Saturday, October 06, 2018

Christian Meditation Helps Us in Sanctification, Fellowship, and Evangelism (from the 2018.10.05 Hopewell Herald)

Christian Meditation: Dwelling upon God's Word
One of the things that we haven’t talked about much as a congregation is the practice of Christian meditation. No—not the mental zoning out that is borrowed from various forms of manmade spirituality. But that meditation of which the Psalms often speak—dwelling upon and extended consideration of the Scriptures.

Its Effect upon Fellowship: Building One Another up in the Word
While the practice is, of course, a great blessing to our own souls, it also has a value-added effect for fellowship and evangelism. What is continually on our minds will be readily on our lips. So, when we interact with one another, we will have material for making our fellowship an occasion of intentionally celebrating God’s goodness together or committing to God’s service together.

Its Effect upon Evangelism: a Ready Path to Speaking of Christ (just by thinking about the sermon)
But this works well for evangelism as well. One of the things that keeps us from talking to others about our Redeemer as the love and joy of all our life is that if we are honest, we are not thinking of Him enough. Another thing that keeps us from talking about Christ to others is that we are not sure what to say.

Meditating upon Him by means of His Word addresses both of these deficiencies.
Each week, pick one phrase or sentence in the sermon text that gets explained in a way that really comes home to you. Whether it’s a pleasant truth that has sweetened many days for you in the past, or something that you just learned/realized for the first time in the sermon, write that phrase down and carry it with you. Reflect upon it throughout the week.
Then, when someone asks how you’re doing, or what’s new, or gives you the opportunity some other way, you will be well-prepared to say, “I was just thinking about how Jesus…”

Also a Ready Path to Inviting Others to Hopewell
And if you happen to be in conversation with someone who doesn’t go to Hopewell, you can tell them where you heard that recently, and hand them an invitation card.

These cards are available on the back table in the worship room. I suggest that you write down your own name and phone number and give them an invitation with a warm smile. You can also mention that the sermon you were talking about will be linked/streamable/downloadable right from Hopewell's homepage.

No comments:

Post a Comment