Super Sunday was just that! It was a Super Sunday. If you were not able to be here, you missed one of the most uplifting days in the history of this congregation. Every aspect of our time together, from beginning to end, changed lives. Let me mention some of them.
Phil Sanders stated, “Restoration is doctrinal repentance.” I had never thought of the appeal we make to return to the Bible and restore New Testament Christianity as simply being an appeal to repentance. Why would anyone not want to give up wrong beliefs and turn to the right ones? It is not simply a discussion of worship, organization, salvation—it is a profound decision of, “Am I willing to repent of doctrinal teachings I have embraced?”
“It’s not your ability, but your availability that God can use.” Sometimes we think that God needs our abilities to accomplish His work. We tend to think of what we can offer to Him to use. The truth is that He does not need anything we have. His work does not depend on our abilities. He took lowly fishermen, who were ignorant and unlearned (Acts 4:13), and turned the world upside down. His success did not depend on their ability but their availability.
Think of the many illustrations of the truthfulness of Phil’s statement. God has always used the “little” things to accomplish “great” things. Think of Moses’ rod, David’s slingshot, the widow’s mites, the lad’s loaves and fish and Gideon’s army of 300. Had He used “great” things, then the glory might have pointed to men instead of to Him. He can use your abilities, but He doesn’t need them! It’s not your ability to bring great things to Him, but the availability of the little things you have!
Then at the time of our contribution, Chuck Clark reminded us about our giving when he said, “What is His already, we now give back to Him.” That says it all. If our money was truly ours, we might be doing something of which we could boast when we give. The truth is that what we give is already His. Instead of thinking about how much we give to Him, we should consider how much are we keeping for ourselves! Whatever skills we may have and whatever jobs we have to use those skills are His and not ours.
Finally, how about that meal we had together! Thanks to those who worked in the background, collecting the money, purchasing the food and having it ready. It was so easy and so refreshing to eat lunch together! It was truly a super Sunday!