Speaking in the authority of God is tricky for the young preacher these days. Older people need reminders of the usefulness of God in the listening. The distraction of telling someone since I am preaching and you are not, is a comic aside that was certainly a distraction if only a humorous one. We must be careful of not diminishing the authority of Gods word and the usefulness of God using our youth. We don't need that. God is using our youth and we should expect more, but humor must be carefully timed.
I also think that an admonition to encourage the downtrodden was missed in the sermon. Listen to Gods dealings with them, AMEN. But also be ready to bare burdens together to the throne of Grace!
The expectation of Jesus to meet you in your hardest need was or didn't seem to be emphasiized or pointed out at all.
Much time was spent on whose question was it. And not much on the response of Jesus to give tangible credible encouragements to the down trodden. Jesus could have said how dare you question, he didn't. He knew Johns death was imminent. But he didn't tell him that. He turned Johns eyes upon Jesus and that is what we must do...
Looking at what is dark is ineffective to trial bearing. Praise and Thanksgiving give power to those who may be fainting under the weight of suffering. Where is the sacrifice of praise?
No comments:
Post a Comment