by Pastor Cecil | Apr 7, 2010 | 1 Peter
1 Peter 3:15b
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
There has to be a beginning for everything. That is also true for preachers who have to deliver their first sermon. For me it was while I was still in the Air Force and stationed at Rapid City, South Dakota. The pastor asked me to bring the message in the Sunday evening service. I spent many hours in preparation and wrote my notes on a small sheet of paper. I was ready ― or so I thought!
The song service ended and I walked nervously to the pulpit and gave the congregation a big smile as I opened the Bible to my notes. I could not believe my eyes. “Bread-milk-eggs-lettuce.” I have no idea how it had happened, but my sermon notes got mixed up with the grocery list Joyce had given me.
Now if that would happen at this stage of my life, I could preach a sermon on the bread of life, desiring the milk of the Word, the hatching egg of spiritual maturity — though I’m not sure how I would cover the last one except to say, “Lettuce pray!”
It has taught me that we need to be prepared at all times to share the precious Word of God. We never know when the opportunity will arise, and we may be all that stands between some poor soul and eternity. I want to be ready! How about you?
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
360-570-0074
PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com
by Pastor Cecil | Apr 7, 2010 | Luke
Luke 6:37
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
I once heard a very sad story. It seems that a man was unfaithful to his wife. She took him back but made his life miserable. She constantly brought up his sin and made sure that he suffered for the pain he had inflicted upon her.
As the story goes, this wife became very ill. In fact it was a number of years before she recovered. During this time her husband waited on her hand and foot. The doctor even commented that if it was not for his attentive care of his wife she would have died.
One day after the woman’s health returned, she told her husband that she appreciated how wonderful he had been to her, and she was now ready to forgive him. Here is the sad part of the story. The husband looked his wife in the eye and said, “My dear, I needed your forgiveness when I did not deserve it. I have earned your appreciation, but your forgiveness has come too late. I am leaving you.”
I hope against hope that this was only an illustration. But the truth is that true forgiveness comes when the offender does not deserve to be forgiven. When Christ forgave us, it was not that we deserved it, but that we needed it. Paul reminds us in Romans 5:8: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Is there someone who needs your forgiveness right now?
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
360-570-0074
PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com
