Restoring the Passion
Gerald Harris
Revelation 2:1-7
There is a bumper sticker that reads: ''Get involved - the world is run by those who show up.''
Little is accomplished by those who sleep in. By those who are stuck in their ''comfort zone.'' By the spectators. By those who sit on the sidelines. And may I say that the change agents in our society are not just those who show up, but those who show up with a passion and a purpose for living.
I have a friend who has a ministry to ''bikers.''He spoke to a group of Georgia Baptists not long ago and he was challenging us to rise above the level of mediocrity; and he quoted a motto embraced by the motorcycle gang known as ''Hell's Angels.'' Listen to the motto: ''If you aren't living on the edge, you are just taking up space.''
We've got a lot of folks today who are just taking up space. They lack drive, determination, desire - passion. In fact, I know some preachers who fall into that same category - always looking for the easy way out, not wanting to rock the boat, not wanting to confront this secular culture in which we live - preachers who choose comfort over commitment, ease over exercise, and safety over sacrifice.Perhaps you heard about the three preachers who were in a discussion about their sermon preparation on one occasion; and the first preacher said, ''I like to prepare my messages ahead of time; and so I start on Saturday night, in preparation for my sermon on Sunday morning.''The second preacher said, ''Well, I'm not quite that ambitious. But, I do get up a little earlier on Sunday morning and begin my preparation for my sermon on Sunday morning.''The third preacher looked at the other two and said, ''My goodness! What do you guys do during the song service?''We must never take the course of least resistance. Our purpose must never fade. Our preaching must never falter; and our passion must never fizzle.
Now, as we look into our text, we read about a church that was commendable in man ...
Gerald Harris
Revelation 2:1-7
There is a bumper sticker that reads: ''Get involved - the world is run by those who show up.''
Little is accomplished by those who sleep in. By those who are stuck in their ''comfort zone.'' By the spectators. By those who sit on the sidelines. And may I say that the change agents in our society are not just those who show up, but those who show up with a passion and a purpose for living.
I have a friend who has a ministry to ''bikers.''He spoke to a group of Georgia Baptists not long ago and he was challenging us to rise above the level of mediocrity; and he quoted a motto embraced by the motorcycle gang known as ''Hell's Angels.'' Listen to the motto: ''If you aren't living on the edge, you are just taking up space.''
We've got a lot of folks today who are just taking up space. They lack drive, determination, desire - passion. In fact, I know some preachers who fall into that same category - always looking for the easy way out, not wanting to rock the boat, not wanting to confront this secular culture in which we live - preachers who choose comfort over commitment, ease over exercise, and safety over sacrifice.Perhaps you heard about the three preachers who were in a discussion about their sermon preparation on one occasion; and the first preacher said, ''I like to prepare my messages ahead of time; and so I start on Saturday night, in preparation for my sermon on Sunday morning.''The second preacher said, ''Well, I'm not quite that ambitious. But, I do get up a little earlier on Sunday morning and begin my preparation for my sermon on Sunday morning.''The third preacher looked at the other two and said, ''My goodness! What do you guys do during the song service?''We must never take the course of least resistance. Our purpose must never fade. Our preaching must never falter; and our passion must never fizzle.
Now, as we look into our text, we read about a church that was commendable in man ...
There are 25529 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
