It’s been a while since I last posted anything on my blog so I thought I would update it tonight. Last week I “preached” my first sermon. Well I’m not entirely sure anyone would call it a sermon but it’s as close as I could come to preaching. I’ll publish the sermon notes at the end so if anyone is interested they can take a look. We have spent the last several months in our choir group discussing at various times the gifts of the spirit that God gives each of us to help and edify the body of Christ that we are a part of here on earth. Many times we have spoken of finding what your individual gift is and using it and getting out of the way in those areas where you are not gifted. Often we find ourselves in places trying to lead others when we just aren’t gifted in that area. I think sometimes it’s one of the hardest things for us to admit but we just aren’t gifted in every area that we often wish we were. This all leads me back to my sermon. I firmly believe that preaching has never been my gift. When I lead the congregation in praise and worship songs, I feel that I am where I should be. My passion is there and for the most part my talent is there. So finding myself behind a pulpit last Sunday was very interesting. I learned a few things about myself that day.
1) I am not a preacher
2) I may adlib with music and song but I cannot adlib the scripture
3) I learned that I do not show my respect and gratitude to my pastor as often as I should
4) It’s a hard job that those who are gifted in make look easy. See number one above….I’m sure I did not make it look easy.
5) I learned that I am glad that someone else runs the service and I just get to pop in a do my part and then pop back out.
6) Standing behind that pulpit comes with some very big responsibility and it is a weight I could not stand up under very long.
7) Lastly, I also found out that a part of me, however small, actually enjoyed parts of it.
Actually to tell the truth about number 7, I would have to say that what I enjoyed was the topic for sermon. Once you know the topic I chose then you can see that what I enjoyed is talking about what my passions and what area my gift is in. See when you ask a worship leader to speak/preach what you get is a sermon on……………yeah you guessed it…….worship. So the big thing I learned was that yes God sometimes asks us to step outside of that which is comfortable to us and do things that stretches us BUT even when the format is different such as preaching rather than leading the praise choir, the passion God gave me is still what will come through……….worship whether singing about it or speaking about it. It only affirmed to me that I am where God has called me to be for this time and this place. So I’ll post the sermon now and if you are interested you can read it. Comments are always welcome.
Sherri
Worship In The Wilderness
Matthew 4:1-11
4Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards, he was famished. 3The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4But Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5Then the devil took Jesus to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘God will command angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” 7Jesus said to the tempter, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put YAHWEH to the test.’” 8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the dominions of the world and their splendor; 9and said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve God alone.’” 11Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
1. This is the typical passage used during the time of lent.
2. Lent represents for us a time of preparation for the things to come
3. Holy Week----crucifixion and resurrection. But some things need to happen before we can experience resurrection. Often God leads us through a time in the wilderness spiritually. Most of us have been there………….We don’t “feel” God. WE don’t think God is listening. I often say of those times that my prayers are bouncing off the walls meaning I don’t think they are getting through to God. You wonder if while Jesus was in the desert he thought these things as well. I imagine he did but somehow he knew he had to get through this wilderness experience in order to get to the other side of resurrection.
4. We often say of these times in our life that our faith is being tested and maybe it is but I’m not sure that God puts a test out there just to see if we pass or fail. For me this passage has come to mean something different. I believe this wilderness experience is not so much about increasing our faith or making us tougher spiritually but I believe it’s about worship and our relationship with God. Three things take place in the passage:
1. Satan tells Jesus if he is truly the son of God then turn the stones into bread:
a. Jesus answers by saying no ………….I trust God and God’s word to take care of me.
b. Satan I believe was testing Jesus to see if he really believed what God was saying to him……………Is God’s word trustworthy
2. Satan tells Jesus to throw himself down from the top of the temple if he is the son of God…………….God will send angels to save him.
a. Jesus answers with no because I will not put God to the test
b. So Jesus believes what God has said without having to test it.
3. Lastly he takes Jesus to a high mountain and says if you worship me then I will give this to you.
a. Jesus answer: NO I will only worship God
b. At this point I find it interesting that Satan gives up and leaves
So all along Satan wanted Jesus to worship him rather than God and he thought he could bribe him into it by offering him things. God doesn’t bargain with us regarding our worship. He doesn’t have to. He is worthy of our praise and worship. There is no other that is, so anyone or anything other than God has to bargain with us for our worship.
The bottom line was who will you worship………….this is our relationship with God. Our relationship is based on worship…………It’s what we were created for. So Jesus’ final answer was my relationship is with God not you………………..I will only worship God. It’s easy for us to say in a general type of way “of course I worship God, I’m a Christian right?” I think worship is about all those small individual choices we make each day. Jesus had choices in the wilderness ……………………make the stone to bread………..if he had chosen to do that instead of trusting God and trusting his relationship with God………then that choice would not have been one of worship. We all make choices that don’t reflect our worship of God. Sometimes the world bargains for our worship and wins but God doesn’t leave us during those time………….Satan left Jesus as soon as he found out Jesus wasn’t going to worship him but when we make wrong choices God doesn’t leave he just keeps right on walking with us and helping us to make a better choice the next time. We can trust in our relationship with God and we can trust in God’s faithfulness to us.
Sometimes when we feel like we are in that wilderness place, it’s not faith we need but rather we need to worship. The past few weeks in choir practice, there have been a couple of different people who have said to me……………..it helps me with my faith to be here on Wednesdays because I’m having a tough time with my faith right now……………….I wondered after they told me this what it was that happened on Wednesdays that would help them with their faith…………….what is it that happens on choir practice night………………then I think I hit on it……………we worship. We have relationship with God and with each other and together we worship God. It strengthens us as individuals and as a group………it increases our faith.
So if you find yourself in a wilderness place………….cry out to God and worship and examine your choices you are making each day………….are they a reflection of your worship of God or did you allow yourself to be swayed by a bargain here and there?
You can trust God you can trust in your relationship with God.
