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Happy Sunday!
Happy Sunday! It’s another Lord’s Day, which means that we get to enjoy
good faith, genuine fellowship, and can recommit to living out the kind of faith
that is genuine and real in a world that is often fake and artificial.
Speaking of that, we gather together each Sunday not just to fulfill a
command, but for many other reasons too. For one, we gather to be enriched in
God’s blessings...to be encouraged by His promises...to be assured of our
common salvation...to praise our Creator, who made the sea, the dry land, and us
–imagine that! We gather to reflect upon the sacrifice Jesus gave for each and
every one of us...to be transformed by the renewing of our minds with God’s
truth...and hopefully challenged to live His principles in our everyday world.
So we’re glad you’re here! However, we hope that you don’t just come
and attend just to check the box–because that’s an easy “cop out”--or should I
say “shallow way”–of doing this whole faith thing. Let me illustrate: By
observation I can tell that parenthood is one of the highest callings you can fulfill
in this life. You’re responsible for the safety, wellbeing, and development of
people that belong to you! And yet, there can be a kind of “box checking” thing
done with the high call of parenting, too. Mom and Dad can both be in the home,
having food on the table, paying the bills, etc. They’ve “checked the boxes” so to
speak with their obligations to their family. But they can still lack being truly
present with their family and developing meaningful relationships with their kids.
Just by observation, I can truly tell that parenthood is a high calling in and of
itself. And yet, so is faith! The reality is, checking the boxes in anything will only
get you so far. So may we gather, not just to check the box, but to truly be
“present” in Spirit and in truth. Both of them–not just one or the other. So don’t
just mouth the words–mean the words! Don’t just take the Lord’s Supper–
examine yourself this past week, and commit to living life sacrificially. Don’t sit
and think about lunch plans while the sermon’s going on–think about how you
can embody the sermon this week...
May this be an experience of refilling and renewing, instead of just mere
routine. Let’s break the mold this morning by worshiping our God with glad and
generous hearts. Make sure you sing out! Have a great week...Blessings!
