Welcome!
Date: Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Today: Practicing what we preach
Passage: Rom 12:12-13NIV
12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality..
Preaching is easy; practicing is the difficult part
One year back, we went through an accident that would have been deadly
But God delivered us very miraculously
Throughout our life, we will experience the love and faithfulness of God
Many of you have been through bitter experiences in life
But when we hear about what some others have been through, ours is nothing!
How much do we pray for others?
The other day, a church van from the Bronx got into an accident, killing six people including the Pastor, as a tire went flat
A similar incident happened few years back, when a coffee mug jammed the breaks of a church van – from the Bronx!
Satan is not sleeping, even as we are sleeping (from prayer)
One of our church related families had an accident in Kerala; they survived
But the same day, another accident happened in the same spot and they died
We heard other similar stories. These are not simply co-incidences but coordinated by the devil
Watch and pray; Christian life is no game. Don’t take the things of God/church casually, ever.
Joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer
It is easy to sing when everything is favorable
But “favor-able” does not always mean the favor of God
Sometimes we may be going against God’s will and things may still look O.K
For three and a half years, everything was looking O.K for Judas Iscariot
So, “everything looking O.K” does not mean that God is pleased with us
When Judas was getting his master into “trouble”, little did he know that he was doing it to himself!
God is watching us closely than anybody else
Someone was recently saying in church: “Going for a vacation and doing some “ministry” is O.K, but don’t call it a “mission trip”!
The seven churches in the book of revelation were all “recognized” churches
But God had something negative about each one of them
Many of us are self-certified Christians boasting about our churches, which are also self-certified
What is God’s certification about us?
Even as you are reading this article, someone is becoming a martyr for Christ somewhere
Thank God for everything we enjoy; but remember that someone paid a price for our salvation, freedom and joy; that was Jesus Christ
Let us learn to share the joy and the pain of others. Do not rejoice because of someone else’s pain, even if that person has wronged you
Because we don’t know what is ahead
God bless our day. We can be kinder
BG
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for all that you have done for me. Help me to be joyful because of the hope I have in you, patient in affliction just like you, and to be faithful in prayer, as you want me to be. Amen