Tuesday, October 13, 2026

If you are new to our Mid-Week Worship devotional, learn more about it here.

Songs used in the Mid-Week Worship devotional are added each week to a Spotify playlist.
You can follow it here.

Time of Preparation

Begin by taking inventory of your surroundings. Are things in your vicinity conducive to a time of personal worship? Are there any changes or adjustments (turning off tech, making yourself comfortable) you need to make before you begin?

When you are ready, take some time to sit in silence and prepare your heart for worship. Ask God to clear away any distractions that might keep you from being truly present in this moment.

Encounter With God

In this first movement, we simply seek to see God for who He is: the One worthy of worship.

“You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.”
—Nehemiah 9:6 (NIV)

Today we are invited to consider God as Creator, the source of all that is or ever will be.

The 9th century Irish church father John Scotus Eriugena referred to creation as a “sacred text.” In his theology, God spoke through two “books”: the book of Scripture and the book of creation, and he believed it was important for us to pay attention to both. By encountering God in Scripture, we come to know the intimate voice of the One who loves us. By encountering God in creation, we learn see his hand at work in the beauty of our world and the wonders of the universe.

How have you encountered God in the wonders of creation? How have you seen his hand at work in the beauty of our world? Take some time in silence to reflect on how God has revealed himself in what he has made, and how that stirs your heart to worship.

SONG OF ENCOUNTER: For the Beauty of the Earth (lyrics here)

Monday, October 12, 2026

If you are new to our Mid-Week Worship devotional, learn more about it here.

Songs used in the Mid-Week Worship devotional are added each week to a Spotify playlist.
You can follow it here.

Time of Preparation

Begin by taking inventory of your surroundings. Are things in your vicinity conducive to a time of personal worship? Are there any changes or adjustments (turning off tech, making yourself comfortable) you need to make before you begin?

When you are ready, take some time to sit in silence and prepare your heart for worship. Ask God to clear away any distractions that might keep you from being truly present in this moment.

A Call To Worship

On Mondays we use the Hebrew Psalter to focus in on the invitation to approach God in worship.

Read through the Psalm slowly and prayerfully, either silently or out loud. Pay attention to the movement of your soul and the longings of your heart as you read. How does it stir you to worship? What focus might you find from this Psalm for this coming week?

Psalm 46

To the leader. Of the Korahites. According to Alamoth. A Song.

God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
    though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
    God will help it when the morning dawns.
The nations are in an uproar; the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice; the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

Come, behold the works of the Lord;
    see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God!
    I am exalted among the nations;
    I am exalted in the earth.”
The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah

CALL TO WORSHIP: Be Still and Know (lyrics here)

Saturday & Sunday, October 10/11, 2026

If you are new to our Mid-Week Worship devotional, learn more about it here.

Songs used in the Mid-Week Worship devotional are added each week to a Spotify playlist.
You can follow it here.

Benediction

“Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.”
—Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV)

Today’s benediction is a 16th century blessing set to music by John Rutter.

God be in my head, and in my understanding;
God be in mine eyes, and in my looking;
God be in my mouth, and in my speaking;
God be in my heart, and in my thinking;
God be at mine end, and at my departing

SONG OF BENEDICTION: God Be In My Head

Friday, October 9, 2026

If you are new to our Mid-Week Worship devotional, learn more about it here.

Songs used in the Mid-Week Worship devotional are added each week to a Spotify playlist.
You can follow it here.

Time of Preparation

Begin by taking inventory of your surroundings. Are things in your vicinity conducive to a time of personal worship? Are there any changes or adjustments (turning off tech, making yourself comfortable) you need to make before you begin?

When you are ready, take some time to sit in silence and prepare your heart for worship. Ask God to clear away any distractions that might keep you from being truly present in this moment.

Commission

In this final movement, we are encouraged and equipped for the work God would have us do.

“For God alone my soul waits in silence,
    for my hope is from him.”
—Psalm 62:5 (NRSVUE)

My senior year at seminary I signed up to preach at one of the school’s daily chapel services, which surprised most of my friends because I had made it clear I had no plans to ever be a preacher (side note—if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans).

For my sermon I collated all of the syllabi and assignment sheets I had been given in 3 years of studying and figured out, on average, how many pages of books we had been assigned to read. I then examined a bunch of our textbooks to come up with an average number of words per page, and used both numbers to come up with an approximate number of words the average seminary student might read in three years of degree work.

I shared these findings at the beginning of my sermon in chapel, and then said this: “So the truth is, you’re already inundated with words. You don’t need mine of top of those. So instead, we’re going to take the time usually allocated for the sermon and we’re going to sit in silence.”

So we did. We sat in silence for 10 minutes. During that time we were invited to talk to God, to listen to God, to wait on God, or simply to rest in God. After the chapel service I heard from many students how meaningful it had been and how God had met them in that silent place.

