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!
If you were called upon today to give an account of your mission work, what would be the report? Would the report include benevolent work? Would the information contain any…
This is the power of God - the power that overcame that of the sting of death; having raised Jesus from the dead. It is the one and only power…
Each day we write a new paragraph or a new chapter. How will your story end?
“The future of society is in the hands of the mothers.” (de Beaufort)
“Men may build cities and railroads; they span rivers and tunnel mountains. But the mothers of men are the builders of civilization.” (C.A. Stewart)
“Mothers write on the hearts of their children what the world’s rough hand cannot erase.” (Anonymous
Jesus promise of “living water” is still available today to those who have a thirst of the soul. It is a thirst which nothing else can satisfy — only the…
In the Old Testament, we have in great detail, at times, the compassion of God. He is compassionate by nature, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to…
How many of us have been unwilling to forgive a person even one time when they sought our forgiveness? How many of us grudgingly forgave one time, but were unwilling to do so a second time? How many of us would have been willing to go Peter’s seven times, but set our limit there?
According to Mark 15:39, there was a centurion who was standing right in front of Jesus at the cross. When he saw the way Jesus took His last breath, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Compassion is to be shown to the regulars as we might consider them. Rebellious people receive compassion because of who God is, not what they have done, because of his grace, not because they deserve it, because he is just, not because they are right. Repentant people are shown compassion because they learn to fear the LORD, usually because of the punishment put upon them; when rebellious or disobedient people return to God and cry out for deliverance, God shows them compassion. God wants to show his compassion to you.
