This week has been a whirlwind for me! I have had the opportunity to deliver a devotional message a grand total of 4 times in 4 different venues and settings! I really enjoy getting the opportunity to open up God's word and study it and then present a thought that he has helped me develop. Here's my week:
Monday: This was my only speaking free day and it was used to gather thoughts. Monday was a LONG and weird day. This week I had a hard time coming up with 4 different ideas, so I spent a lot of time during this day reading and thinking!! Needless to say I was glad when Monday was over!!
Tuesday: Once a month the Ministry Team at Maple Hill gets together for a breakFAST. We fast during our normal breakfast time and get together and have a devotional and prayer time among ourselves. Well this week was my turn to present the devo. My choice was taken from Matthew 23:1-12. You know the "Seven Woes". This lesson was very hard to present, because for those of you who know this section talks about Hypocrisy. I don't know about you, but I sometimes struggle with this, I struggle from the standpoint of knowing what the answers are, but having a hard time following through with them myself. It was great to share and discuss this topic with men that have many years in ministry and as always I learned more from their comments than they did from mine!! God has a neat way of doing that!!
Wednesday: Well it was the 3rd Wednesday of the month and it was my turn to offer the short devotional message in our worship! I always really enjoy this time of the month. The title of my devo was "What Defines You?". We looked at all the labels that the world gives us and even the time we spend trying to either make a name or get rid of a name ourselves. The point of the message was that we should let God's gift of grace define us or it should be the defining moment of our lives when we accept this gift! In Ephesians 2:8 Paul tells us we are saved by grace through faith. That should Define us!! Once it does, we can make a big difference in the world all in the name CHRIST!!
Thursday: This may be my favorite venue?! I was asked to give a pre-game meal devotional for Beech High School in Hendersonville, TN. The head coach there (Anthony Crabtree) was my offensive line coach for 3 years in high school. He called me last year toward the end of the season and asked me to come...so I guess I did good enough to have me back!! I love talking to athletes for many reasons, but I guess the best reason is that I still see myself as one. Even though I am way removed from my days of athletics! I always have a great time being around them!! Well, my topic for them was LOVE. I know you may be thinking what a "great" topic to discuss when your audience is a room filled with jocks. That was the reason I chose this topic :)! I challenged them to really think about the word and meaning of love and how we tend to misuse it. Then I read them I John 4:4-10 (I think that is right). We talked about what REAL LOVE is, and how God showed us when he sent Jesus to die for all of us!! I also challenged them to show this love everyday in every way....whether on the football field, classroom, hallways, neighborhoods, etc... I had a great time and was very pleased with their response!
Friday: Bright and early I headed off to West Wilson MS to speak to their FCA group. One of the young ladies in our Youth Group is president of the FCA and asked me come speak.... OK OK, I will have to admit I used a version of same LOVE lesson I did at Beech High School. There were well over 100 there (mainly because of the free donuts and bagels), but it was a great time!! One other thing I was quickly reminded of by being there this morning, THANK GOODNESS I am not teaching anymore!!
We are off to Searcy to visit with Amanda's family!! Have a great weekend!!
Let God Grace Define You- Nick
Good thoughts Nick. Sounds like a busy yet fulfilling week. I agree with you about the Seven Woes and how difficult it is to speak about it. to me, that passage applies to ministers more than anybody since we bear the responsibility of being the examples of righteousness. That responsibility is so hard sometimes yet it is balanced as being examples of grace as well. Good thoughts and blog-on brother!
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