Reflections on this morning's worship

A bigger church means more people, of course!, and it also means more services....two to be exact with Sunday School "sandwiched" in between. Sitting through both services is a new experience for me...but I have a feeling it is going to prove to be a sweet joy! Not only does it give greater opportunity to get to know as many people in the church as possible, but it means I get to hear the same message preached twice. And, though I wish it were not true, I can often be a forgetful hearer and it is harder to forget when you have sat through the same message twice!:) I also found myself meditating more on what was being said and focusing more closely on the verses being read the second time around. The first service was like chewing up food and swallowing and, for me, the second service was spent digesting what I had "eaten". Sorry if the analogy is a poor one...Bryan is the "analogy" giver in our family!:)

All that to say, some of what Pastor Rob shared and the passages of Scripture he talked about hit me afresh and I wanted to share them with you....

One of my favorite verses is 1 Corinthians 10:31, "Whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God." Today, another verse was read that parallel's the above one. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:23 "I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it."

Here is what pressed upon my heart....If I am going to do everything for the glory of God then it has to be done in light of and for the sake of the Gospel of Christ. THAT is HOW I glorify the Lord in what I am doing. So often, I do what I do to simply feel the accomplishment of a job "well done" or I do what I do because I like the order that it brings or I know it will make someone else happy or...well, the list could go on.

But too often, it is not the GOSPEL that spurs on what I do. Often, it is my own standard of what is right and wrong that compels me to do what I do...not a passionate overflow of my love for the One Who gave His very life, taking my sin upon Himself and covering me in His perfect obedience.

The way that I "do all to the glory of God" is by "doing all for the sake of the Gospel". That must be my motivation and heartbeat...and sadly, I often am content to see life thru temporal eyes instead of through the lens of eternity and the Gospel. One "tool" that has blessed my heart so richly in the past (on helping me live Gospel every day) is a book by Milton Vincent, "A Gospel Primer for Christians". After reading it through once, I determined to read a little bit of it each day to help keep my focus where it belongs. My determination was short lived! So, I am so thankful for the message preached and the Word of God that is living and active and admonishes, corrects and encourages...and that has encouraged me today to be zealous for Gospel living and be purposeful in pursuing a Gospel centered focus. I found my copy of the Gospel Primer and I am excited to begin reading it again tomorrow!

In closing, I don't want to forget about the end of 1 Corinthians 9:23, "I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it." Gospel living may not be an easy road but it is the road full of all the blessings that truly matter! The gospel is the treasure that turns all other treasures to trash!!!

2 Peter 1:4 says it best:

"For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust."