Category: Worship

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"When the barn is full, man can live without God" " | C. H. Spurgeon

“For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.”
— 2 Corinthians 1:5

There is a blessed proportion. The Ruler of Providence bears a pair of scales—in this side he puts his people’s trials, and in that he puts their consolations. When the scale of trial is nearly empty, you will always find the scale of consolation in nearly the same condition; and when the scale of trials is full, you will find the scale of consolation just as heavy. When the black clouds gather most, the light is the more brightly revealed to us. When the night lowers and the tempest is coming on, the Heavenly Captain is always closest to his crew. It is a blessed thing, that when we are most cast down, then it is that we are most lifted up by the consolations of the Spirit. One reason is, because trials make more room for consolation. Great hearts can only be made by great troubles. The spade of trouble digs the reservoir of comfort deeper, and makes more room for consolation. God comes into our heart—he finds it full—he begins to break our comforts and to make it empty; then there is more room for grace. The humbler a man lies, the more comfort he will always have, because he will be more fitted to receive it. Another reason why we are often most happy in our troubles, is this—then we have the closest dealings with God. When the barn is full, man can live without God: when the purse is bursting with gold, we try to do without so much prayer. But once take our gourds away, and we want our God; once cleanse the idols out of the house, then we are compelled to honour Jehovah. “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.” There is no cry so good as that which comes from the bottom of the mountains; no prayer half so hearty as that which comes up from the depths of the soul, through deep trials and afflictions. Hence they bring us to God, and we are happier; for nearness to God is happiness. Come, troubled believer, fret not over your heavy troubles, for they are the heralds of weighty mercies.

Charles H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening : Daily Readings, Complete and unabridged; New modern edition. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2006).

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Nothin’ Special Sunday

I found this in an old Christian Standard magazine. A little dated, but a great thought!

Some churches have used their weekly church newspaper to advertise “Nothin’ Special Sunday.” With trumpets pictured, the article proclaims:

We will NOT have:

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir

The Robert Schuller Brass Band

Bill Graham as a guest speaker

Hoopla, Doo-Dads, Free Gifts

Ronald McDonald.

Then, in small print, the message continues:

But we will have–

The presence of the living Christ.

The participation together in the ancient feast of bread and the fruit of the vine to celebrate again the death of the Son of God for our sins.

The singing of praises to Almighty God, the fellowship of the body of believers, the church.

The proclamation of the Word of God, declaring the good news of the forgiveness and eternal life.

The prayers of thanksgiving , repentance, and intercession lifted to Go who hears and answers prayers.

The joy of sins forgiven and the renewed strength for living which only God can give.

 Come to think of it, we will have these at the church where I will be this Sunday, too. What about your church? Don’t these make any Sunday “somethin’ special”?

Christian Standard, April 4, 1982.

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What Are People Demanding to Know?

In November I attended a Charity tax and legal seminar hosted by Carters of Orangeville, Ontario. It was a day in which great information, though not exactly entertaining or gripping, was presented. It is held annually in a large church, and is often sold out at $25 per seat.

I’ve spoken to a few people who have offered seminars in their churches free of charge or for a nominal fee. The length of these meetings ranged from a few hours to the entire day. Without exception, the reported attendance has been dismal. Our own congregation offered two such seminars last Spring, the first was “Get Out of Debt,” and was presented by representatives from Scotiabank. The second was Children, Food Additives, Nutrition and Behaviour. It was presented by Shelly Linehan, ND, of Full Circle Health in Hamilton. Both were really well presented, extremely well publicised, appreciated by those who were there, and poorly attended.

Now I can understand why more than 800 people would pay to hear lawyers, accountants, and insurance agents talk about liability and tax law for charities. In today’s climate, a mistake can spell the end of a charity and perhaps the financial well-being of its directors. What I am wondering is, what interests people enough to come out on a weekend or weeknight, that is obviously connected to the Gospel. There are many implications of the Gospel in life, and it’s pretty obvious that we have far to go in our understanding of those implications; and much further in working them out.

So to all you leaders out there: what will motivate people to education beyond what they receive on Sundays? I want to continue our Lifelink™ courses—I think the concept is relevant, and I thought the topics were as well. Any advice? In the past we have had “Community Outreach Seminars” presenting talks on the Dead Sea Scrolls, the DaVinci Code, the James Ossuary, etc. As outreach, these were not stellar performers, although better attended than the Lifelink courses. It could be the time of day—the Community Outreach Seminars (dull name) were held on a weeknight, while the Lifelink courses were held on a Saturday.

Awaiting your wisdom,

Scott