A friend of mine speaks of preaching himself into conviction. It is a little bit of a preacher joke, but my friend really means it. I think I heard Billy Graham say one time that when he pointed a finger at someone in his audience there were three pointing back at him.
Yesterday I was preaching from Mark 11, the second time Jesus cleansed the Temple. It is a passage that has direct application for those of us, like me, who have leadership in the worship of God. I could feel the power of the Lord's condemnation of Annas and his cronies, as I shared the word with the congregation.
Basically, they took something that should have been directed to the God of the Bible--praise, worship, adoration, people doing serious business with their Lord--and they perverted it into something that was all about them--profit, power, national exclusivity. I can't imagine that these greedy religio-political-business men felt the awe and wonder of being in the place that was the center of the worship of the one true God. What impressed them was how many Shekels they extorted from the masses that day.
Worship is preeminently a proclamation of His worth.
Lord, help me remember that.
It's STTA.
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