Sunday Sermon

When I am at school I attend Grace Covenant Church - for college students on either Penn or Drexel's campus (www.gracecovenant.net). Pastor Kim gives really good sermons that are geared toward people our age. I thought I would share the message from Sunday:

The message was about challenging yourself and your Church. Dare to be a Church that. . .
1)Lives it out
2) Maximizes it's potential
3) Dreams God's dream

These also follow for individuals. So how can you live it out? James 1:22-24, 26-27 talks about putting words into action "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like" (James 1:22-24). It is easy to talk to the talk but the challenge is to walk to the talk. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Try to be a person who follows through on what they say or what they mean to do. "It's not about proving yourself, but love must show in action" (Kim).

To maximize one's potential you really have to participate. The Church can not run on the work of a few people. It's nice to show up to events but planning is the hardest part. Help out so that those things can happen again. And Pray. Pray is sometimes downplayed but it does make a difference. You don't need to know how to do everything yourself. If you are stuck pray. Ask God for help.

And finally in order to dream God's dream there a couple of things that you must do. For one, don't take yourself so seriously. It's so hard to go through life not knowing what is going to happen next, but when you plan your life out to a tee and something does not go according to plans that does not mean that you are a failure. The worlds does not revolve around you. Like a flower, God will blossom you when the time is right. When frustrated just remember to breathe. And "if you have breath, you have breath to live for God" (Kim). Secondly, surrender to God. Let Him handle things. Many times we want to dictate everything that we do in life, and then we wonder why we fall short. Try to listen and do what He wants you to do. Thirdly, wait and pray. Patience is the hardest thing in the world. Right now we are all impatient wondering what we will do after we graduate, wondering if we'll ever find that right person to spend the rest of our life with, wondering if we can make it out in the real world. So the fourth thing is to just live each day. "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:34). Hug someone.

I think that it was a really good message and it certainly speaks to me. I hope that some of you read this and it makes you think. Please comment and let me know. And if you enjoyed reading this I'll try to keep it up. I am on this soul-searching journey just like the rest of you. I believe that we don't necessarily have to learn from our own mistakes, but we can learn from other mistakes. We are on this journey together. Let's help eachother out.