The Pastor’s Corner

“My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh shall bless His holy name forever and forever.”  Have you ever read a verse and all of a sudden it hit you that this verse is very important and yet you’ve failed to carry it out for some time?  I have many times and once again it happened this week.  It happened as I was reading Psalm 145 and I came to the very last verse which is quoted above.  What struck me was that it is my opportunity and responsibility to speak the praise of the Lord forever, and yet often the only things I speak of the Lord are prayer requests!  In Psalm 145, David writes a song filled with praises to our God talking about the very present works of our God and the enduring gracious works of our God.  What struck me as I read this was this: no wonder so many people struggle to passionately worship Jesus Christ, because they don’t take time to praise and worship Him daily.  We’ve forgotten and neglected to think on and speak the accomplishments, the gracious workings and merciful dealings of the Lord with us and because of this we come into corporate times of praise with empty baskets of praise from which we draw.  All of this results in wasted singing, fake worship and Sunday-only Christianity which God is not pleased with: “Malachi 1:8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts. “

Now in the wake of a weekend of involvement with our community, trusting God to work in the lives of those we came in contact with and believing that He will work to change lives around us, how did things go at Turner Days? 

 This is a question that we as a church have been reflecting on for several days and here are some of the early results of the work this past weekend.  First, I want to tell you that we had the opportunity to pass out nearly 3000 bottles of water and 500 cups of hot cocoa this past weekend, all while inviting people up to a bonfire with hayrides and free food.  The goal was to see as many people as possible from our community come up to the bonfire and hear the gospel and interact with our people.  Saturday, one man from Oak Grove spent time with another gentlemen who had just moved into the area and was desperately in need of friendship.  I met a woman who after we had served her a cup of hot chocolate she shared her story of her fight against breast cancer and she allowed me to pray for her and to share the gospel with her.  There were countless other stories of God’s working on that Saturday. 

Then on Sunday, my faith was stretched.  When it came time for the bonfire, it seemed that very few people were showing up, so I went up by the entrance to pray and watch, but I didn’t see any more people come in while I was there.  While I was there, my faith was being challenged.  Would God answer?  Would God work in the lives of the people we invited?  After I walked away from the entrance and went back to the fire, and before I knew it, people started showing up in droves.  Throughout the night we were able to share testimonies, songs and the gospel with nearly 100 people from our neighborhood.  Now, this is not a post about how God always does what we ask, but I do want to encourage you because God does demonstrate His power and He does answer prayer, but sometimes our faith is challenged in the midst of it!

Good morning, today I have the opportunity to finish preparing for Sunday morning worship, and yet I am greatly consumed with one particular topic for this coming weekend, it is the community event in our area: Turner Days.  I love Turner Days for several reasons: first, I love it because we as a body of Christ-followers get the opportunity in a very simple way to serve our community.  I love this because I love Jesus Christ and He has so wonderfully laid His life down on my behalf and so what better way to demonstrate the truth of the gospel than to serve.  Second, I love Turner Days because we really get to interact with the people in our community.  During this event we meet thousands of people and we get to talk with them about why we are trying to serve our community.  Finally, I love Turner Days because it stretches my faith!  This is the topic I want to sit on for a moment. 

 In the Old Testament books of Ezra and Nehemiah we find some amazing demonstrations of the power of God.  For example: God uses a wicked King of Persia to send people back to Jerusalem and build a Temple for God.  This wicked King also pays for the entire project and provides protection for the Israelites and Ezra tells us that God did all of that!  In Ezra we also see God changing the hearts of His people.  In Nehemiah we find God delivering the Israelites from opposition and we find Him providing for the rebuilding of the walls!  God did all of this.  Now, where does this come into play for Oak Grove Baptist Church and Turner Days?  Here is where: we have an opportunity to believe God and take Him at His Word this weekend.  We need to have faith that He is going  to work amongst our community and use us to see changed lives in the people around us.  I believe that God wants to save and change the neighbors, relatives, friends and co-workers all around you and me, and so I love Turner Days because I get to seek to exercise faith in the power of my great God.  What does He want you to exercise faith in Him towards?