Sunday evening we studied Jesus' letter to the church in Sardis (we're slowly making our way through Revelation). One of the great advantages to being a minister is the view. You really see a lot more from up front. I love watching the faces of the congregation during praise, prayer and proclamation. Sardis was the dead church. They were basically zombies. I'm so thankful, that as I watched the faces of the congregation Sunday night, I saw people who were alive spiritually.
Before we studied Sardis 4 people were baptized. The heater on our baptismal was broken, so the quartet was quite cold. But I thought to myself as I watched them emerge from the water, knowing I was about to teach about a dead-cold church, how much better to be physically cold, but on fire for Christ than to be physically warm, but cold-hearted!
2 comments:
Praise the Lord! It's refreshing to hear about churches that are spiritually healthy. I know there are several of these churches, but there are also a lot of zombies out there. Thanks for the uplift this morning.
One thing I've learned practically, instead of just on paper, in ministry is you've gotta celebrate the victories. I think Bible College sometimes creates an idealism in people that, in the end, produces a trend towards cynicism. When I think about the church, all it should be, could be, and isn't....it's easy to be negative. It's tougher to find those flickers of light and rejoice in them. But I don't wanna miss them anymore.
Post a Comment