Never Again!

I think the Lord just opened my eyes to one of my failures as a pastor over the last several years. A lady in the church remarked to me many times that she saw God work a miracle in August of 2009 during our worship service: instead of transitioning from the end of my sermon immediately into the Lord's Supper (which was my habit for every month's last Sunday), I decided to offer a chance for people to respond to the message & to the Holy Spirit as we sang a hymn. During the response time, this particular lady's 69-year-old husband decided to follow Jesus & seek baptism. The miracle, said this lady, was that I broke with my habit and God graciously intervened.

One Sabbath day at the synagogue Jesus broke with tradition and healed a woman who had been disabled for 18 years (Luke 13:10-17). The 'worship leader' said this was neither the time nor the place for that kind of ministry. Jesus rebuked him and all who agreed with the 'worship leader.'

I assume that the disciples eventually got the message - NEVER AGAIN will true worshipers be permitted to ignore other people - especially the oppressed & helpless. They understood that a major component of gathering in worship is ministering to one another. And just maybe, to ensure that the Church would not drop this responsibility to love people as Jesus did, he decided to equip every disciple with gifts by the Holy Spirit to use in ministering to one another.