Power Point - Feburary 25, 2005

 

 

 

February 25, 2005

 

So I answered them, and said to them, “The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build…”

-Nehemiah 2:20

 

In 1915, Leon Trotsky, an early Russian communist leader who ran in the same circle as Lenin, was invited to Sunday school in Chicago. He was not a believer in Christ, but a friend took him to Bible study. On that particular day, the regular Bible teacher was absent, and for whatever reason had not cared enough about his class to secure a substitute teacher.

 

So, the class just came together, said a few words, and went on. That was the last time that Trotsky ever attended church. Don’t you wonder what might have happened if a faithful teacher had been there to lead the group? Do you think it would’ve made a difference if a believer had been there to share the Word of God, pray, and invite a young Leon Trotsky to Christ?

 

God is in control of every situation, but He also uses our hands to bring glory and honor to His kingdom. I wonder if every choir member, deacon, usher, Sunday school teacher, outreach leader, committee person, and so on would cooperate and share together, just what could happen to the glory of God.

 

If we’re going to lead others as believers, there has to be the principle of evaluation, participation, and cooperation. We must be willing, at any cost and against all opposition, to do what God has called us to. 

 

Theodore Roosevelt once said:

“It is not the critic that counts, not the person who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the area, whose face is marked by dust and smeared with sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again. There is no effort without error and shortcoming. The real leader actually tries to do the deed, expresses great enthusiasm and mighty devotion, and spends himself in a worthy cause. At his worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring supremely. Far better it is to dare mighty deeds and to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with the poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that undergoes neither victory or defeat.”

 

LORD, MAY WE BY FAITH AND WITH COURAGE ACCEPT THE CALL TO DUTY,

AND DO IT ALL FOR YOUR GLORY.