Sunday Sermon Summary

This Sunday Sermon Summary is going to be a little different than previous SSS posts....in the fact that I will share some of what Pastor Ken discussed this morning, but I want to share what I heard from him this evening.

This morning was the third Sunday in Advent....the candle of joy was lit today. I love that word....joy....if I had been so blessed as to have had 5 more children (the 5th being a girl), her name very likely would be Joy (remember my children are sort of alphabetical...read What's In A Name post for more details). Anyhoo the subject this morning was... Give More....remember we are embracing a Simple Christmas at our church....Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All. Pastor Ken spoke about the fact that we are commanded, in scripture, to have joy in our hearts (I'll post the scriptures he used after I find the exact ones....I don't want to post the incorrect scripture). Being happy is different than experiencing joy....I read this a few weeks ago when I was leading a lesson on prayer in my adult SS class. I read that God doesn't promise you happiness.....that is determined by circumstance....but that He does promise you everlasting joy in a relationship with Him. Pastor Ken talked about how giving the perfect gift, this Christmas, can bring you joy and also bring the Lord joy. The gift can be in a "giving back" sort of way or a really well thought out and intentional gift that may really touch someone's heart, soul and be just what they needed. We don't need a lot of "stuff" to make us happy or to bring us joy, and we don't need to be on the receiving end; but we can feel so much joy by giving. Hallelujiah! Amen!

The next part of this post is not actually part of his sermon, because it didn't happen this morning in worship. I attended a leadership dinner tonight at church to discuss different ministries and committees and the church's focus for the next year. What Ken said tonight was very impactful to me, because I have experienced (on the negative side) some of what he said. When Ken became our pastor and began leading our church.....great things started to happen....it became OUR church, not the pastor's church, but OUR(the congregation's) church. He had one rule when he became our leader...."God doesn't wake you up in the middle of the night with an idea for a new ministry to have me implement it." He told the entire congregation that if you had an idea for outreach or ministry, that he would support you in anyway he could; but it was your baby so nurture it and get it going. Tonight at the dinner....he told us all that he now has another rule...."It's all about the relationships. The relationships between you and God, and the relationships between you and others." I loved this, and I am so much in agreement with this frame of mind. I have been on committees in the past where the human relationships were not there, in fact, there were some very hostile relationships. This affected how that particular task was carried out, the end result and in turn it probably affected some of the leaders' relationships with their Lord. I am going to embrace Ken's "new" rule in my everyday life, as I already intentionally try to do, and in my "leadership" role in the church. It's all about the relationship.....Jesus craves for, longs for, and is waiting for relationship with each and every person on this planet. He loves us more than we can imagine, and He wants to have a relationship with you. Imagine if we all tried to embrace Ken's rule.....wouldn't the world be a much more peaceful and loving place? I know it would.