Burning Hearts
As disciples of Jesus we gather with others for what we call “worship,” or as the scriptures call it, the “sacred assembly.” This is what we do, because this is what HE did and has asked us to do.
In “worship” we receive the greatest gift of all: forgiveness. We connect to others in Christian fellowship seeking truth and living in the truth, we pray and we pray again through song. Today what I hope to share is the gift of the “sermon” within worship.
The scriptures show us that it was a practice in the “sacred assembly” to not only read the Word, but to explain and expound on the Word. As I think about the sermon portion of the sacred assembly, I love the last part of verse 8 in Ephesians 3 where Paul says he was given the responsibility to preach the boundless riches of Christ. When God called me to be a preacher within the church He led me to Luke 24:32. “They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’” -Luke 24:32. In this story the disciples say that their hearts were burning within them as Jesus opened up the scriptures and explained them to the disciples. This is my prayer every time I give a sermon or hear a sermon. I am not sure if you would say your heart is awakened when you hear a sermon or that your faith in Jesus strengthened, but this is the hope and intent.
When you hear a sermon, what causes your heart to “burn?” My hope for us is that when we gather to hear a “sermon” that the words of the preacher’s mouth and meditations of the listener’s hearts would be pleasing to Jesus!
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