Soak Up Your Service
There is a quote I heard in my Bible College days that said, "No one deserves to hear the Gospel twice until everyone has heard it once." Each opportunity we have to come into the house of God and hear His Word is a blessing and a privilege, I learned that very early in my walk with God. There are still some places in the world where people do not know the Gospel message and the plan for salvation. To be able to gather with people of like-minded faith, freely worship, and hear God's Word go forth multiple times a week is not something I take lightly.
Every service, sermonette, chapel sermon, and devotional, you are a part of is intentional. You are in a specific place at a particular time, to hear a Word that is God-ordained and crafted for you. You don't just fall in church buildings by accident and unknowingly hear preaching. Specific steps are taken to get you to that place! Be intentional with your services, and as the great Reverend B. A. Cooley would say, "Get all you can and can all you get." Since my freshman year of TBC, I have always documented the services I was a part of. Each sermon entry would look like this:
September 13, 2012
Ron Wofford
Genesis 22:1-11
"And a Knife"
If it's easy to give up, it does not qualify as a sacrifice!
Anything that God requires of us as a sacrifice already belonged to Him. How will you respond?
Sometimes God will test you by what He gives to you, other times; He will test you by what He takes away from you.
What God called a sacrifice, Abraham called worship.
Bound sacrifices can still escape the altar.
Some passages were longer than others, but I always wrote down statements that grabbed my attention. I have a composition book filled with four years of chapel services and notes like these. I am so grateful I documented these sermons because now they help me with topics for my Just Aneissa Blog. Soon, they will help me with the next phase of life. Later, these notes (and more I accumulate along the way) will help me with problems my children are facing. In the future, it can help me guide my grandchildren when they need spiritual guidance. By no means am I a hoarder of things, but when it comes to God's Word, I will hold on to every teaching + never let go. Every time I am away from my home church I make sure I am voice recording the services I am a part of, I do not want to miss a single thing. Of course, you know this extra girl has to color code her Bible as well!
Blue highlighter: the sermon was preached at my home church
Yellow highlighter: this message was preached a conference/service away from my home church
Orange highlighter: I found this passage on my own + it needs attention
Every year I purchase a new journal, and I try to fill up the pages with good quotes and eye-opening concepts that kick my soul during the preaching. I do not want to leave any service the same way I walked inside. I want to seize every opportunity I have to grow, so for me, that means, writing things down. I want tangible journals, books on growth, and different versions of the Bible to fill up my bookshelves. I never want to stop growing in God! If you are not doing this already, please let me encourage you to soak up your services. You will not regret writing your thoughts down. iPhone notes are cool, but you cannot always trust the cloud. Invest in yourself spiritually. Half the fun is picking out the stationary! Find a journal that is undeniably you, hunt for your favorite brand of pens, and buy in bulk.
This Italian leather journal was love at first sight. My sermon notebook for all of 2019.
Create something bigger than you. Something that your great-great-grandchildren can find in a box two hundred years from now and say, "Wow, they really had their lives together here on Earth. Now I know they are dancing with Jesus!" Not in so many words, but you get the point. Soak up every opportunity to be unified with others in hearing the preaching of the Word. Whether you are excited or reluctant, it is an honor. If God gives you something personally, write it down and fill the margins. A Bible that is falling apart is usually owned by someone who is not.
