For as long as I can remember I've always looked forward to discussions around the Sunday dinner table after church. Rather it be in my momma's kitchen, the country club or a favorite restaurant. You see- the dinner table is where we as a family do our weekly catching up and dissect the Pastor's sermon. I have to give props to my Pastor's recent series of messages. They've been full of "meat"- meaning they provoke thought and leave me challenged. Today's message was right in line.
For those of you news junkies you'll recall last week's freak plane crash on the Hudson River. From this one event our Pastor drew many parallels. I'd like to share a few poignant ideas that resignated with me and made it into my family's discussion around the dinner table.
-Our church is like Flight 1549. God is our pilot. Our pastor leadership team makes up the crew members. Our church body makes up the passengers. A slight bump felt you might see as a knock, a challenge. Extended turbulence you might see as extended challenging circumstances. Just as Pilot "Sully" remained "calm, cool and collected" in the face of trouble- God remains "calm, cool and collected" through the stages of life. If Pilot Sully had reacted to the circumstances all 155 people most likely would have lost their lives. Along with Pilot Sully crew members and passengers alike had to make up their minds to work together to survive. They didn't jump ship. What are you going to do when challenges come knocking at your door? Will you flee in fear or will you stand in faith? Some of life's challenges that we view in the present as disasters- God sees in the future as blessings.
So- will you stand or flee?
**************************************************************************
A few weeks back Pastor preached a sermon on "Working our your own salvation".
At the time I didn't realize how God would reverberate this message in my life over and over. After that message different conversations and situations filtered through my path- that in reflecting where "Ahahh" moments.
Let me begin by saying how thankful, how grateful I am for the heritage that was bestowed to me. I was blessed to be raised in a Christian home and from an early age made a commitment to Christ. We often joke(d) that we got saved so many times (you went to the alter every service) we didn't know which one took. My family, generations back, has been a part of the Church of God denomination. Anyone that knows anything about the C.O.G. knows that sanctification and morality are distinguishing labels for the denomination as a whole. It has taken me a long time to understand, digest these labels. I don't know that I'll ever understand it all. Under these labels the C.O.G. adopted many outlandish rules (no make up, no jewelry, etc) that have have thankfully relaxed with time. Even so, I've had to have quite a few conversations with God, which was "me working out my own salvation". Growing up some of these rules were cut and dry-- you just didn't do them. (I sound like I was raised in a church that was dogmatic, where women wore bee-hives, no make up- that's not the case- if anything it far from it) When I went away to college (a Church of God institution) I thought for sure these same rules would be cut and dry- how wrong I was. If anything- while at this institution- during this time was when I really began to question the basis and purpose of some of these "absolutes", my own salvation and God's purpose for having relationship with him. Below are some ideas, snips, gold nuggets of thought I've gleamed from my pastor's sermon - I'd like to think God's spoken to me re: working out my own salvation...
- The day you get saved- is not the day all problems, temptations flee... if anything its the day they come a knockin'.
- Everyone will stand before God individually and give an account for how they lived their own life. You must work out your own faith.
-Religion will depress you, defeat you and destroy you.
-Christianity is the reason many never make a commitment to Christ.
- Grace is not a licence to sin.
-We must judge God by the same standard he judges us (through Jesus)... look at Calvary.
-C.O.G. had a measuring rod (the forbidden)- they demanded things that were not in line with the word and God. Their intentions were well doing- but their eternal consequences were not.
-Other's opinions are irrelevant to God' s opinion.
-Religion has is merits- just not when it becomes exclusive.
No comments:
Post a Comment