Sunday Sermon Snippet

     Our pastor spoke about Psalm 78 and the many lessons we can gain from the Israelites' relationship with God.  Their faithfulness wavered, as does ours, for 3 main reasons: Doubt in God's...

• Protection
• Provision 
• Leadership

     As Christians, we want to fit in with the culture around us so as to not make waves.  How many times did the Israelites get chastened for this very thing.  They strayed from God to the idols and customs of other cultures.  As Christians, many times we will be called to stand alone in doing what is pleasing to God.  We may be scoffed at, discriminated against, or told we are politically incorrect.  But that is the cost of being a true follower of Christ.

     When you stand out, people take notice and so does Satan.  I know that at the school that I teach at, the more we strive to follow God and rely on His will (and not what the faculty or the parents think should happen), the more strife we encounter. Our Senior Pastor always reminds us that the more Satan throws at us, it is probably an indicator that we are doing the right thing.  I have many stories I can tell about how Satan tried to thwart our Consecration service for our fifth graders each year.  I know it is because the message of God, and His undying love for His people in sending His Son, will be shared.

     One particular example that will always stick with me is the day before the ceremony, a portion of the sanctuary's ceiling collapsed.  There are two views of this:  Satan trying to throw us off to focus on fear rather than faith in God, and God's protection in that it did not happen during the ceremony.  God used each ceremony, despite the discouraging scenarios that often preceded it, to be a testimony to God's sovereign power.

     With that being said, our pastor went on to give us caveats and encouragement as to our walk in this world that we temporarily live in:

• We shouldn't battle to Christianize the world.  We can't steer the culture by force.
• Christians should be a part of politics.  We are called to be "salt" and "light". We are called to evangelize and do good deeds to make the world around us better through God's work through us.
• We need to be careful about being absorbed by the culture that surrounds us.

     The last one especially hit home for me.  I used to be a Twitter addict.  I used to try to have conversations with my favorite TV personailities.  They never wrote back.  I was sad about it.  However, one day I questioned myself, "Why do I care?"  Well, I am trying to be a part of the culture that surrounds me and to find myself pleasing to man, not God.

     I also take that fear with me with this blog.  Am I doing this with the right heart attitude?  Do I want people to think my decoration style is awesome and praise me for it?  Do I want to show off my treasures to again be praised?  What are my goals. It is okay that people do that out of kindness or to be uplifting, but is that why I am doing this blog?  Is that my heart attitude?

     My desire is to write.  I love to write.  I love to decorate and go out picking.  I love to fellowship with others.  Those things in and of themselves are not wrong if the right attitude is behind them- serving God and others and not myself.  I don't know if anyone will ever read my blog.  I hope they do.  I want to meet people and talk about what is meaningful to them.  I want to talk about prim decor, but I hope that our conversations are much more than that.  I hope that we discuss family. seek Godly advice, witness, pray for one another, share scripture, and discuss how we glorify the Lord with our talents from being a mom to whatever God has called you to be. I hope it is a conversation between many, but I am content to be a conversation of one.

     The main idea of the pastor's sermon today was this:

"God wants us to believe in Him and walk faithfully with Him."

     That should be my heart's attitude in this blog. AND, to also be "salt" and "light" through my simple writings in this tiny blog.

Luke 6:45 says, "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."

Coffee Talk Discussion: Well, if that is our goal, how can we accomplish it?  Please share your thoughts, personal stories, scripture, or a Sunday Sermon Snippet of your own!   God bless!