{"id":2452,"date":"2013-01-12T12:50:03","date_gmt":"2013-01-12T17:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/?p=2452"},"modified":"2013-01-12T12:57:17","modified_gmt":"2013-01-12T17:57:17","slug":"devotional-for-a-pilgrimage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2013\/01\/devotional-for-a-pilgrimage\/","title":{"rendered":"Devotional for a pilgrimage&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2013\/01\/SanDiego_panorama.jpg\" rel=\"prettyPhoto[2452]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-2461\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2013\/01\/SanDiego_panorama-1024x240.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"922\" height=\"216\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2013\/01\/SanDiego_panorama-1024x240.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2013\/01\/SanDiego_panorama-300x70.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 922px) 100vw, 922px\" \/><\/a>Today\u2019s post is written by Geoff Twigg, Adjunct Professor at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.northpark.edu\/\">North Park University<\/a>\u00a0in Chicago. Geoff is a pastor, singer\/songwriter, worship leader and ministry consultant, and serves the ECC as a member of the denomination\u2019s Commission on Worship.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><\/em>As we leave the Holidays behind and focus on a new calendar year, Covenanters everywhere across North America see another milestone in the near future; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/midwinter\/\" target=\"_blank\">the Midwinter Conference<\/a>. I\u2019ve had a lot of preparation to do before the Conference this time, and so I have an even greater sense of anticipation than in previous years.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m reminded of a great Hebrew tradition, honed by many years of repetition, a tradition that can inspire us as we approach this new year, and particularly if we\u2019re planning to gather together in San Diego. The practice leads us to focus on a subset of the book of Psalms, called the Psalms of Ascents (Psalms 120-134) which form useful devotional guidelines as we consider our pilgrimage.<\/p>\n<p>No, dear reader, don\u2019t worry; I\u2019m not misinterpreting the Midwinter Conference as being more than it is. However, it can be a time when we seek the Lord for new revelations about our practice, or a time of refreshment and renewed spiritual vitality. In fact, I am praying that\u2019s true for each of us, even those pastors and staff who have to stay home so that others can go.<\/p>\n<p>I should, however, mention here that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.covchurch.org\/midwinter\/worship-connect\/\" target=\"_blank\">there is a rich offering this year for those involved in worship ministry<\/a>. We have workshops, conversations planned over lunch, the opportunity to record your own song ideas or talk over how best to approach recording, a full class on worship and the Bible, an open-mic night, a hymn-sing&#8230; the list goes on and on. You can sing in the choir, or just &#8216;chill&#8217; in sunny San Diego.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, back to the point; getting ready to let God re-focus your vision. In this devotional for a pilgrimage, we find a wide range of subjects covered. Be open; any or all of them might have special meaning for you. Here is a cursory analysis of the topics covered, roughly in order. You might care to hear them spoken by a variety of voices:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is God who protects and helps us&#8221; (<em>I lift my eyes to the hills&#8230;<\/em>), &#8220;it\u2019s good to get together to worship God!&#8221; (and we pray for peace of our city and our Kingdom).<\/p>\n<p>God shelters us and we\u2019re devoted to God; &#8220;we thank God for constant help and protection&#8221;, (<em>remember how God helped us in history?<\/em>). There are reminders that unless the work is established by God it\u2019s all in vain; that despite opposition I\u2019m flourishing through God\u2019s help&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><em>I\u2019m desperate for God<\/em>, &#8220;I trust God as a child trusts&#8221;, (remember how David established this special place, and was rewarded?), and a reminder that working together in unity brings a special blessing. We end with a final song of praise in celebration.<\/p>\n<p>This year, when we\u2019re finally at Midwinter, our thoughts will be guided towards God\u2019s preparation of his servants (Ps.139), God\u2019s protection (Ps.46) and the provision of everything we need to do God\u2019s work (Ps.126).<\/p>\n<p>Before we get there, however, would you care to join me as we consider the themes that formed the thinking of believers on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, for many centuries past?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc?moderation_action=report_form&#038;object_type=post&#038;object_id=2452&#038;width=250&#038;height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today\u2019s post is written by Geoff Twigg, Adjunct Professor at\u00a0North Park University\u00a0in Chicago. Geoff is a pastor, singer\/songwriter, worship leader and ministry consultant, and serves the ECC as a member of the denomination\u2019s Commission on Worship. As we leave the Holidays behind and focus on a new calendar year, Covenanters everywhere across North America see [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14503,70,98,12,103,95,74,96],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-better-together","category-bible","category-event-worship-resources","category-events","category-npts","category-resources-for-worship","category-scripture","category-songwriting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Devotional for a pilgrimage... - Worship Connect<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/wc\/2013\/01\/devotional-for-a-pilgrimage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Devotional for a pilgrimage... - Worship Connect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today\u2019s post is written by Geoff Twigg, Adjunct Professor at\u00a0North Park University\u00a0in Chicago. 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