We are one in God
sermon by
Manfred Schreyer
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(Num 11:24-30 NIV) So Moses went out and told the people what the LORD had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the Tent. {25} Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again. {26} However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the Tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. {27} A young man ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." {28} Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' aide since youth, spoke up and said, "Moses, my lord, stop them!" {29} But Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!" {30} Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.
Last Sunday when Lisa was our worship leader she reminded us how wonderful it was that we had so many activities in God's
church.How true that is! We are bustling everywhere. The youth is a very tight niche group, the Adult Bible Study is an excited questioning body, the Sunday school classes are constantly growing, there are more and more fun events, the committees are hyperactive, the Deacons are more and more spiritually filled, we have more and more visitors, we are ready and I have to tell you I am more enthusiastic about my ministry then ever.
And I know that because I do not feel it is work. I have a wonderful time to prepare, to visit, to counsel, teach, etc.
We are ready to receive from God what God's will is for us! We were prepared for this time.
God is a wonderful God. I recently had a conversation with Deacon Connie and she told me how every minister had prepared this church to be where we are today. You see we are on a wonderful journey.
God promised us that He will lead us to a promised land, just like with Moses whom he promised to lead out of Egypt into the promised land.
We too have the promise that God will lead us out of the desolate moments of this life into a promised eternal life.
But the story we just read also should give us caution in our actions:
Joshua, Moses' aide tells Moses to stop these two men who are still prophesying, because he is under the impression that something is wrong.We as the church are also guilty of that sometimes. Sometimes we run to governing bodies and complain about someone to make them stop doing it, because we feel it does not fit our interpretation of the "
No, I do not have a specified example, and I do not need one, because we have all experienced that.
Therefore, let us adopt the following rule: (1) If any of us is working for the glory of God, let him/her do it.
As many vapors, rising from the sea, meet together in one cloud, and that cloud falls down divided into many drops, and those drops run together, making rills of water, which meet in channels, and those channels run into brooks, and those brooks into rivers, and those rivers into the sea: so it either is or should be with the gifts and graces of the Church. They all come down from God, divided severally as he will to various Christians. They should flow through the channels of their special vocations into the common streams of public use for church or commonwealth, and ultimately return into the great ocean of his glory, from whence they originally came.
Eph. 4:11-13 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12} to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up {13} until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
As we continue to grow and as we continue to offer more programs in this community to further the Good News = The Gospel of Jesus Christ I want us to remember that we as individuals are just one special person God placed here. None of us as individuals can accomplish the work of God . . . it takes all of us and many more.
"I did," said the wind!
"I did," said the paper!
"I did," said the string!
"I did," said the boy! But in reality they ALL flew the kite! If the wind had lulled, if the paper had torn, if the sticks had broken, if the tail had caught in the tree, or the boy had fallen, then the kite would have come down! EACH HAD A PART TO PLAY!
God has placed you in a strategic role! You are important to your church ministry. Just use your gift to the Glory of God and leave the results to Him.
Churches do not miss their mark with God, because God does not allow them to minister . . . the churches do not allow themselves to find peace within!
They have not learned what it means to love each other and to respect each other for who we are. They have not given others a chance because they can't understand. Though Joshua was a faithful man, he was unable to grasp that God works through us as a community in many different ways. And Moses' reply was: " Are you jealous?"
I am telling you God needs all of us, because this church is ready to spread the Gospel. New people will find their place here and we will be the church that even though we
'll grow - you will know your neighbor. I recently talked to a visitor who shared with me that he was interested in joining because his current church is so big and he only knows five people.What testimony is that for a church? I want the church all over the world to grow, but I would like to see them grow where we recognize the gifts of others and where we recognize that those who are in our midst are sent to us as a gift from God.
All has to do with love and how we treat each other.
The history books are full of stories of gifted persons whose talents were overlooked by a procession of people until someone believed in them. Einstein was four years old before he could speak and seven before he could read. Isaac Newton did poorly in grade school. A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he had "no good ideas". Leo Tolstoy flunked out of college, and Werner von Braun failed ninth grade algebra. Haydn gave up ever making a musician of Beethoven, who seemed a slow and plodding young man with no apparent talent -- except a belief in music.
Live churches are constantly changing.
Dead churches don't have to.
Live churches have lots of noisy kids.
Dead churches are fairly quiet.
Live church's expenses always exceed their income.
Dead churches take in more than they ever dreamed of
spending.
Live churches are constantly improving for the future.
Dead churches worship their past.
Live churches move out in faith.
Dead churches operate totally by human sight.
Live churches focus on people.
Dead churches focus on programs.
Live churches are filled with tithers.
Dead churches are filled with tippers.
Live churches dream great dreams of God.
Dead churches relive nightmares.
Live churches don't have "can't" in their dictionary.
Dead churches have nothing but.
Live churches evangelize.
Dead churches fossilize.
There are people here right now, who do not know what their future will hold. Just like Moses'
There are people here right now who are awaiting results for about their illness.
There are people here who have heard that there is a possibility they may lose their job.
There are people here who are uncertain about their relationship in their family.
There are people here who are concerned about one of their loved one because of sickness.
There are people here who wrestle with forgiveness in their heart.
We have come a long way. We are the followers of Christ! We do not want to be jealous of others like Joshua, but be compassionate and open, be willing to give and not to take, be ready to do and not to question.
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