Last week my passion was reawakened for the church.
It started with my Pastor’s message titled, A Wake Up Call. It was probably one of the best sermons that I have ever heard; not only because of it’s relevance to the modern church, but also because of the questions that were previously in my heart.
I was really feeling like I needed to be apart of the church. I had stopped going for awhile because of conflicts with my schedule and also partly because I was irritated with a few things there. However, the Holy Spirit continued to convict me that being on my own as a Christian was not safe. This was confirmed with the Pastor’s sermon. At one point he mentioned that God told him the church was filled with apathy. He drew a diagram illustrating that there are a few “on-fire” Christians in the middle, and a ring of “seekers” on the outside. In the middle, are hundreds of everyday people that are just filling the seats, but aren’t really walking the walk. Believe me, it was an intense sermon, and the conviction was so heavy in the room you could almost see it weighing people down. However, it was necessary. As a pastor, it is his job to protect his flock, and that is just what he did. I respect that, especially with all the “feel good” preachers that are out there now. The world could use a few more leaders who aren’t afraid to stand up for Truth, no matter how much it hurts.
Now, my problem isn’t with my walk outside of church. I’m doing pretty good with that. My problem is within the church. I’ve just never connected with people there. Pretty sad, huh?
Anyway, I realized that I was there to hear that message for a reason, and to not act on the message that I was receiving would have been disobeying the Holy Spirit. So, I have to get more involved with the church. I am NOT a social person. It’s not that I can’t be, but I have always chosen not to be. That has actually worked rather well for me in the past, but now God is saying something different. He’s saying, “that isn’t going to work anymore. You’re going to start playing by My rules now, and you need to have more fellowship with your fellow brothers and sisters.”
In other words, it’s time to “play nice”. Great, not exactly something I’m use to!
I’ve had the desire in my heart to have more friends my age. Actually, to have one friend my age would be nice. All my friends are older than me, and don’t get me wrong; I love them all. In the past, I was perfectly content having older friends, but something is crying out in me to get involved with people in my age group.
Coincidentally (yeah right), my church just started a young adult ministry (ages 18-24). It’s called Transit, and we are meeting for the first time on Tuesday. I can’t believe I’m going to go to something like this, but I’m trusting God on this one.
Who knows, maybe I’ll meet the girl of my dreams there? Oh, wow…I hope I’m not wrong for thinking like that!
I spend most of my time with really old people….like 60s to 80s….probably because the Lord has called me to minister to the old. But lately the Lord has been asking me to start mingling more with those my age. Thanks bro for sharing this.
Sidharth
Comment Submitted: June 9th, 2008 at 6:55 am
I agree. God established the Church in the book of Acts, even setting up the leadership structure, and we all have a part to play in it. Working together, we can accomplish more than we would by being independent, plus it creates a family that should be unbreakable. Having a church family can really help us grow, to learn from others, to encourage and challenge, and to help bear our burden through the tough times in life.
While there are problems in the Church (because there are people), we still have our calling (within the local church and within the global Body) regardless of what’s going wrong sometimes. I wish people would always deal with their issues and forgive like we’re commanded to, but sometimes there is friction and hurt, which seems to hurt worse because it’s from our church family (and it shouldn’t be there). But we can’t just give up because some people make problems. (This is close to my heart because there’s some problems in my church right now, unfortunately. But I’m determined to work through them, doing my best to bring reconciliation to those who are hurting.)
Comment Submitted: June 9th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
BTW, church is probably the best place to meet the girl of your dreams, though of course that shouldn’t be our focus during service.
What I’ve heard about finding that special someone, is that you’re going through life, focusing foremost on your walk with God, doing ministry, then God leads the right person to be walking along with you (figuratively), going in the same direction. Because, typically, your ministries will complement each other, so you can work together in the Kingdom.
I was single for a long time, and I have a LOT that I could say about this, but I won’t hijack your post.
You can e-mail if you want to discuss more. (Maybe I’ll write on it soon… I’ve been meaning to anyway.)
Comment Submitted: June 9th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Justin,
I so agree with Beppo. Allow yourself to be available to God to bless you. He can (but not likely) have the “girl of your dreams” come knock on your front door. But more often we need to move a little in His direction to align you with someone. Church is just the body of Christ coming together. We are all trying to be more Christ-like everyday. The Church will never be perfect. But I believe if you will allow God to stretch you (move you out of your comfort zone), you will be happy with the results. So go on Tuesday and enjoy yourself! I look forward to hearing how God has blessed you within your local church body. Blessings!
Comment Submitted: June 9th, 2008 at 7:50 pm