This week I heard a message entitled “The Greatest Hour of the Church”.
The faith-filled part of me affirmed the statement. My inner skeptic, however, wanted to simply reduce the title to a by-product of today’s tendency to describe EVERYTHING as… “the biggest”, “the best” and “the most incredible”… ever!
In the end… my inner skeptic lost the bet.
Before I get there, though, let me tell you about last Sunday’s appetizer.
Mealworms & Grasshoppers
Sunday after church we were getting ready for lunch when the doorbell rang (odd for a Sunday noontime); our neighbours’ grand-kids came bearing gifts.
They’d picked up something special for their grandfather’s birthday, wanted to share it with us and asked me to call the kids. When we were all gathered, they pulled the box out from behind their back; flavoured grasshoppers and mealworms… (herb & garlic no less!).
I could be in a store and walk past these things 1,000 times without ever thinking, “Hmmm… I’d like to try those”. However, because our friends’ grand-kids offered them with wide-eyed expectation, we did the unthinkable… We tried them.
Now, I’m not about to start buying them or anything, but close your eyes and the taste/sensation isn’t UN-like eating cheetos – dry, crunchy, flavoured air (except that you have to pull the wings off the grasshoppers first). 🙂
Church
Church was great last Sunday. The folks who’d come for the first time, the previous week, came back as they said they would and the Lord ministered to them. After prayer at the altar Ghislain, who was visibly moved, remarked that he cried every time he came to church here. Praise God for his Spirit that touches hungry hearts!
Sharing Book-space at
General Conference
I got this pic from Liane Grant the other day. She and her husband Scott are metro-missionaries in the province of Quebec, involved extensively with French Ministry, translation and training.
Liane is an administrator extraordinaire and has published “Schedule your Dream – 8 steps to maximizing your time and mobilizing your vision”. It too was for sale at GC and we were neighbours on Pentecostal Publishing House’s sales table. I couldn’t be in better company!
The Greatest Hour of the Church
Technology is a pretty amazing thing. Via livestream, I could ‘attend’ the Global Missions service of the UPCI’s 2017 General Conference, taking place in Kansas City, MO. I would’ve liked to take more of the night services but a 7:00pm start time in Kansas City means a 2:00am start time here!
Thoroughly enjoyed Cortt Chavis’ singing at the top of service. Worship was great. Nathan Harrod (not pictured) led in a powerful time of prayer where numerous healings took place.
Charles Robinette (missionary to Austria and German-speaking Europe) was the main speaker, but with him were a number of missionaries and pastors who shared reports of what God was doing in various places.
There were reports of thousands being filled with God’s Spirit, thousands of baptisms and miracles for which medical staff had no explanation.
Bro. Robinette totaled up the numbers. He compared what God had done in the first four months of 2017, with what the Bible records in the first 5 years of the church (from the book of Acts).
His conclusion… God kept his word, spoken in John 14.
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
We are indeed seeing greater things… not for anyone’s glory but the Lord’s. He is true to his word and his works are being made known.
It made me think of another passage, from Matthew 5:
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Personally Speaking
Have you ever had times where it didn’t feel like you were living the greatest hour of the church? We have. There have been times both here in France and in our past where we’ve faced challenges and it felt more like we’re on the “back forty” in terms of what God was doing. Hence the importance of staying connected to the wider body. We see what God is doing elsewhere and it renews our faith that he can do it here as well.
Today’s feature image shows brightly lit windows against a dark night sky. This is where Sophie takes archery lessons… but it’s also a reminder. “The darker the night, the brighter the light.” We are quick to qualify the times as dark or ominous, given all that’s happening in the world. If we name the name of Christ however, and represent him well, that makes us stand out all the more.
- Stand out in a darkened world.
- Do it for God’s glory.
- Be convinced that in so doing, you can both experience personally, then be part of, the Greatest Hour of the Church.
I was glad for the reminder this week. Thank you Bro. Robinette!
God bless you today and Thanks for stopping by!
Let what you read, inform your prayers for us & for France.
AIM Long 