May the Strength of God pilot us.
May the Power of God preserve us.
May the Wisdom of God instruct us.
May the Hand of God protect us.
May the Way of God direct us.
May the Shield of God defend us.
May the Host of God guard us Against the snares of the evil ones,
Against temptations of the world.
May Christ be with us!
May Christ be before us!
May Christ be in us,
Christ be over all!
May Thy Salvation, Lord, Always be ours,
This day, O Lord, and evermore.
Whenever one sits down to write a sermon, devotion, or thought to share, a challenge that he or she faces is not repeating something they have previously said or written. In addition, over time, that challenge grows as one runs out of illustrations and stories or memories start to falter and one forgets what they have previously said. However, some things are worth repeating. This month, like last March, I share with you a prayer of Saint Patrick, the Christian Brother whose life is celebrated in many parts of the world this month.
His life serves as an example to us that God can use anyone, even an escaped slave, to accomplish His purpose when that person hears and obeys the word of the Lord. This fact is as true today as it was in Saint Patrick’s time and before.
In the current sermon series, we have looked at the lives of several of God’s servants and even examined how we can learn something from one of God’s four-legged creations. I am going to let you in on something; in modern language it would be called a “spoiler alert.” I trust that by now you have noticed a common thread among the characters we have looked at. They are all normal people with flaws in their character, in their faith, and have even been inconsistent in their obedience to God’s plan. However, they stand as scriptural examples of the might of God’s people. In spite of all their wrinkles, warts, and shortcomings, they teach us that God used flawed, broken, inconsistent people to further His kingdom. He used people like us.
Far too often, when we see the work before us as a church, we tend to focus on the monumental nature of the challenge and how small we look before the task at hand. We begin to take stock of our flaws, of our weaknesses, and our fears. They become a justification for the words “I can’t”; “The work calls for someone a lot stronger than me,” etc. Like St. Patrick, we need to take stock, not of the negatives in our lives but of the positives. If someone has proclaimed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (1) they are assured eternity with the Father; (2) they have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and (3) they are participants in celestial work that has eternal consequences. There are many more but I only have a limited space to write.
As we proceed marching forward in 2015, let us remember that guys like Moses, Elijah, Joshua, and Saint Patrick were just as flawed as we are. Let us also be mindful that one of the reasons they stand as examples for us is that, in the end, their trust in the Lord outweighed their doubts and fears.
May God rain down blessings on you all month long,
Vic
His life serves as an example to us that God can use anyone, even an escaped slave, to accomplish His purpose when that person hears and obeys the word of the Lord. This fact is as true today as it was in Saint Patrick’s time and before.
In the current sermon series, we have looked at the lives of several of God’s servants and even examined how we can learn something from one of God’s four-legged creations. I am going to let you in on something; in modern language it would be called a “spoiler alert.” I trust that by now you have noticed a common thread among the characters we have looked at. They are all normal people with flaws in their character, in their faith, and have even been inconsistent in their obedience to God’s plan. However, they stand as scriptural examples of the might of God’s people. In spite of all their wrinkles, warts, and shortcomings, they teach us that God used flawed, broken, inconsistent people to further His kingdom. He used people like us.
Far too often, when we see the work before us as a church, we tend to focus on the monumental nature of the challenge and how small we look before the task at hand. We begin to take stock of our flaws, of our weaknesses, and our fears. They become a justification for the words “I can’t”; “The work calls for someone a lot stronger than me,” etc. Like St. Patrick, we need to take stock, not of the negatives in our lives but of the positives. If someone has proclaimed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (1) they are assured eternity with the Father; (2) they have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and (3) they are participants in celestial work that has eternal consequences. There are many more but I only have a limited space to write.
As we proceed marching forward in 2015, let us remember that guys like Moses, Elijah, Joshua, and Saint Patrick were just as flawed as we are. Let us also be mindful that one of the reasons they stand as examples for us is that, in the end, their trust in the Lord outweighed their doubts and fears.
May God rain down blessings on you all month long,
Vic
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