Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Preaching on Sunday

I preached on sunday for the first time at the Rock United Methodists Church in Lexington. I was really nervous because I had never preached on Sunday and there is a different crowd there than on Mondays. I preach on Mondays every week. I usually move around alot in the center aisle but because the pastor head piece had been stolen I could not preach in the aisle. I stood at the pulpit and the Holy Spirit moved through me and I was able to preach a message about the freedom we have from sin because of Jesus' death and resurrection. Sin is not our master anymore and we have freedom in Jesus to grow into holiness and our salvation that was given to us through Jesus.
I had a really good sermon and it was to myself too. It is funny how that goes sometimes. the preacher has to be reminded that he too is saved by grace and he too does not have to listen to the lies the evil tells him. It was an amazing experience and I really hope the next time the Holy Spirit will speak through me.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Having a purpose

I think we all wonder what our purpose in this world is suppose to be. If you are a Christian your purpose is to love God and others everyday. This means alot of things. Sometimes it means letting go because they are not ready to let Jesus Christ transform them. I have a guy like this in my life. I have spent a year going to his house once a week and about 4 months ago I stopped going. At first I felt bad but I invited him to church everyday for a year and he only came once. I would go to his house and read the bible and pray for him. I would bring food over sometimes becasue I knew he was hungry. I really wanted this guy to come to church and get involved with people. Going to church and getting involved gets him out of his place. He lives in a part of town where he get taken advantage of alot because there are drunks and prostitutes that break in to his house. It is a hard thing to do but I know there are others out there who are ready to let Jesus transform them and they need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. That Jesus loves them and cares about them. IF they say yes to him he will change them. Sometimes the devil can use our guilt to stop the gospel from spreading. I challenge you to use wisdom when with the amount of time you are spending on a person. The Lord will reveal if the person is ready to change and know that only God can change them you cannot. You can only love them and preach the gospel. I think you can still love someone but also know that they are not ready to come to church or to let God transform them. My friend is still my friend but I cannot spend to much time with him because he is not on a road that Christ has me on and I have to pray that the Holy spirit will eventually get him in church.