On a Thursday at Wem , we open up the doors to the community for coffee , tea and cakes . Many folk from the town come in , the atmosphere is very friendly and welcoming and people often talk freely about where they stand with God .
Yesterday we held a Family service that revolved around the work of the Coffee morning team . Many people who wouldn't normally come to church came along , the church was full and the gospel was preached.
Last night I preached a sermon from Jonah 1&2 ...entilted " Where are you Going .....Ninevah or Tarshish ? " In other words are you living a life that is constantly striving to please God and do his will or is your life in many ways rebellious , steeped in disobedience and self-centeredness ... I finished on Jonah 2:8
"Those who cling to worthless idols
forfeit the grace that could be theirs
Below you will find my concluding challenge at the end of the message :-
But what about you and I tonight .In the society we live in there are many worthless idols . It is all too easy to cling them. The idols of money ,work, sex , pleasure , ambition , sport , fashion , films , playstations, the internet ,cars, holidays,tv programmes and the list goes on . It's so easy to put them first . Its so easy to spend too much of your time in the meaningless pursuit of things that are only temporary, that have no bearing on God’s kingdom and His glory.
We all , at the start of this new year need to examine ourselves as the Apostle Paul instructed us to do .Do these idols dominate my life ?Is my life more about myself and my creature comforts than a life of sacrifice and service for the sake of Jesus Christ and his Kingdom .
Am I on the the boat to Tarshish sailing the wrong way and forfeiting God’s grace or am I on my way, as I should be, to my Ninevah and fulfilling God’s calling for me? Am I more inclined to cling to the idols of this world ….or cling to the cross ...
