I preached at church yesterday about how Paul interacted with the culture in Athens in Acts 17.
Here’s a summary video from my sermon:
If you’d like to watch the whole thing, check it out on Vimeo by clicking here.
Also, I made a video about the story behind the “Unknown God” part of the Acts 17 narrative. I’d love for you to check that out on YouTube.
My oldest son plays the trumpet in his school’s band, and they had the end of the year concert tonight. He played six songs alongside both the 7th grade band and the Jazz Band. I would say they knocked of out of the park. I especially liked “Man in the Mirror” and “Uma Thurman.” They played wonderful music when they played together.
Since the concert was for the entire middle school, there were musicians from 6th, 7th, and 8th grades involved. This inevitably resulted in a crazy scene after the concert was over. When we dismissed, around 150 students were in the hallway with instruments in hand, each playing something random and different than the person next to them. There was no direction, so the result was not at all like the music they were just playing—it was noise—loud noise that hurts your ears and makes you look for a quiet place. I couldn’t wait to get out of that hallway and into our car.
When I recovered from the noise, I started thinking about how often I try to go through life on my own instead of working in harmony with others. As part of the body of Christ, we all have an important part to play in the Kingdom of God. A pastor friend of mine told me one time that the Kingdom is like an orchestra. Each one must play our part. His comment at the time was interesting, but tonight it was illustrated in high definition.
We all need each other. The trumpet is not more important than the flute. When we all play the same song and listen to the director, we can play sweet music. If we try to go off on our own and forget the others, we just make noise.
I know this is not any different than what Paul is teaching in 1 Corinthians 12 using the body as an illustration, but there’s something about tonight that reminded me all of God’s people have been given gifts for the common good. May we each learn to play our part and play it alongside our brothers and sisters who have their own instruments to play.
(Photo by: Jens Thekkeveettil)
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) was a British preacher, well known for his communication skills both through his preaching and his writing. He converted to Christianity at the age of fifteen, and by the age of twenty-two, he was the most popular preacher in England. Many times he spoke to crowds of over 10,000, without amplification. He preached over thirty-six hundred sermons, and the “Prince of Preachers” is known to be one of the most influential Christian voices of the nineteenth century.
In doing research for a paper, I read some of his comments regarding family and the church.
Here’s what he had to say:
(more…)
It’s been a year since my youth pastor, buddy, mentor, and friend went to be with Jesus. I’ve thought about Joe a lot over the last year, and I will remember him for a long time. I haven’t published this before, but this is what I said at his memorial service last February.
It’s a little long, but it’s what I could see in his life. I hope it encouraged someone that night and encourages someone today.
A few weeks ago, I started studying for my doctorate, and the first course was called, “Christian Formation of Children and Adolescents.” One of the topics of discussion was whether children should attend the worship service, sitting with their parents, or if the church should provide age segmented programming for them. This topic obviously interests me because I have three elementary aged children.
I think both have their pros and cons. I’m not arguing either way. I just want to put this out here as I think through the topic.
(more…)
We live in a world of activity. Busy lives lead to little time to actually look people in the eye and communicate that they are important. Even in many churches, people are hurried to the next event as if was more important to keep the schedule than it is to connect with others.
We have somehow forgotten that people are important.
Every single person is important.
Their importance is not predicated on your bottom line or the report you have to fill out at the end of the month. They are important. Period. They have a story and feelings and a desperate desire to connect with someone.
