What a wonderful service Sunday!
Daren somehow seems to select music that echoes in my mind throughout the week.
Our first hymn was Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee..."Hearts unfold like flowers
before Thee, Opening to the sun above....Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!"
Immortal gladness....what a wonderful thought!
And we sang He Keeps Me Singing....
All my life was wrecked by sin and strife
Discord filled my life with pain
Jesus swept across the broken strings
Stirred the slumbering chords again!
Broken strings - to immortal gladness!
Immortal gladness from broken strings...
Bro Mike's message text was Acts 4:32, 34 (yes, we are moving slowly):
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had....there were no needy persons among them.
Bro Mike talked about how we might, at a younger age, offer our lives to God, expecting Him to call us to the mission field --China or Africa. To most of us that was what was meant when we said we were giving our lives to Christ.
But we have learned it was not limited to that -- the question now is what God wants to do with our lives and possessions here -- how will the Holy Spirit influence us to use what we have?
What does He want us to do with our stuff?
1. He will lead you to see your possessions as available to the Kingdom
2. He will lead you to offer your possessions for the Kingdom
3. He will lead you to commit your possessions to an actual situation
1. These words from 1 Timothy 6:6-9:
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
[Well, I can certainly give lots of pertinent examples of that last sentence!]
2. Bro Mike used verses 34 and 35 of Acts 4 to picture this (our offering of our possssions)) for us:
From time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from their sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
This is the "offering" - as Mary bowed in humility at the feet of Jesus
and washed His feet, drying them with her hair.
The early Christians brought the money from the sale of their property and placed it at the feet of the apostles - they left it there. They walked away. It was a true offering of what (maybe all) they had.
When the Holy Spirit invades our lives He produces generosity in us.
The question here is: What do I feel about my stuff?
3. Bro Mike gave us an illustration of a growing church in Buenos Aires - people were inspired to give their homes, cars, titles to property, to their church. The deacons met and prayed at length, and then returned the titles to the property --
telling their congregaton to keep the houses and cars - to live in their homes and drive their cars - but just remember it all belongs to God, so use it for Him!
What a great story!
Bro Mike took us to Romans 15:26 and we could see that the practice of sharing all their possessions did not resolve permanently the problem of need in the early church at Jerusalem --(Jesus had pointed out to the disciples, when Mary was criticized for using her expensive perfume to wash Jesus' feet, "The poor you will always have") -- Paul was telling the Romans that the saints in Acaia and Macedonia were making contributions for the poor in Jerusalem and in 1 Corinthians 16 Paul was talking about churches in Galatia ahnd Corinth collecting money "on the first day of the week" for Paul to take to those in need.
Everything we have comes from God. We are asked to manage it.
Is there any evidence in our lives that the Holy Spirit influences what we do with what we have?
This is a challenging message. I am not doing it justice here. But these are just random notes. I need to go to our website and listen again....fbc-bc.org
We closed with the uplifting song, "There's Room at the Cross" and Bro Mike reminded us that even though the economy is bad, that there does not seem to be enough, or sufficient, money to take care of all the probolems we have - great debt, etc., that God's economy is different. There is a surplus in His economy. There's room for every one in His Kingdom. And there is never a shortage in His bounty to us!
There's room at the Cross....And its grace so free is sufficient for me, and deep is its fountain, as wide as the sea....
Yes, there's room at the cross for all of us...even for me..even for you....
God is good. All the time.
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