It is reported that D. L. Moody once said, “The world has yet to see what God can do through one man totally given to Him. I determine to be that man!” Those words used to make chills run up and down my spine. But, I think now the times call for their alteration, for a change in their emphasis. “The world has yet to see what God can do through a people totally given to Him.” Yet, on second thought, that isn’t really a factual statement. After all, the world did see it once!
The world saw a band of disciples stabilized by three years of dedicated training, fired by the actuality of resurrection, imbued with the breath of the Holy Spirit. It watched them endure fire and sword and cross. It heard them sing in the face of persecution and triumph over death. It stared amazed as they shared bread, gave sustenance, healed physical disabilities, cast out demons. It observed them plod in their humanity, yet soar in supernatural power. They filled the time with visions and dreams, with hope and inspiration. “You are turning the world upside down!” was the Cry.
We wanted to come full circle in our experiment, back through the centuries to the early beginnings, to the newness, to the freshness, to the empowering.
Kenneth Strachan, the father of Evangelism-in-Depth, the movement which has made great advances in world outreach, maintained that the strength of any ministry is in direct proportion to the quality and quantity of involvement on the part of the members within the organization. The realization that we are all members endowed with gifts of the Holy Spirit gave our little group within the megalopolis tremendous incentive. We began with the understanding that all are ministers within the body, hoping to influence our world.
With the determination of purpose, suddenly the other problems vanished. We had young people running out of our ears. A moving quotation from Francis Schaeffer’s book, The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century,(Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1970, p. 107.) aptly describes our situation.
If the church is what it should be, young people will be there. But they will not just “be there”—they will be there with the blowing of horns and the clashing of high-sounding cymbals, and they will come dancing with flowers in their hair.
Boredom had evaporated. Each meeting served a different function, and we chose to carry out its theme by whatever method best insured success. Consequently, our service ingredients were constantly changing. The only inflexible rule we maintained was that we must allow for resiliency. This openness laid the groundwork for a tremendous expression of creativity. Searching for new ways to worship was an exciting venture. Discovering modes of prayer that were not stereotyped and lack pompousness directed us down paths we never realized existed.
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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?
Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?
David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.
We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.
For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.
