prove your all-surpassing power in making all things new. You are the Potter who is redeeming a pan-national trans-generational family to inhabit a new heaven and new earth made from the fallen, broken stuff of this world. I’ve got no problem with that AT ALL! So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus’ most glorious and sovereign name.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About Loving God for God

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:43:00 GMT

A Prayer About Loving God for God

"Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." Job 1:9-11

Dear Heavenly Father, as far as “creature comforts” go, I don’t have anything whine-worthy going on in my life right now. I’ve got good health… there’s always more check left over at the end of the month… none of my family members are in crisis. Right now, nothing beyond the normal fallen-ness and brokenness of life is happening, around me or within me.

I presume on none of these things, Father. I take none of them for granted. By your grace alone, I don’t battle with entitlement issues as much as I used to, and I really do believe that everything I have, I’ve received from you. (1 Corinthians 4:7)

So when I engage Job’s story, during this particular season of Lent, I’m not doing so with a troubled heart, teary eyes, gritted teeth or clinched fists. But the question does remain—Satan’s insolent insinuation persists… Why do I love you? What’s my motivation for worshipping you? How will I think about you the next time I do experience significant loss, betrayal and pain? For surely I will before Jesus returns to finish making all things new…

Father, I sometimes wonder if Satan watches a lot of American religious TV programming, because much of it surely provides fuel for his folly—much of it seems to substantiate his charge that the only reason we love you is because of the goodies you give us. How many ways are there to repackage pragmatic, utilitarian, man-centered corruptions of the gospel?

Father, I so want to be a man who loves and worships you simply because you are God. I For there is no other god besides you, and there is certainly no other god like you. I humbly thank you for your gifts, but I want to love and worship you, the Giver, as the supreme gift.

Continue to enthrall me with the gospel and install in my heart the joy of being able to say with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego… “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (Daniel 2:17-18). So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus’ holy and loving name.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About More Freedom from Jesus

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 13:22:00 GMT

A Prayer About More Freedom from Jesus

“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36

Dear Lord Jesus, as I meditate my way with you through the streets of Galilee to Jerusalem during this season of Lent, I’m realizing how FAR I am from the destination called consummate freedom.

Indeed, you are the Son of God and God the Son, and you’ve already set me free from tying to earn my salvation though religion and being “good”… from trying to make God love me more by ramping up my obedience and decreasing my foolishness. You’ve already liberated me from all condemnation for my sin… from all punishment for my sins… from the fear of Judgment Day… from the fear of dying… from the fear of living… from the fear of the future. All of this is enormous, Jesus, flat out HUGE… and I sing and dance before you with wonder, love and praise.

And yet, and so very yet, I am still a babe, a neophyte, a raw rookie in so many gospel-freedoms. Jesus, please free me to get less irritated more often with fewer people. Please turn my quick reactions into wiser responses. Please help me to use less words, but more kindness to preach the gospel.

Jesus, please liberate me from thinking about the next thing, so I can be present in the current thing. Please help me make better eye contact and heart contact with people. Please make me more intrigued with strangers and less uncomfortable around them.

Jesus, please break more of the chains of my insecurities. Please free me from the grave-clothes of my fears about not being enough. Please unfetter me from thinking too much about what I’m not, by showing me more of you and who I am in you.

Jesus, please free me for greater spontaneity, louder laughter, quicker tears, thicker skin and a bigger heart. So very Amen, I pray, in your most liberating name.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About Not "Making" Jesus Lord

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:31:00 GMT

A Prayer About Not “Making” Jesus Lord

You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. Acts 10:36

Dear Lord Jesus, as this season of Lent continues—as I seek to quiet my spirit, humble my heart and focus my thoughts, I’m finding you, as always, a most gracious Redeemer. Who is like unto you, Jesus? What other “god”, deliverer, or “lord” can compare? There is none! Besides you, all wanna-be-saviors are exposed as “empty nothings”—word-less prophets, graceless priests, and throne-less kings.

There is no one as welcoming of sinners… no one as generous in redemption… no one as understanding of my brokenness… no one as patient with my foolishness… no one as accepting of my craziness… no one as present in my afflictions… no one as tender with my grief… no one as powerful in my weakness… there is no one who delights in me, quiets me with love or rejoices over me with singing, but YOU.

Lord Jesus, you alone, are worthy of all the adoration, adulation, affection and allegiance I can possibly give you… Oh, foolish man that I am… I look back and remember all those years when I used to think of “making” you Lord of my life. I can no more make you Lord of my life than I can make the Matterhorn an Alp… or chocolate taste good… or The Beatles a great band… or a Carolina blue sky look beautiful. I don’t make these things happen, I just recognize them for what they are.

In a far more profound way, I don’t “make” you Lord of anything, for you are already the Lord of everything! My calling is to acknowledge the obvious, accept the glorious, accede to the magnificent. I do hereby affirm, once again, with great joy and gospel-humility, that you, JESUS, are Lord, to the glory of God the Father!

May the good news of peace through you, Lord Jesus, continue to change me, heal me and free me to live to the praise of your glorious grace. So very Amen, I pray, in honor of your love and Lordship.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About the Day of Singing Orca

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:09:00 GMT

A Prayer About the Day of Singing Orca

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!" Revelation 5:13

Dear Lord Jesus, I cannot imagine the horror and trauma of those who witnessed the death of an Orca trainer yesterday at Sea World. We pray, especially for the children who were present… bring your healing hand and loving heart to bear. By whatever means you choose, we pray for your redeeming presence in this tragedy.

Jesus, gut-numbing events like this fuel my intense longing for the Day when “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them,” will sing your praise forever in the new heaven and new earth. What Isaiah whispered (Isaiah 11:6-9; 65:17-25) and John envisioned (Revelation 21:1-5), we will enjoy with them—this very world redeemed and restored by you, Lord Jesus—the one who is making all things new.

The very fact that Orca are better known as “Killer Whales” just underscores the fact that nothing in this broken world is the way it’s meant to be. Orca were meant to sing and play, not attack and devour. The odious stench of sin, decay and death permeate every sphere of your creation. In fact, it’s far more incomprehensible to realize that over half of the world’s families exist for a whole month on the price of one Sea World ticket. Have mercy, Lord Jesus, have mercy… I know that you have, and I know that you will.

During this season of Lent, Jesus, I praise you for an increased awareness of the riches and the reach of the salvation you’ve won for us. If it wasn’t for the certain hope of ultimate redemption there’s no way I’d stay present in the overwhelming demands of this servant calling.

Until the Day of the pan-creature praise chorus, give us, give me, all the grace and strength we need to love mercy, do justice and walk humbly with our God. So very Amen, we pray, offering all praise, honor, glory and power, to him who sits on the throne and to you, the Lamb of God.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About the One Thing to Want

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:50:00 GMT

A Prayer About the One Thing to Want

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 27:4

Dear Lord Jesus, if you would say “Yes!” to just one of my prayers… if you would fulfill a single desire and intense longing of my heart, how could I possibly choose wiser than King David? Though I were to assemble a catalogue of commendable requests and redemptive petitions, there is nothing more to be desired than to gaze upon your unmitigated, unfiltered, unabridged beauty.

For on that Day all will be made right. Indeed, Lord Jesus, when you are finally and fully in sight, everything will be made right. Every prayer I’ve ever offered in concert with the heartbeat of heaven will be answered. Every quest and question will either be dissolved or resolved. All wrestling with providence and interceding over circumstance will be done with.

I will shout on that Day what I sometimes only half-heartedly whisper in this day, “My God has done all things well!” There will be no more praying in part… no more knowing in part… no more hoping in part. We shall see you as you are, Jesus, and we shall be like you. (1 John 3:2)

Until that Day, Jesus, please show us… show me, more and more of your beauty. Especially during this season of Lent, reveal as much of your beauty to me as I can entertain. For by the light of your beauty my sin becomes much more reprehensible… the gospel becomes much more commendable… your kingdom becomes much more visible… but above all, you become so much more desirable.

Jesus, no matter what I oftentimes think, feel, pout, demand or say… it is you I want more than anything or anyone else. Keep me restless until my heart more fully rests in you. So very Amen, I pray, in the beauty and bounty of your great name.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About the Gift of Plural Pronouns

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:08:00 GMT

A Prayer About the Gift of Plural Pronouns

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. Romans 8:29-30

Dear Heavenly Father, one of the many things you’re clearly impressing my heart with during Lent is the larger family into which you’ve placed me. Though I came out of the womb a selfish man… was raised in a culture of individualism… am an introvert by temperament and often a loner by choice… nevertheless, you’ve made me for rich relationship and profound community. I’m seeing this everywhere in the Scriptures, but especially in the plural pronouns. It seems like the “we’s” outnumber the “I’s,” and the “our’s” outnumber the “mine’s,” about ten to one.

How I praise you that the gospel is big enough and powerful enough to turn my concave privatizing heart into a convex engaging heart. Indeed, what but your grace can enlarge my capacity to risk knowing and being known by more of my brothers and sisters in Jesus?

Father, I start getting a bit antsy about all this relational stuff until I ponder just where your story of redemption is taking us. To realize that I’m a part of your cherished family-one of the many pan-national trans-generational sons and daughters upon whom you set your redeeming love… even before you created the world… this is astonishing and profoundly humbling.

To realize that you will bring to completion the good work you’ve begun in every one of your sons and daughters… the called and justified will be the glorified… each one of us will be as lovely as and as loving as Jesus one Day… this is startling and incredibly encouraging. There are no ordinary people. There are no unnecessary people. There are no worthless people. Forgive me when my attitude and actions contradict these affirmations. How the gospel exposes my impatience, mocks my prejudices, makes all my excuses about loner-entitlement look pretty lame and silly.

Because of you, Jesus, I’m not feeling guilt and shame right now, but conviction and motivation to collapse upon you afresh… as my righteousness, my assurance and my hope. I will trust you today for enough mercy and grace to love others as you so faithfully love me. We’ll deal with tomorrow tomorrow. So very Amen, I pray, in your forbearing and patient name.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About Being Less Stupid

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:47:00 GMT

A Prayer About Being Less Stupid

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid. Proverbs 12:1

He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise. Proverbs 15:31

Heavenly Father, first of all, I’m so grateful to be able to call you Father… Abba, Father, as I begin this day. There’s no greater privilege, there’s no safer refuge, there’s no better address than to call your heart my home.

