Sunday Reflections

Yesterday was a great day of worship at Idlewild. John did a great job preparing our hearts for the message through music, and directing our attention to the one with whom we come to worship. The sermon was on Matthew 7:1-5, I talked about the difference between righteous judgment and self-righteous judgment. It was a text that many have heard taught, but not in the detail that we covered it yesterday. I received a lot of positive feedback concerning the message, consisting of people saying that this was something that they had a hard time with, but now understand Jesus' teaching on the subject. I was real encouraged that God used a message that he laid on my heart to help people understand that not only was this a commandment from Jesus (something that they should do or shouldn't do) but also is something that they could personally apply in their lives.

Last night we dove into the next verse, Matthew 7:6, which was a pretty hard text to understand. I relied heavily on commentaries and books from D.A. Carson, Sinclair Furgeson, and James Montgomery Boice to help me understand the meaning of this passage on 'not throwing the treasures of the gospel to the dogs and pigs in our lives'. It was an interesting time, but a time of learning about seeking discernment in our dealings with our witness.

Overall, it was a great Sunday of worship. I have had a very challenging week, dealing with guilt over my past, almost to the point of depression. However, God is showing me that He is in control, and that I needed to turn over my sin and baggage to Him and seek forgiveness and sanctification, and He would take care of the rest. I am learning more and more that this process of being a disciple of Jesus and sanctification is a long process and doesn't happen in the time frame that I would like for it too. God is sovereign and has a plan for our lives, and that gives me hope and comfort at the same time.