Tonight I am incredibly grateful to be in Wolverhampton and that I was able to attend a church service lead by the Vitalise leaders. It was a service that brought together a number of churches from all over the city. It brought together young and old, the passionate believers and tentative newcomers. Usually one of the best parts of the Vitalise service is the music; however, tonight the fantastic melodies were upstaged by an even better sermon.
Now hopefully some of the YAGMs, current and alum, will read this next part and understand...The pastor who was preaching tonight, Simon, came incredibly close to rivaling the ever so eloquent Heidi Torgerson-Martinez. Two points of interest...first, I am a sucker for a good sermon. I am talking about the ones that leave you feeling like you have just witnessed a miracle kinds of sermons. The sermons that fill you with rainbows, butterflies, a little bit of glitter, and make you want to tie on your cape and go save the world. Second, Heidi has brought me to tears during each of her sermons that I have heard over the last few months. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of hearing Heidi preach, let me put it in terms that might be a little easier to understand. This woman is the Larry Bird/Michael Jordan/Magic Johnson (yeah, I am going with the classics) of preaching. Not only does she amazing during her "performance;" but, she leaves you wondering how on earth she just did what she did. So, for someone to even come close to this level of "preachosity," well, that's just impressive. Laymen's terms: he was LeBron James (aka, really good preacher, great potential, but no tears).
I am hoping that I now have you all wondering what on earth this sermon was about.
Simply put, he said, "Break out."
The sermon was all about the fact that the Kingdom of God is meant to overflow, that it can't be stopped, and can't be contained by human limits. Simon used the example of buckets and watering cans. Everything that we do in the name of Jesus fills us up, similar to water. A bucket contains and holds the water in and doesn't allow it to flow freely. Conversely, a watering can can be filled but has an outlet to allow the water to be released from the container. We are meant to be like watering cans and share everything that we have learned and received from Jesus with others. Sometimes this can be very difficult and unpopular. It has been said that being in God's will is the safest place on earth; but, tonight we disagreed...not the safest, but the best. No matter how difficult sharing God's word may be it puts us in a pretty good place.
We need to break out, out of the earthly constraints that limit us to share, to experience, to be. It was an inspiring evening, one that left me rejuvenated to go, tie on my cape (which is red, by the way) and share all of the great things that God has to offer. Tonight I was reassured of what I am doing. Tonight I was encouraged by the words I heard.
As always, God is Good...and be thankful, for so is life!
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