"And a young man named eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer." (Acts 20:9)
You can almost sense in the tone of Luke's voice as he penned these words that he thought Paul went a little long in his message. Putting Eutychus to sleep wasn't the worst of it, because the young man fell from a third story window and died. I don't remember ever killing anyone with my preaching, although a few might have longed for it. LOL.
A church member commented on the sermon from our first service this past week, and she said, "It seemed a little blah." Thanks for the honesty. So it generates some questions for discussion today, and I hope the debate will be lively and challenging to all of us. Is the preacher the only one responsible for the quality of the sermon? Yes, we need God's annointing, so how much responsibility do the attendees have for that? God has promised to "show up" where two or three are gathered, but He hasn't promised to "show off" under those conditions.
The scripture says that God inhabits the praise of His people. So if two or three or two or three thousand show up in His name, but do not genuinely worship, do not come with receptive hearts, does God always manifest Himself with an annointing on the preaching. Is it only dependent on the "preacher".
Here is one more thought? Is the worship celebration of God's people about a performance by the band, the choir, the preacher, or someone else, or is it a stage for the person of God to be exhibited? If the point of our lives is to point to Him, how well are we actually doing that? Can you offer some solutions, not just point at the problems today? Can you shoulder some responsibility as well as just pointing the fingers at how bad the "church" has become? Let's hear it.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
The Test of Faith (Devotional Thought)
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." (James 1:2-3)
From Romans 10 we know that genuine and real faith is built upon the Word of God. We hear from God and we choose to believe. What sometimes seems to slip away from our awareness is the fact that God is all about transforming us into Christlike character and that He often does that by testing our faith. Sometimes that comes in the form of trials of a variety of nature, none of which are outside of God's realm of sovereignty and ability to direct.
Some tests, however, come in the form of prayers that are answered with "Wait" or with "silence on God's part." God has promised. We are praying in accord with His will, and yet the answer delays.
My encouragement to you today is keep on persevering in your prayers. God has heard and He is at work to mold you and refine you and shape you. What He has promised, He will do in His time.
Consider Elijah after the showdown with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. God had promised rain and so he told King Ahab, rain is coming. And yet for six trips out to look by the servant the sky had been clear, and on the seventh a cloud in the distance the size of a man's fist. Faith is the ability to hear the rain when the sun is shining, and to believe the answer when there is a cloud the size of a fist and that is all you have.
From Romans 10 we know that genuine and real faith is built upon the Word of God. We hear from God and we choose to believe. What sometimes seems to slip away from our awareness is the fact that God is all about transforming us into Christlike character and that He often does that by testing our faith. Sometimes that comes in the form of trials of a variety of nature, none of which are outside of God's realm of sovereignty and ability to direct.
Some tests, however, come in the form of prayers that are answered with "Wait" or with "silence on God's part." God has promised. We are praying in accord with His will, and yet the answer delays.
My encouragement to you today is keep on persevering in your prayers. God has heard and He is at work to mold you and refine you and shape you. What He has promised, He will do in His time.
Consider Elijah after the showdown with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. God had promised rain and so he told King Ahab, rain is coming. And yet for six trips out to look by the servant the sky had been clear, and on the seventh a cloud in the distance the size of a man's fist. Faith is the ability to hear the rain when the sun is shining, and to believe the answer when there is a cloud the size of a fist and that is all you have.
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