Mark Twain in chapter five of his book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, wrote of Tom at a church service: The service began with a list of announcements which he thought would go on “to the crack of doom.” He talked about the prayer which was generous in its detail and he resented it whenever anything new was added in. The preacher’s sermon “droned along [so] monotonously… and was so prosy that many a head began to nod.
This reminds us of what happens when we come together to worship. The announcements are a little long, the songs aren’t to our liking, the preacher is a little boring. Some of us even do things to keep ourselves awake. We are at a different time. Forty years ago people didn’t ask, why do I have to go to church (worship)? Things have changed, culturally and intellectually so that we look at life a little differently. Sunday morning is now seen as a time to relax. If we don’t like the way things are where we presently worship, we will look for a place where things are the way we want them to be. Most people when they think about worship do not think about it as essential or the most critical thing they will do during the week.
We come together every Lord’s Day to be in the presence of God. Even though it may not look like much, and even when we don’t leave with a feeling of excitement, what happens during worship is of great importance because this is where we approach Mount Zion and we offer our praise to the One who is worthy of all praise. May we never as Christians take this opportunity in a light manner!
Ignorance and inexperience with grief, especially that which accompanies the loss of a mate, makes it difficult (if not impossible) to minister effectively to those trying to live after loss.…
But, who are we? Paul says we are “earthen vessels”(NKJV, NASB95), “jars of clay” (ESV, NIV84). Long ago, Job asked God, “Remember now, that You have made me as clay” (Job 10:9). You and I carry about in our frail mortal bodies a light derived from the central source of light, Jesus Christ. Paul said that it is in order “to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7b, ESV)
People are hurting. In John 13:34-35 we are called to love one another. Love is the reason we are here. Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that…
God has given us the opportunity to make a difference in our community. That difference starts with who we are — how do we treat one another. In 1 Thessalonians…
Today, if you and I are to have any part in Him, we must allow Him to wash us in the waters of baptism, even as the early Christians did.
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:3–6
In the first part, we began looking at John 11, and the amazing miracle which John narrates for us — the raising of Lazarus, a man who had been dead…
When Abram, Levi & Saul’s names were changed, they were thereafter called by their new name. Why was Jacob called both Jacob & Israel after his name was changed?
Salt is essential for life in general. Small amounts of salt are needed for certain types of plants. Our bodies utilize the sodium in salt. Salt was once a valuable…
