Isaiah 6:1-9 – Encounter
On July 22, we celebrate fifteen years of ministry in Ocho Rios, St. Ann and its environs, geared towards winning the lost, connecting them to the church, training them up and sending them out in order to glorify God. This year, we BELIEVE every person can Encounter God and Experience Change. We all need an encounter with Him, reencounters, fresh encounters and continuing encounters to fulfill His mandate on our lives. Soren Kierkegaard tells a parable of a community of ducks waddling off to duck church to hear the duck preacher.
The duck preacher spoke eloquently of how God had given the ducks wings with which to fly. With these wings there was nowhere the ducks could not go, there was no God-given task the ducks could not accomplish. With those wings they could soar into the presence of God himself. Shouts of “Amen” were quacked throughout the duck congregation. At the conclusion of the service, the ducks left, commenting on what a wonderful message they had heard — and waddled back home. I’m afraid that we can be a lot like the duck church.
We can come to church…sing the songs…hear the message…but when the service is over…we leave the same way we came in. We leave unchanged! We leave unaffected! The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way. I believe that every time we come to church…every time we gather for worship, God has something for us. He has something He wants to do in our lives…and if we don’t get it or experience it, then it’s our fault, and not His. During our anniversary month, I pray that we will open up our hearts to God and allow him to work in our lives. I want us to have an encounter with the living God…He wants to meet us…He wants us to sense His presence, and His power.
He doesn’t want us to leave His presence without having a divine encounter! I encourage you to let your hearts look upward, see the Lord high and lifted up and hear the angels saying…Holy, Holy, Holy. Then you will look inward, and make sure of your own spiritual condition…and then you will look outward and say…Hear am I; send me.