Good day dear friends.
We started a three sermon series covering our Mission Statement or Purpose Statements as others call it. Our statement is "To Honor and Serve Our Lord by preparing God’s people for works of service so that the Body of Christ be built up." It took almost a year and a half to come up with the statement through the hard work of our Goals committee, a subcommittee of our church council. We're in a growth mode and we want our growth to reflect our faithfulness to God. As I mentioned yesterday using the kite as an illustration, we seek to be grounded through this statement in the things of God. Our sermon yesterday focused on last year's statement which was the first part, "To honor and serve our Lord."
Here is our study guide for today: Monday: Yesterday we covered the words “honor” and “serve” as it relates to God. If we were to apply this to our relationships would there be much of a difference? In Exodus 36 we find the story of Bezalel and Oholiab, two skilled men who were in charge of receiving the offerings brought to carry on the work of God. The people responded so well to this that in verse 6-7 we find something we should find in every church. Please read that passage and see how this speaks to your life.
To honor means to place someone in high respect in our lives. Part of the wedding vows married people take includes the word "honor," and I mentioned that to honor God means to put God first in our lives. The passage selected for today is an interesting one. It is found in Exodus 36.
Here is that passage:1 "Bezalel and Oholiab, along with everyone whom God has given the skill and know-how for making everything involved in the worship of the Sanctuary as commanded by God, are to start to work." 2 Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab along with all whom God had gifted with the ability to work skillfully with their hands. The men were eager to get started and engage in the work. 3 They took from Moses all the offerings that the Israelites had brought for the work of constructing the Sanctuary. The people kept on bringing in their freewill offerings, morning after morning. 4 All the artisans who were at work making everything involved in constructing the Sanctuary came, one after another, 5 to Moses, saying, "The people are bringing more than enough for doing this work that God has commanded us to do!" 6 So Moses sent out orders through the camp: "Men! Women! No more offerings for the building of the Sanctuary!" 7 There was plenty of material for all the work to be done. Enough and more than enough." (The Message)
This passage speaks of the great honor with which the people treated God as they built their Sanctuary. Moses asked people to bring freewill offerings and the incredible thing is that the two men in charge of receiving the offerings, Bezalel and Oholiab, soon discovered that they had "enough and more than enough." Moses had to order the people to stop bringing their offerings!
To honor God involves all aspects of our daily life. We seek to be in God's presence, as we covered in the earlier Exodus passage yesterday, Exodus 34:29-35, the passage where Moses was in God's presence in such a way that his face was radiant and people could tell that Moses had been in God's presence. The more time we spend honoring God the more we will "radiate" and people will know we've been in God's presence, and the more people will want to seek what we have. To honor God also means to walk and trust God and to give to God as we should.
To honor God means that we place ourselves and others aside and seek God. Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Mt. 6:33). What are you seeking?
PRAYER: Loving God, help us to seek you first. Let our aim in our life seek to be to honor and serve You. We pray in Christ Jesus' name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day!
e.v.
