The following are sharing by sister Mimi on her thoughts about last Sunday Service message (I missed it as I was in the mission trip last weekend).........



Hi,
After yesterday’s preaching by Pastor Edgar I think a lot of us came away with tears in our eyes as the Holy Spirit convicted our hearts. We recognized our failings and repented our insensitivity and indifference towards others.

I particularly cried that I failed to meet up to God’s expectations and as I watched our Pastor Mark with tears rolling down his face as he tried desperately to wipe off tears and mucus from his nose (nobody gave him any tissue ) I just seemed to feel his burden. As he confessed about his human tiredness and sometimes, his reluctance to answer calls of help, and his struggles, my heart went out for him as I realized, it is no easy task but a huge responsibility having to organize a church, to take care of members, and to carry out his duties the best he could.

A lot of times we have strong opinions about our pastor, how the church could be run better but have we ever put ourselves in his position to understand the heavy responsibility he had to undertake to run a church, to meet someone’s call for help, to visit someone who’s sick in hospital, to attend to someone’s wake, to attend to marriage problems, children’s problem, to speak in another church, to go on mission and the list goes on.

What about his own family’s concerns too?

2 Peter 1:5-8 says (NIV)

“For this very reason do your best to add goodness to your faith;
and to goodness, add knowledge; and to knowledge add self-control;
and to self-control add endurance; and to endurance add godliness;
and to godliness add brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness add love.
These are the qualities we need, and if we have them in abundance, they will make us active and effective in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

MY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ABOVE VERSE...

Wow! What a message.
Peter is saying,
"Okay folks, God wants you to get with it and make a difference in and
through your life!"
Are you ready?
“I’m not ready Lord but I am willing!”
So Let's begin today.

In James 3:13, James also says,

“If we declare to be wise children of God, we must make sure that our living back us up.”

Read 3:14-18....
James is saying that we must make sure our actions in life match our words. To live right rather than talk right should be our motto in life. God sees the heart not the externals. We cannot live two lives, the private and the public. There should be uniformity of goodness, self-control, godliness and love all the time, not some of the time and not to only those you want to and curse those you do not want to.

Let us all pray and support our pastor and each other, not only in words but also in action, proactive in our support of one another, be sensitive to each other’s needs and be a doer to help and not just a talker.


MY PRAYER...

Holy God, we are going to put out great efforts to grow in your grace.
Please bless our efforts and receive them as our heartfelt appreciation
for loving us when we were unlovable and redeeming us when we were lost.

We want to be obedient, productive. We want to touch lives, to make a difference, to show love and care in gentleness and patience.

Let the Fruit of the Spirit flows through us that we may walk in love.
Use us o Lord, anoint us with the Holy Spirit’s teaching, as we get ready to do Your Will, give us the boldness to get out of our comfort zone to approach even strangers in church, and help us to minister to them. Cause our prayer to sow Holy Spirit seed into their hearts and let the Word grow and cause them to find your Peace that surpasses all understanding as You guard their minds and hearts. As you blessed us Lord, cause us to be a blessing also to others in the most powerful name of Jesus. Amen.

We give you Father God all the glory in and through our Lord, Jesus whom we worship and praise.
Amen.

ML

Disclaimer:
The above are thoughts of the author and may not represent the views of the group