I'm thinking of preaching on the theme of a Tom Jones' song from his latest album of Gospel songs 'Praise and Blame' which has some great songs on it. The one in question is 'Does Trouble Me' and it raises a few questions that are worthy of thinking about.
1) How does God speak to this generation?
2) What do we do when God speaks to us?
It worries me that the Church seems to have written off the role of prophet in these New Testament times. It was encouraging recently to see the Pope in the UK challenging the country over the rise of militant secularism and atheism. It got to the newspaper front pages, which Christianity normally doesn't, unless it includes stories of abuse or scientists trying to disprove the existence of God.
I believe God speaks to us through our conscience - a uniquely gifted part of what makes us 'us' - and challenges us daily about this world in which we live, the people who inhabit it, and the dangerous direction that our society is heading in.
I also believe that, in general, we are hesitant as Christians to put our head above the parapet and say something when our conscience is pierced.
So ask yourselves this question. If you don't say 'That's wrong!' when your conscience tells you to say something, then who will?
If you don't go to the help of your brother in Christ, or a stranger in need when your conscience troubles you, then who will?
It'll be interesting to see in which direction the sermon goes - and whether I avoid mentioning the things that trouble me, in which case I might upset a few folk!!
No comments:
Post a Comment