Saturday, September 25, 2004

Seek Wisdom - More from the Life of Steven

I have been pacing a preaching in my office here and just feel compelled to share.

The Requirements to Wait on Tables for the Lord
In the passage, Acts 6:1-7, the Apostles are looking for men to wait on tables. This is a pretty mundane calling. Many of us certainly feeling like our calling is pretty ordinary. Steven was called to such an ordinary occupation or vocation in the church. So what were the requirements to be given this mundane "leadership role" in God's economy? The passage says, "chose from among yourselves men known to be "full of the Spirit and wisdom". The requirement is to have Godly character and Godly wisdom. This seems like a high standard for such an ordinary calling, and, indeed, it is. Such a high requirement for responsibility in the kingdom is because we are all sometime or another going to be given some opportunity to shine. All of us are given some ordinary leadership role and the preparation for this role is quite large.
In order to realize the difficulty of even distributing food well, we must see this as a Spiritual calling from God.

Examples of ordinary callings:
A mother of two youngsters is a calling from God that requires being "full of the Spirit and Wisdom". Teaching a small group in children’s church or church school requires being "full of the Spirit and Wisdom". These responsibilities may appear ordinary but they nonetheless require a lifelong pursuit of Godliness and Wisdom. We are all called to exercise some level of leadership in God's kingdom.
Being Christ's Ambassador at your work is a calling from God. We are all missionaries and all witnesses and we do not know when the opportunity to shine will arrive. This ordinary calling requires that we be "full of the Spirit and Wisdom". I have an opportunity starting this week. I am starting a bible study at my work this Tuesday. The door is being opened and the opportunity to shine might be approaching. This requires being "full of the Spirit and Wisdom"
Having teenage children is a calling from God which requires a great deal of being "full of the Spirit and Wisdom".

Being Full of the Spirit and Wisdom requires a constant pursuit of God and His Wisdom
Proverbs tells us if we neglect to pursue wisdom, we will call for her and she will not be there. But if we seek wisdom in our daily lives, then, in our time of need, she will rescue us.
Today is the first day of the rest of your life. SEEK WISDOM.
The role of leader that all of us are called to always calls us to help others to internalize and own a love for biblical values. Our desire as parents is that our children from the heart see and love compassion and honesty and sacrifice and love. For us to be able to help them or to help our peers to love Wisdom, we too must know wisdom and love wisdom. This heart for truth and biblical values does not come over night but comes through a lifelong pursuit of God and His wisdom. we must be lifelong learners of Biblical theology (knowledge of God) and biblical practice (wisdom).

This sermon is an attempt to get each of us to step up to the plate and accept our leadership role as from God and to see that to be faithful in the little but precious calling we have been given we must be "full of the Spirit and Wisdom".

God Bless,brad

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