I just wanted to share a couple of highlights about our worship this morning. While we were partaking in the Lord’s Supper together, one of the members of the church attempted to read through Mark 15. He was unable to finish the chapter without being overcome by his emotions. It is great to see the gospel story of Jesus still stirring hearts.
Secondly, I preached on being “salt” and “light” from Matthew 5.3-16. I realy strove to challenge the congregation about what it means to be salt and light in an empirical age where the nation we live in seeks to protect its wealth and power by any menas necessary, including deadly violence. As a way of presenting this, I reminded the church that passages in The Sermon on the Mount such as Matthew 5.43-44 (love enemies, pray for persecutors) and Matthew 6.24 (cannot serve both God and wealth) both challenge the way most Christians living in the U.S. baptize the nation’s wealth and power and subsequently serve to protect national interests rather than following the teachings of Jesus. As you know, such a sermon is far from being politically correct (no pun intended). The sermon was well received and several people told me that it was nice to hear someone challenging the way discipleship calls us to an alternative counter-culture way of life.
Last, we had a great potluck as we, the Kandiyohi Church of Christ, always do. I suppose one of the reasons I enjoy our potlucks so much is because our congregation is so spread out geographically that our potlucks really create time and space for fellowship that is not always available. Praise God for the fellowship we have with him and his people!
