God of Concrete, God of Steel

One of the great things about work is rest! No rest is sweeter than rest following good hard work. With this in mind, I'll be resting from my blogging for the next six weeks. It is hard to believe I've been at it for nearly a year now. Time flies when you're having fun!

But before I sign off, let me share a few more practical thoughts for pastors.

I'm not big on calender-driven sermons (except at Christmas and Easter), but Labor Day weekend is a good time to focus on work. For the past few years, the church Kathy and I attend (Westminster Chapel, Bellevue, WA) has made the Labor Day service a time to focus on the biblical view of work.

Our Labor Day services have not only contained sermons on work, but also special music, congregational singing, and sharing of congregants' experiences in the integration of faith and work.

Music about the work of human hands is not easy to find. One of the most fascinating pieces of music ever to grace one of our Labor Day services is called, God of Concrete, God of Steel. The title itself tells you this is no ordinary song!

It starts out like this:

God of concrete, God of steel,
God of piston and of wheel,
God of pylon, God of steam,
God of girder and of beam,
God of atom, God of mine:
all the world of power is thine.

Lord of cable, Lord of rail,
Lord of freeway and of mail,
Lord of rocket and of flight,
Lord of soaring satellite,
Lord of lightning's flashing line:
all the world of speed is thine.

Words:  Richard G. Jones

(c) 1968 Stainer & Bell, Ltd. (Admin. Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL 60188, www.hopepublishing.com) All rights reserved.  Used by permission.

I'll conclude with three suggestions for sermons on work:

1. Eight sermons by Haddon Robinson, appropriate for a series or as independent messages: http://www.preachingtodaysermons.com/rohabyswofyo.html

2. Larry Peabody's sermon series on Daniel, coinciding with his new book, Job-Shadowing Daniel: Walking the Talk At Work. For more about Larry's book, see http://www.calledintowork.com/resources/. Send Larry a request for information about his "Daniel sermon series" at http://www.calledintowork.com/contact/.

3. More Than A Paycheck, a collection of 24 messages on theology of work, with practical illustrations of faith at work. Includes 50 video clips, 650 PowerPoint slides and the complete speaking notes that I have used when presenting this material myself. Go to http://www.biblicalworldview.com/teach_m_y.html.

See you in September--on Labor Day Weekend!