CALL TO WORSHIP A note from Caleb Ingram, Worship Director Sermon: God Can Use Anyone Scripture: Luke 8:26-39, 1 Cor 1:26-31 Order of Service: Call to Worship That’s My Deliverer - https://youtube/watch?v=iq-DRqcUP7E Glory to God Forever - https://youtube/watch?v=h64opCwLZCw 1 Cor 1:26-31 From The Inside Out - https://youtube/watch?v=X-afZJ9_TIM Sermon Take My Life - https://youtube/watch?v=V0Byp7aK2DA Luke 8:39 Declare His Glory (no recording) As we enter 2015, we’re getting back into the book of Luke. Pastor Shawn will be picking back up in Luke 8:26-39, with a sermon titled “God Can Use Anyone.” As I plan the songs for each service I make it a point to read through the passage that the sermon will be from. This helps me better understand where it is going and therefore learn how I can complement that theme and help the whole service flow together, with the greeting, songs, sermon, prayer and Scripture readings all working towards the same goal. This week as I was reading through the passage I found myself amazed by the radical transformation and simple obedience of the man who had once been demon-possessed. This man was known throughout the community, but not in a good way. He didn’t live in a house, yet among tombs. He referred to himself as Legion, because many demons had entered him. Though others continually attempted to contain him, guards, chains and shackles could not restrain him. He roamed about the desert, completely naked. He had gained a reputation, but not a good one. He was feared and one from whom men kept their distance. This man was a freak; surely there was no hope for him and he was best kept on the outskirts of society. Then came Jesus. Jesus did not fear the man, but rather the demons within the man feared Jesus and His power. After Jesus dealt with the demons that had plagued him, the man was found sitting at the feet of Jesus, fully clothed. He asked Jesus if he could stay with Him, to which our Savior replied, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he did. He didn’t hem and haw, but, “He went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.” But wait? How was this freak of a man qualified to do the work of the Lord? Had he the track record to gain him the respect? Absolutely not. Yet he had obtained new life and a new perspective through the work of Jesus Christ. It wasn’t an M.Div. or successful business or high IQ that made him ready to share the good news… it was the fact that he had personally experienced the grace of Christ and the transformed life that results in following Him. We’re not qualified to serve the Lord either. We haven’t done anything or achieved a goal that made us worthy, nor will we ever do something to impress God. We’re not really that smart, and God doesn’t need me or you to make His plan happen. He chooses to use us, by His grace. He has transformed each one of us, and as a result we can each go and declare how much God has done for us, just as the desert-man did. 1 Cor 1:26-31 reads, “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” God chose what is low and despised in the world to do His work. He chose the freak who lived amongst the tombs. He chose me. He chose you. Let us be empowered to declare God’s work among us—not because we are qualified—but because we have encountered His redemption and transformation in our lives. Praise God for His work not only in redeeming us, but also using us in His glorious plan! Phil 2:3 Caleb
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 20:26:05 +0000
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