Sunday, June 25, 2005

Shepherd's Pie - that was the message. Still was the worship.

1) Shepherd's Pie - The message was on Division - Whose Hand will You Put it in? We discovered that division in church is good when placed in the hands of God - that He brings discernment and delegation, both matters of division. But division in the church is bad when placed in the hands of the devil, who uses it to cause dis-unity. But it was a "shepherd's pie" message, adding three separate ingredients to make one meal. Some received it.

I want to make an addendum onto what I said, because in the 2nd service we labored on the 20/80 principle, which states that 20% of the people do 80% of the work. I recognize that in the workaholic world we have that some would be offended by me making this statement. I realize that our church is composed of hard-working men and women, and I thank God for you. I do not ask you to do "more work" by finding an area of service in the church. That's not it at all.

Rather, what I ask is that you find a place, a ministry in the church where you can use the spiritual gift God has given you to do some work that will fulfil God's dream. I am always hard at work making my dreams come true - paying for my car, my home, my upcoming vacation, my cable bill, etc. But when I take an hour every week and I give my energy, talents, and gifts to God, I fulfil His dream for my life - where altogether we believers, in a rhythmic dance of service and joy, contribute to make the kingdom of God, His dream, a reality in our area. It's not more work - it's just giving up something for the Lord who gave us everything. As we do this continually, we become people who know and follow His heart.

2) Still - We intro'd a song that we will be using during our Becoming a Person after God's Own Heart series (a short study on David) - it is a song taken from Psalm 91, a Psalm that reflects on being sheltered by God during tough times. I love that our congregation was still - silent - just worshiping "quietness and trust."

It was a good day at church - I don't really know of many bad days. We had 118.

One more note: there are several areas in our church where there is struggle right now. Men and women and teens are battling against Satan and his lies - some have given up and given in. Our church was filled with people just a few months ago that no longer attend with any kind of consistency. If this is you, if you have battled and struggled and lost and are unsure where you stand, let me plead with you to come this Sunday as I begin this Becoming... series. It will transform your life and give you fresh perspective and hope. If the devil is fighting that hard with you to keep you away, can I ask you...don't you wonder what you must be missing?! See you on Sunday.