Acts Chapter 20
How Often Do We Put God In A Box?
Apostle Paul is sharing the good news of Jesus and speaking for at least 10 hours. But the church in the USA complains when the pastor preaches passed noon. I remember preaching once when filling in for the senior pastor who was on vacation.
I preached passed noon. The sermon was about how we need to pray for each others needs. So after my sermon I asked if anyone wanted prayer for any struggles to stand up. We had several people stand so I called the people around them, in the congregation, to lay hands on them and pray for them. It ended up going till 12:20 p.m.
Before I could even get out of the sanctuary, one board member text the senior pastor, saying I went over 20 minutes. A senior member of the church also let the pastor know that I went 20 minutes past noon (he later apologized to me).
Two other people also responded: one was the man who sat with his son at church, who happened to be one of the men who prayed for a person in front of them. He told me how wonderful it was to have the body of Christ praying for each other. The second response was from a friend that goes to church twice a year. He came up and said, that was awesome!
The two men who spoke negatively, did they miss what God was doing in people’s lives? Two non-members of the church were amazed.
I wonder if our churches have put God in a box when we say we can’t go over the time that WE designate for God.
Then I wonder how many times we put God in a box by not allowing him to use us when at work or in our neighborhood.
It’s like we’re asking God to use us on Sunday but not on Monday through Saturday.
Just some thoughts.
