Sermon Notes: "Church: A Life Saver or a Live Taker?"

After our choir sang the above anthem, "Our Grateful Praise!"  (it was a workout, but we made it through!), the Pastor started out his sermon sharing some excerpts from the following article in Christianity Today, "Boring Church Services Changed My Life", by Daniel Darling.
https://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2017/february-web-exclusives/boring-church-services-changed-my-life.html

This sounded so familiar to me...I believe I have read this article before on Facebook and it struck me then just as it did now, hearing our pastor quoting some of the key points:

"God changed my life using routine worship services in which I sang hymns I didn’t quite understand and heard messages I didn’t quite grasp."

"This repetition built in my heart a deep reservoir of theology. And now, as a husband and father and pastor, whenever I stand and sing these hymns, I can barely contain myself. At times I cannot sing; I can only weep. Some choruses evoke memories: My father serves communion while “Jesus Keep Me near the Cross” plays faintly in the background. Dad fights back tears as we sing “Jesus Paid It All.”

"These rituals train our hearts. We sing to ourselves songs, hymns, and spiritual songs. We hear the same gospel preached to us, over and over again. We lift the cup to our lips and the bread to our tongues remembering, again, our place at the King’s table. Through these practices, God takes our hearts and seals them for his courts above, to paraphrase another hymn writer, Robert Robinson."

"When I think back on the simple routines—the liturgies—that changed my life, I’m encouraged in my own pastoral role. I’m reminded afresh that the work of ministry is not so much about finding new, tantalizing ways to make people excited about Jesus, but about the timeless rituals that shape their hearts...

Because somewhere in your congregation are children singing words they don’t know, listening to Scripture they don’t understand, and fighting sleep during a sermon that doesn’t hold their interest. They don’t realize it yet, but the Spirit of God is pressing the gospel message, through yet another “boring” church service, deep within their hearts."

Daniel Darling is the vice president for communications for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention (ERLC). Previously, he served as senior pastor of Gages Lake Bible Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

I guess the reason this article touched my heart when I first read it, and then again in hearing our Pastor expound upon it is because I grew up in a church that followed a certain liturgy and ritual each Sunday, and even though as a child I didn't quite understand everything that was being said or prayed, or the songs that we sang...they were teaching me nonetheless. The words were seeping into my heart and planting seeds that took root and grew and developed as I matured into a young woman seeking God in my life. When the time came that I was confronted with my own sinfulness and recognized in myself to be in need of a Savior, the words, prayers, and songs of the formative years found a home in my heart, and the Lord opened my eyes to understand His truth and purpose for my life.  And it is interesting that in the ensuing years I not only embraced Jesus Christ as my Savior and King, but He also found many ways to use my life to serve Him in His church and kingdom. I can honestly say along with the author of the above article:

"This repetition built in my heart a deep reservoir of theology. And now, as a husband and father and pastor,  Wife and mother and retired pastor's wife, whenever I stand and sing these hymns, I can barely contain myself. At times I cannot sing; I can only weep. Some choruses evoke memories: My HUSBAND serves communion while “Jesus Keep Me near the Cross” plays faintly in the background. He fights back tears as we sing “Jesus Paid It All.” 

Back to the sermon notes from our Pastor:

Scripture Passage was read from Revelation 22:10-11

"And he said to me, "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, 

for the time is at hand.

He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; 

He who is filthy, let him be filthy still'

He who is righteous, let him be righteous still;

He who is holy, let him be holy still."

• God is empowering us...He wants to use us
• God is alive...He is working...He wants you to know Him on a personal level.
• The church needs to be honest and sincere about what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ in today's world.
• What are we doing?  
• Can we do it better?
• Where do we fall short?
• We live in a secular time...but that is not a reason to give up, but a reason to get up and get going to share the Gospel.
• We need to BE the Church of Jesus Christ...We need to LIVE  the church of Jesus Christ
• Jesus is the ONLY hope this world has.
• The church is not the building...You are the church. We are the church.
• This is our place at the King's table...what are we going to do about the world beating on our door?

Another quote from the article:  "The work of ministry is not so much about finding new, tantalizing ways to make people excited about Jesus, but about the timeless rituals that shape their hearts."

But before we can share these timeless rituals of the faith with them from the reading of God's Word and the singing of songs and choruses and prayers that shape the heart and soul to receive the Lord, we have to bring them in. We, who are "The Church", have to reach out to the lost and dying souls around us and welcome them into God's House.  

Sermon Notes from FUMC, Interlachen, FL. Pastor A.C. Myers, 11/25/2018

Please Note : I want to repeat this disclaimer here...the notes, outline, and content included here are based upon my own personal understanding of the message that was being given. I am not attempting to completely quote or reproduce this message or any other message I've shared previously. Just as each person reading these notes may glean insights and thoughts that seem to directly apply to one's own situation and interpretation, my own delivery of these messages is skewed by my hearing and translation of what is being said. Some may read my notes here and wonder if they were hearing the same message as I...and I say, God speaks to each of us as He wills...there are things He is trying to get across to each individual that may be entirely different than what the person sitting next to you in the pew is needing to hear... That is how the Holy Spirit works! He knows what we need to hear and how to apply it to our hearts. So it is with that understanding that I present these sermon notes to you.