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Serving, Because we were bought
I had the opportunity to preach once again a couple of weeks ago, and being that my pastor takes very little vacation, it will be a while before I get to preach again. Which is a bummer for me, but that is okay, may the Lord's truth be carried forth.
If you would like to hear the sermon, click here.
But, my main point was that we must serve because we were bought by Christ's blood. It is not optional, it is not volunteering, for slaves do not get to "volunteer" for service but they are required to do so, as are we.
We are having Vacation Bible School this week and I almost broke down in tears to see one particular person serving this week. She is a congregant that has just found out that her options for treatment on her cancer are now almost completely vanished. She just lost her mother to cancer and her son in law also has cancer. Earthly speaking she should be "living out her last days" and doing whatever she would like, because unless God intervenes, she will not be with us for much longer. But, as I came to church last night, there she was, serving with a smile on her face looking at these kids with anticipation that one just might be saved through the word of God.
She, last night, pushed me to my limit of understanding and seeing the grace of God lived out. She truly knows what it means to serve because she has been bought. If I lined up 10 people, or 1000 people, she would be one of the last you would pick to have cancer. Her demeanor and attitude is glorious, and glorious because of her Christ that died for her sins, and she wants to spread this knowledge to those around her and it made me better understand, anytime I tell God that I don't want to serve, I must ask myself, "Do I really have a choice?"
People, know that you have been bought and you are required to serve your God in obedience to your Master who died for your soul.
If you would like to hear the sermon, click here.
But, my main point was that we must serve because we were bought by Christ's blood. It is not optional, it is not volunteering, for slaves do not get to "volunteer" for service but they are required to do so, as are we.
We are having Vacation Bible School this week and I almost broke down in tears to see one particular person serving this week. She is a congregant that has just found out that her options for treatment on her cancer are now almost completely vanished. She just lost her mother to cancer and her son in law also has cancer. Earthly speaking she should be "living out her last days" and doing whatever she would like, because unless God intervenes, she will not be with us for much longer. But, as I came to church last night, there she was, serving with a smile on her face looking at these kids with anticipation that one just might be saved through the word of God.
She, last night, pushed me to my limit of understanding and seeing the grace of God lived out. She truly knows what it means to serve because she has been bought. If I lined up 10 people, or 1000 people, she would be one of the last you would pick to have cancer. Her demeanor and attitude is glorious, and glorious because of her Christ that died for her sins, and she wants to spread this knowledge to those around her and it made me better understand, anytime I tell God that I don't want to serve, I must ask myself, "Do I really have a choice?"
People, know that you have been bought and you are required to serve your God in obedience to your Master who died for your soul.
4 comments:
sounds like quite a lady. I pray that God blesses her.
Seth,
Thanks dude. We were talking about this in my adult bible study this past week. If we are truly serving the Lord with a pure heart then it will not be a drudgery. It will be the first-most thing on our mind. It is a great blessing to me when I see those serving with this spirit.
You had inquired on erik raymond's blog about "Gil Rugh." I can give my opinion of him based on observations over the past 40 years! Yes, I was very young when he first began teaching the Word at Indian Hills Church. In a nutshell, he is totally devoted to guarding and proclaiming the truth of God's Word. We moved away from Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1984 and have attended several churches since that time. Except for our current church here in Wichita, Kansas, none were nearly as fervent in upholding truth like how Gil does at Indian Hills nor was the leadership of the churches run as Biblically. Over the years there have been people disgruntled with Gil or the ministry at Indian Hills, but in my opinion any qualms were based on misinformation. Pride leads to hasty judgment. It seems obvious to me even to this day that Gil himself is obedient to God's Word and he loves every word of it. He also has gone out of his way in helping my husband and I in sorting through trials and obstacles we've encountered in other flocks we've been involved in. We found his advice to ring true with the Word, and it was of great encouragment to us and saved us from further heartaches! You can check out for yourself the following website containing numerous booklets containing sermons Gil has preached at: http://www.ihcc.org/sw_index.php?id=sw_grb_index
Obligation in only 1/2 the story and I think its the later half. We serve out of love and gratitude. God said I desire love over sacrifice(Hos 6:6)
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