Transforming Sermons: Growing and swelling

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Growing and swelling

Jared Wilson: "The American Church is addicted to the conspicuous consumption of the culture it means to transform."

11 Comments:

Anonymous said...: My pastor had a conversation with a guy that attended a huge mega-church in the San Diego area.

It was at our little church in Corona del Mar, Ca. The guy was there for a wedding rehearsal.

The guy said to my pastor, "You've got a pretty small church here."

My pastor said,"compared to what?"

The guy said that his church has several thousand members.

My pastor said, "what are you guys doing wrong? The Chargers get 50 -60 thousand on a Sunday afternoon."

The guy said, " yeah, I guess you're right...it's not about size..is it."

Anyway, I thought that was an interesting anecdote about the size of a ministry.

Thanks.

- Steve M.; 6:39 PM, May 28, 2008
Ministry Addict said...: It can be heartbreaking to see people bowing down to the cult of celebrity in our times. Men and women, boys and girls, all of whom God so gloriously created for His own glory, seem to persistently ignore Him, and to make idols out of silly individuals famous for even sillier accomplishments. Most people know more about Paris Hilton than they do about Priscilla and Aquilla. We know more about Britney Spears than about the spear Saul threw at David. We know more about Heath Ledger than about the heath in the desert. How many of our children and young adults obsess over clothing, beauty products, hair styles, and weight loss, but could not begin to point to a Scripture that describes the true Biblical definition of “beauty?” We know more about what happened on the red carpet than about what happened on the Cross of Christ.

Even spiritually-minded people seem to feel as if God alone is not enough. All types of Heavenly beings are worshiped in place of Christ. The saints are adored and offered prayers. Christ’s mother is deified. Angels are worshiped as if they were creators instead of creatures.

This type of vanity must stop. What joy there is in realizing that God alone is worthy of worship and praise! What peace and power there is in knowing that there is only one mediator between God and man – the man Christ Jesus! In God’s creation, man can find anything he wants. But only in God Himself can man find what he truly needs.

“Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.” Psalm 73:25; 10:54 AM, May 29, 2008
Anonymous said...: our dependence should be on God alone.
however, that is not how our sinful nature thinks.

should we depend on another person or a group of people,
even if they profess to believe in Jesus as the Son of God and their Lord?
my thought is that we should GIVE the Love of God to others
and lift up other people of faith, help and love others, and even
recieve help and the love of God from others,
but, we should not look to DEPEND upon people.

if we are given the Love of God through a person or group,
it is good and right, but, we should look to God first in Jesus.

what i am trying to say here is that many people
(not just ministers) desire things from people and
groups of people to fill a desire to belong
or to give them security for the future
or to keep them from feeling lonely or alone or afraid.

now, i wonder about the line that is drawn
between us and God when we do this?
how far should people go with this dependence on other people?

i do not see anything wrong with meeting together
to worship God and to uplift eachother in Love
when our focus is still on God and God's love for all.

but, when we use being in a group
to divide ourselves from other believers and the world,
where is our focus then?

when we use another person or being in a group
to achieve success for ourself
or to fill ourselves with false security,
who are we looking to?

if we use a person or a group
to feel secure in pointing fingers at others,
who are we looking to?; 12:32 PM, May 29, 2008
Milton Stanley said...: I like that answer, Steve. I may try that next time the subject comes up.; 8:05 AM, May 30, 2008
Milton Stanley said...: Good points, MA. And don't forget church leaders' own fawning over the assortment of Big Names in church leadership.; 8:07 AM, May 30, 2008
Milton Stanley said...: You raise some very good points, Nancy, and I'm going to be thinking about them. Your words remind me of the all-too easy tendency of Christians to look at a congregation as a clique rather than as an outpost of Christ's Kingdom.; 8:09 AM, May 30, 2008
Anonymous said...: and sometimes we use other people, or groups of people, in place of our personal relationship with God.

i think it is wonderful have other people in the outpost, and to know others of the faith in our lives. i also think that we sometimes go to far in this and put the other people in our lives in the place that only God should go. if we do not continue to listen and live God in our own self, we disconnet ourself from where our eyes should be...we lose sight of our goal, we take our eyes off of our direction. we must look to God, each of us. no other person or group can do this one thing for us. we can not give up this form of communication or relationship to be part of the army. if we do not look to God, we are lost from the body and from God. this is the only way that we can be a part of anything and be doing what God wants to work through us.; 3:50 PM, May 30, 2008
Anonymous said...: i ment to write.."and be part of the army"...not "to be part of"; 3:53 PM, May 30, 2008
Anonymous said...: and when i said lost from the body and from God...i ment in terms of lost from the direction of God in our life that would work with the body in the desire for the body and our life.; 3:56 PM, May 30, 2008
Anonymous said...: 20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.

21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.

22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.; 4:04 PM, May 30, 2008
Milton Stanley said...: Nancy, thanks for your thoughtful interaction with the ideas on this site. Peace.; 9:03 PM, May 30, 2008