March 31, 2021
Leadership Notes
I love this passage. It's from Acts 17:29-32:
"Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is
like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of
man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all
people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will
judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of
this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But
others said, "We will hear you again about this.”
This is part of a sermon Paul preached to philosophy lovers on Mars Hill in Athens about 20 years after the death of Jesus. In this quoted section of the sermon, some of his listeners cut him off and mocked him because of the claim that Jesus was raised from the dead. The key point of all that is to understand that the amazing spread of Christianity in the early years did not happen in a gullible world that thought resurrections were normal.
1 Peter 1:3-5 says:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great
mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never
perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who
through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the
salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
With all joy and expectation, we are looking forward to Sunday, when God has bestowed upon us the privilege of worshiping Him for what He has done for us in Jesus Christ.
Someone recently said, "It may sound like {nitpicking} but here goes. I don't like when churches promote by saying, 'we have a great worship experience for you.' It makes it sound like it's all about you, when in fact we gather to worship God" {Zach San Miguel}. Amen?
Revelation 5:11-14 says:
Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and
the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and
thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth
and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and
worshiped.
↑ THIS IS WHAT WE DO ↑
And now, your Spurgeon Moment:
"If men will not come to hear us because we preach the gospel, draw them by no other attractions."
With Much Love and Affection,
Richard