Today is Monday, May 7th, 2007; Karen's Korner #1056

An email daily devotional from last summer by Shirley Choat. Yesterday was Sunday; what did you take away from your church sermon?:
 
  Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves; for they watch for your souls.
Hebrews 13:17
 
  What does it take for your minister to be a success? Is it having a large congregation, modern building at a beautiful location, and a boming Sunday school? Is it administrating a vast program that meets the needs of everyone? These things have their place, but none in itself is the mark of true success. In one sense, a pastor will succeed in the pulpit, only if God's people give heed in the pew.
 
  We must come to church and respond to God's Word with eagerness and attentiveness. This doesn't mean we'll accept everything the pastor says, for he/she too is a fallible person. But as we humbly ask the LORD to speak through him/her, so he/she can inform us how we are to live, obey and apply the message of the day. We also ask the Holy Spirit to impress His truth upon our hearts. Then it is up to us. We must take God's message of comfort, challenge, or correction and act on it. It may mean getting right with others, changing wrong attitudes, or implementing a bibical pattern of living. Listen for the application at the end of your Pastor's message and act on it. This not only honors the LORD, but it encourages the pastor to be the lovng and faithful expositor of the Scriptures that God wants each pastor to be. 
 
  When in church you hear the Word preached by servants of the LORD, let your heart attend to the message God will send. What people say about a sermon isn't half as important as what they do with the application portion!

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