In a world that is chaotic and loud and filled with so many noises and voices, silence is often a forgotten discipline, one that we’re going to embrace today. Rather than listen to a worship song, you’re invited to sit in silence for four minutes. As the Psalmist tells us, this is a moment where our souls can wait for God. It is an opportunity to meditate on his hope. Don’t rush it. Don’t “fill” the space. Simply sit…breathe…listen…and be in the presence of the One who knows you best and loves you most.

SONG OF COMMISSION: 4 Minutes of Silence

Thursday, October 8, 2026

If you are new to our Mid-Week Worship devotional, learn more about it here.

Songs used in the Mid-Week Worship devotional are added each week to a Spotify playlist.
You can follow it here.

Time of Preparation

Begin by taking inventory of your surroundings. Are things in your vicinity conducive to a time of personal worship? Are there any changes or adjustments (turning off tech, making yourself comfortable) you need to make before you begin?

When you are ready, take some time to sit in silence and prepare your heart for worship. Ask God to clear away any distractions that might keep you from being truly present in this moment.

Assurance

In this third movement, we receive the good news of the gospel: we are forgiven.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
—Luke 15:20 (NIV)

One of my favourite paintings is Rembrandt’s “Return of the Prodigal Son.” Take a moment or two to sit with this powerful depiction of the climactic moment of Jesus’ parable.

If there is a stronger image we can sit with to meditate on the love of God, I’m hard pressed to think of one. This is an image of welcoming grace, of complete forgiveness, and deep mercy.

One of the most popular worship songs in recent years has attempted to capture this radical love by calling it “reckless.” That’s caused a lot of controversy in churches, because it’s a word we often link to being irresponsible and foolish. But when I hear this song I’m reminded of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians:

“For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”
—1 Corinthians 1:25 (NRSVUE)

God’s love is “reckless” in terms of our human understanding. It continues to pursue us despite our rebellion and our constant refusal to dwell in it. And yet…it is not irresponsible. It is not careless or ill-advised. In the eyes of the world it seems foolish because at its very core it makes no sense: why does God forgive us? Why does he show us mercy? What kind of God would do that? What kind of love does that demonstrate?

Love that makes no sense to us. But makes perfect sense to the One who is love.

SONG OF ASSURANCE: Reckless Love (lyrics here)

Wednesday, October 7, 2026

If you are new to our Mid-Week Worship devotional, learn more about it here.

Songs used in the Mid-Week Worship devotional are added each week to a Spotify playlist.
You can follow it here.

Time of Preparation

Begin by taking inventory of your surroundings. Are things in your vicinity conducive to a time of personal worship? Are there any changes or adjustments (turning off tech, making yourself comfortable) you need to make before you begin?

When you are ready, take some time to sit in silence and prepare your heart for worship. Ask God to clear away any distractions that might keep you from being truly present in this moment.

Confession

In this second movement, we simply see ourselves for who we are: people who need God.

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”
—Titus 3:4-7 (NIV)

When we meditate on the subject of repentance, it is important that we do not let our image of God go askew. The call to repent is not meant to inspire fear of judgment or cause us to withdraw from an image of God as an angry and vengeful deity, one who is eager to catch us in our sin and make us feel despised. That is not what repentance is about. The call to confess our sin is rooted in God’s love, mercy, and grace shown supremely in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

Without a proper view of God’s love, shame can fester in our souls and become toxic, which can then further distort our image of God. It whispers horrible lies to us, saying, “You can’t go to God with this. You’ve disappointed him too many times. He has given up on you.” As our image of God becomes distorted, we can grow even more afraid of coming to him openly and honestly. It is a vicious downward spiral, feeding on itself in a frenzy of self-hatred and fear.

As you confess your sin, always remember that his heart is filled with love for you. As one anonymous 19th century preacher put it, he is “the fountain of all gentleness, all kindness, and all good.”

All gentleness…all kindness…all good…this is the one who invites you to bring everything to him.

SONG OF CONFESSION: Jesus Strong and Kind (lyrics here)

Tuesday, October 6, 2026

If you are new to our Mid-Week Worship devotional, learn more about it here.

Songs used in the Mid-Week Worship devotional are added each week to a Spotify playlist.
You can follow it here.

Time of Preparation

Begin by taking inventory of your surroundings. Are things in your vicinity conducive to a time of personal worship? Are there any changes or adjustments (turning off tech, making yourself comfortable) you need to make before you begin?

When you are ready, take some time to sit in silence and prepare your heart for worship. Ask God to clear away any distractions that might keep you from being truly present in this moment.

Encounter With God

In this first movement, we simply seek to see God for who He is: the One worthy of worship.

