Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “A Fresh Encounter”
Our Bible verse for today: “Learn to do what is good. Seek justice. Correct the oppressor. Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause.” Isaiah 1:17 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Acts of service often lead to a fresh encounter with God.”
In yesterday’s devotional message we thought about how it is that God often leads us to a fresh encounter with Himself by speaking to us through His written word. Another way in which people often encounter God is through acts of service.
This is a truth I have personally experienced, and have seen in the lives of others, many times. When people engage in acts of service in the name of Jesus the Lord often shows up in big ways – usually, and first, in the life of that individual person. On our international mission teams I have often told our team members that the mission will probably turn out to have been more about what God wanted to do in you rather than through you.
This is why Christians become so enthusiastic about participating in acts of service. It’s because when you put action to your faith, when your faith clearly makes a difference in your own life and in the lives of others, you get to experience God in new and fresh ways.
I’ve mentioned before that at Oak Hill Baptist Church we are a service oriented church. We are actively on-mission with Jesus outside the walls of the church, and the members of our church are very enthusiastic about it. Just a few weeks ago we had our Sunday evening service at the local rescue mission (as we do numerous times throughout the year). We held a church service and then prepared and served the evening meal. There were so many of our members there that we had to find things for people to do.
As I write this it is Wednesday morning. Tonight at church will be an evening of service rather than our normal Wednesday night activities. We will be packing 100 boxes of food, each with enough food to feed a family of four two meals. This is for our weekend mission trip this Friday to work with our friends in the coal-mining region of eastern Kentucky. I’m sure there will be a large turn-out tonight to help with the work because our people love being involved in this kind of service.
We’re also in the process of planning our next mission trip to Haiti in September. We will spend a week working in an orphanage doing construction, feeding children, and providing orphan care. There are a lot of members of our church, and from other churches, who are eager to participate. It may be the biggest group we have ever taken to Haiti. This is all happening because Christians get excited and enthused when their faith makes a real difference in their own lives and in the lives of others. And, it almost always results in a fresh encounter with God.
Isaiah 1:17 is just one of numerous verses in both the Old and New Testaments where God calls us to put action to our faith. When we do we get to encounter Him in new and fresh ways.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 