Once I was separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in the true Israel, a foreigner to your promise-filled covenants, without hope and without you in the world… BUT, through the work of Jesus, you brought me near… you made me one of your beloved children. (Ephesians 2:12-13). I worship you… I praise you… I adore you… for such a rich and firm standing in grace.

Father, it’s only because you love me so much that you rebuke, correct and discipline me (Hebrews 12:4-11). O, how I need to remember this bit of gospel-sanity every single day. All of your rebukes are “life-giving”. None of them are meant to be guilt-inducing, shame-producing, or contempt-fueling. You’re humbling me, not humiliating me. You’re building me up, not tearing me down. You’re embracing me, not embarrassing me.

What a foolish man I am when I play dodge-ball with the convicting work of your Holy Spirit. What a gospel-less simpleton I am when I get defensive and try to make excuses for myself. What am I trying to defend? Indeed, Father, “stupid” has nothing to do with my IQ, my SAT score, my GPA from various schools... “stupid” is what I am when I hate correction, despise your discipline, or turn your grace into a green-card for arrogance.

So whether you’re speaking to me directly from your Word, or by the voice of your Spirit in my heart… or even through my spouse, my children, my friends, or angels you send my way, may I decrease in stupidity by increasing in gospel-humility. So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus’ life-giving name.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About Nonsense and Inheritance

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:05:00 GMT

A Prayer About Nonsense and Inheritance

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:32-34

Dear Lord Jesus, I’ve got friends who’ve inherited millions, and others who’ve inherited the wind. I’ve seen families deeply stressed, preparing for the reading of a will, and then permanently divided over the execution of the same will. I’ve seen windfall profits turned into landfill waste in a matter of months. I’ve seen dads and moms drink away enough money in a couple of years that could’ve built two orphanages in Haiti, AND educated their kids and grandkids for a couple of decades. A broken lot we are, indeed.

In this season of Lent, how we… how I need to hear and heed your voice, Lord Jesus… when it’s still and small, and when it’s loud and large. You’re always speaking, but I’m not always listening. But when my inner ears are tuned to your beckoning voice, you invariably address the matters of the heart…

The selfish fears which enslave me and the generous freedom to which you’re calling me... My temporary nonsense and your eternal inheritance for me in the gospel… My paltry sense of treasure and the Father’s immeasurable pleasure in giving me the kingdom.

There’s all kinds of wear and tear, and thieves and moths that diminish and destroy the temporal things on which I set heart and upon which I build my hope. But nothing… absolutely nothing threatens your kingdom of redemption… your dominion of peace… your reign of restoration.

And to think that you, the King of glory, became my sin that I might reign with you forever in the new heaven and new earth… Jesus, give me grace to live as a man who’s going to inherit your kingdom, not simply as a man who’s going to kick my bucket. So very Amen, I pray, in your sane-making name.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9

A Prayer About Heart-Knowing

scotty.smith@christcommunity.org — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:02:00 GMT

A Prayer About Heart-Knowing

“Lord, you know everyone’s heart…” Acts 1:24

Heavenly Father, there are so many things attributed to you in the Scriptures that are clearly NOT our domain. Heart-knowing (kardiognosta) is one of them. I may be drawn, offended, concerned, fearful, confused, or broken over someone’s heart… but only you really, really knows what’s in the heart of each of us.

That’s why I gladly pray during this season of Lent, “Search me, O God, and know my heart…” (Psalm 139:23), for I dare not trust my own diagnosis. Sometimes I think of myself much more highly than I ought—so wanting to believe I’m a whole lot more like Jesus than reality affirms. Sometimes I fall into shame and contempt, and act like a Savior-less, gospel-less orphan… without a Father above and without your Spirit within. Sometimes I just think about me too much, period.

But here’s my hope, my sure and only hope, blessed Father. You’ve already sprinkled clean water on me and declared me to be clean. You’ve already cleansed me from all my impurities and from my idols, through the work of Jesus. You’ve already given me a new heart and placed your Spirit in me. You’re already removed my heart of stone and have given me a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:24-27). You will bring to completion the good work you’ve begun in my heart, my whole being… in all of creation. (Phil. 1:6). I’m a justified sinner destined to be a glorified son (Romans 8:30). O, how I praise you for such peace and assurance…

So Father, in light of all of this, I’ll not pretend to know what’s really in the heart of anybody else—my spouse, my kids, my friends, my enemies, cultural icons, fallen sports heroes… or anyone else. You haven’t called me to be a spiritual cardiologist. Only you are the Heart-Knower. Give me grace to love others as you love me in Jesus, and it will be enough. So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus’ heart-transforming name.

Scotty Smith

Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship

Christ Community Church

1215 Hillsboro Rd.

Franklin, TN 37069

615-468-2230

It's good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace Hebrews 13:9