Tuesday night's meeting

We had a lower turn-out tonight at the meeting with Evangelist Mark Kittrell than we had on Sunday or Monday, but the message tonight was another great message and was particularly relevant for our little congregation.

Mr. Kittrell preached tonight on John Chapter 4:31-38. Most of the time when people are addressing those verses, the emphasis is on the need to get out into the harvest, etc. Obviously that is a legitimate concept to take out of this passage, especially in light of v. 35. Tonight, however, Mark (it feels weird for me to call him "Mark" since it was always "Mr. Kittrell" when we traveled)went a little further than what I was expecting when he asked us to turn to this passage. His topic was on "Our Motivations in Being Missionaries for Christ."

The first point that Mark developed was the fact that we must maintain a Spiritual Focus in everything we do. In particular on this point he dealt with the immediate context of the disciples going to get meat and Jesus' own thirst. Even though there are legitimate physical needs, it must not interfere with the spiritual focus we are to have. The reality is that while living on this earth requires us to be involved in the day to day things of life, we must keep spiritual things as our priorities even in the midst of the "busyness" of life.

The second point focused on the need to maintain a Spiritual Readiness. This is where he dealt with v. 35 - "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." (KJV). Part of the challenge here was to not be a "four month" Christian, thinking constantly that "in four months down the road, I will do this or that, etc." Too many times we tend to put off our service or our obedience and many times never get to it at all. He also dealt with the need that is pressing - the fields are already white to harvest.

The third point dealt with the Spiritual Reward. The key to the spiritual reward is not not about "what have I accomplished" but rather about "teamwork" - one sows, one reaps, etc. If we all do our responsibilities, we can leave the results to God.

Anyway, I felt it was an excellent message with particular relevance to our church.

Just my thoughts,

Frank

Note: As per all week, this post is being cross-posted to my Pastoral Blog over at "The Pastor's Pen"