“But I, by your great love,
    can come into your house;
in reverence I bow down
    toward your holy temple.”
—Psalm 5:7 (NIV)

Worship, by its very nature, exists in a space where God is both knowable and unknowable.

He is knowable because, by his grace, he has revealed himself to us: in creation, in community, by his word, by his Spirit, and most supremely in the person and work of Jesus.

But even as we are invited to draw near to him, we can’t fully escape the truth that we are in the presence of the mighty God of the universe, the source of all creation. Our mortal hearts and minds can’t fully comprehend the One we encounter, for he is “beautiful beyond description, too marvelous for words,” as one popular worship song puts it.

So what is our response to this tension? The Psalmist offers us the perfect posture—in his presence, we bow down. By his great love we come into his house, and in reverence we bow down. We embrace both knowing and mystery as we worship the God who is so far beyond us…yet draws us near.

TRADITIONAL SONG OF ENCOUNTER: We Bow Down (lyrics here)

Monday, October 5, 2026

If you are new to our Mid-Week Worship devotional, learn more about it here.

Songs used in the Mid-Week Worship devotional are added each week to a Spotify playlist.
You can follow it here.

Time of Preparation

Begin by taking inventory of your surroundings. Are things in your vicinity conducive to a time of personal worship? Are there any changes or adjustments (turning off tech, making yourself comfortable) you need to make before you begin?

When you are ready, take some time to sit in silence and prepare your heart for worship. Ask God to clear away any distractions that might keep you from being truly present in this moment.

A Call To Worship

On Mondays we use the Hebrew Psalter to focus in on the invitation to approach God in worship.

Read through the Psalm slowly and prayerfully, either silently or out loud. Pay attention to the movement of your soul and the longings of your heart as you read. How does it stir you to worship? What focus might you find from this Psalm for this coming week?

Psalm 131

A song of ascents. Of David.

My heart is not proud, Lord,
    my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
    or things too wonderful for me.
But I have calmed and quieted myself,
    I am like a weaned child with its mother;
    like a weaned child I am content.

Israel, put your hope in the Lord
    both now and forevermore.

CALL TO WORSHIP: Like A Child With Its Mother (lyrics here)

Saturday & Sunday, October 3/4, 2026

If you are new to our Mid-Week Worship devotional, learn more about it here.

Songs used in the Mid-Week Worship devotional are added each week to a Spotify playlist.
You can follow it here.

Benediction

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
—John 14:27 (NIV)

Today’s musical benediction is a Gaelic blessing of peace that first appeared in an 1895 novel, but was then adapted and expanded by English composer John Rutter in 1978.

Deep peace of the running wave to you
Deep peace of the flowing air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you
Deep peace of the shining stars to you
Deep peace of the gentle night to you

Moon and stars pour their healing light on you
Deep peace of Christ the light of the world to you

SONG OF BENEDICTION: Gaelic Blessing

Friday, October 2, 2026

If you are new to our Mid-Week Worship devotional, learn more about it here.

Songs used in the Mid-Week Worship devotional are added each week to a Spotify playlist.
You can follow it here.

Time of Preparation

Begin by taking inventory of your surroundings. Are things in your vicinity conducive to a time of personal worship? Are there any changes or adjustments (turning off tech, making yourself comfortable) you need to make before you begin?

When you are ready, take some time to sit in silence and prepare your heart for worship. Ask God to clear away any distractions that might keep you from being truly present in this moment.

Commission

In this final movement, we are encouraged and equipped for the work God would have us do.

“And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.”
—Romans 8:28 (BSB)

If you were to ask me, “Which verse in the Bible has been misunderstood and misused more often than any other?” I would definitely consider Romans 8:28 to be in the running. It has become one of those cliché coffee mug verses, plastered on all sorts of Christian tchotchkes for as long as I can remember. The net result is that it becomes little more than a slogan: a spiritual band-aid to plaster over those times of life that don’t make sense, a go-to saying that can enable us to avoid dealing with the pain of a difficult moment if we’re not careful. In its modern usage it often has more in common with Pollyanna than the Apostle Paul.

And it’s a shame, really, because this is really quite a beautiful verse. It speaks, not to a “pie-in-the-sky” theology that dismisses our struggles, but instead to a good and wonderful God who is able to use even our most painful seasons of life for his glory. The verse doesn’t say “God makes all things good,” it says he “works good in all things,” and there is a big difference. Pain is still pain, suffering is still suffering. God doesn’t make them inert, but he does make them redemptive.

Here in Scotland there is a popular saying: “What’s for ye’ll no go by ye.” While I resist the determinism that can be read into that, I do take from it an understanding that what God has for me in any given moment is available to me, even when that moment is confusing and hard and painful. If I open myself to his purposes, if I cling tight to my love for him and his love for me, he can work those moments for good.

And what is good brings him glory.

SONG OF COMMISSION: His Glory And My Good (lyrics here)