One of the personal benefits of our blog is to jog my memory about our observations of a church and to see what may have changed. I was pleased that Christ used the same pastor to deliver to me a necessary message.
We parked in a well-marked visitor spot and noticed two people holding the doors open, expecting they were watching to see if anyone parked as a visitor, but we had to initiate the “Good morning.”
Our timing was off a bit and the service was starting as I was getting a cup of (excellent) coffee. The room was packed and there were people directing traffic and setting up extra chairs. I was standing a little too long and it became necessary to sit through the service, so I didn’t get to look for a cross. With my diminished hearing the volume was still too much for me, but the congregation seemed alive worshiping with music.
I will be interested to see the new location and the directional signage provided to enable visitors to find them.
I am used to not having an Order of Worship for a contemporary service, and remembered that the offering was taken early.
The sermon was part of a series on how God has used average Joes to accomplish great things and our almost unilateral exercise of our “spiritual gift of excuses.” God gets angry with excuses, and there will be none on Judgment Day.
Where Christ really spoke to me involved a question about my personal service. I have tended a large garden with most of the produce going to the poor. A good endeavor, feeding God’s people, but it was my idea to expand to the point that it was killing me to take care of what I had planted. I kept justifying my need to continue this good work without consulting God.
Today my focus is changing in reflecting on the question, “What do you already have to use for Christ?” I don’t know exactly what that will be, but I know what He needs me to know for now, and I know Who to ask when I am lost. He has shown me where to start Monday morning.
He has never failed to steer when I turn over the helm.
Jan’s thoughts:
It has been more than two years since we visited this church. The membership must have grown because it seemed significantly more crowded than the last time we were there, which is probably why they’re in the process of building a new facility.
This facility is still very nice, well laid out and contemporary in look and feel.
Perhaps my ear condition has exacerbated the problem, but as we entered the Sanctuary the music seemed especially loud. Since they were already setting up additional chairs, we requested two be set up against the back wall because of the volume. They were understanding and graciously accommodated our request.
The music seemed professional…it was almost like being at a concert except the music was worship-oriented.
The offering was taken noticeably early in the service.
This was the fourth and final part of a series entitled “Average Joe: What God Can Do Through Ordinary You,” and was presented by the same preacher we heard last time, Bob Zonts. He began by recapping the first three installments of the series which were about Noah (who was “available, different, obedient, and faithful”), Gideon (whose key points were “affirmation, revelation, confrontation, and transformation”), and Abraham (key words – “path, promise, plan, provision”).
Moses was an Average Joe until he encountered the Burning Bush, and when God explained what He wanted Moses to do, Moses came up with five excuses. The preacher defined an excuse as “Self-justification for something we have done or haven’t done or don’t want to do.” The excuses were detailed as follows:
Excuse #1 – “Who am I?” The question: have I used my past, or a wound from my past, as an excuse? The solution: trust Him…He’s the One doing it, not us.
Excuse #2 – “What if they ask who sent me?” The solution: it’s not about you…do what you know…tell your story.
Excuse #3 – “They won’t believe me.” The solution: God never asked Moses to use something he didn’t already have. What do I already have that He’s asking me to use? God never expects us to be someone we’re not.
Excuse #4 – “I don’t speak well.” The solution: trust God to do what He says He will do; again, it’s not us.
Excuse #5 – A weak request to “Please send someone else.” Scripture affirms that Moses was an exceedingly humble man, but God gets angry when we make excuses, and Moses was refusing to trust God’s answers.
Finally the big, bottom-line question: do we really trust God with our lives? Ouch.
This message hit me right between the eyes. I felt as if these reminders to tell my story, trust God to do what He sees fit with it, that it’s not about me, these are all things I’ve been hearing over and over from various sources. Perhaps I need to take it more personally. Still no burning bushes though…so far…
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