I am looking forward to this Sunday. In our morning service we are going to focus on how to prepare for what God may choose to do in our lives in 2009. The Lord began laying this message on my heart back in the beginning of December. I am praying we have a great, life-changing, God-honoring day!
Sunday we will also take the wraps off one of two big changes in store for our church this year. A great deal of prayer, study, and consultation has gone into this decision. I look forward to sharing it with the church. And no I won't tell you ahead of time :).
Question: What is the most interesting or the most convicting or the most encouraging thing you've read in the Word in the last couple of days? The Lord can and will teach us wonderful things when we read the Bible consistently! If you are looking for something to commit to in 2009, a daily habit of Bible reading might be a pretty good idea.
Here is some of what I saw in my reading this morning. In Acts 10:34, Peter preaches a Gospel message to Gentiles. As you read through his message and get to Acts 10:44 you will then see that something happens that is very similar to what happened when Peter preached to the Jews in Acts 2. So what is the difference in the two stories aside from the fact that in one the audience was composed entirely of Jews and in the other the audience was Gentile?
One big difference... the message. Paul preached a different message to the Gentiles. He still talked about the gospel (sin, guilt, Jesus, crucifixion, resurrection) but he did so with a different narrative and a different emphasis. Why? Because he was talking to different people.
Lesson to learn: There are some things that never change, like the gospel and the role of the Holy Spirit. But beyond those essentials, we must tailor our presentation and our ministry to reach people, understanding that the people we are trying to reach may be very different and have very different ways of viewing the world...
Well, I will save my preaching to Sunday.
Have a happy New Year's Day.
Pastor Noel
