 Monday, December 20, 2004
Hillsong teaching -- Darlene Zschech
Darlene Zschech preached yesterday at Hillsong church. This month is the Mighty women of faith series that feature Bobbie Houston, Donna Crouch, Darlene Zschech and Christine Caine as the preachers for Sunday mornings.
Although I missed Donna Crouch last Sunday, I don't think I've missed out too much, it seemed to be the same message that she preached a little while ago at Hillsong women which I've already written a post about it.
The title of Darlene Zschech's message is "Immanuel, God is with us."
She addressed the problems of familiarity and complacency that take people's attention away from the presence of God. For example, once she took one of her friend to church. She's a famous actress. They're a bit late and when they went into the church, Darlene noticed that the banner on the stage was a bit crooked. She got quite upset with that as she was bringing a very important friend of hers to the church that day. She was thinking of ways to fix it and hoped that her friend wouldn't be bothered with that sign. And when she looked at her friend, she couldn't see her at the first glance, she was on her knees completely lost in worship. And Darlene herself, as a worship leader, worried about the sign, totally missed the presence of God.
So many people have been in the church for a long time. And then week in, week out, they gradually lost the freshness and hunger for the presence of God, and familiarity has caused them to lose the sense of wonder. Their attitute has shifted from "whatever it takes" to "whatever..." , and this is a real danger among the long time church members.
She gave a few points on how to steer clear:
1. Remember what it's like before meeting Christ. Her actress friend told her,"I'll never forget how things were like before I met Jesus."
2. Always remain grateful.
This is the foundation of praise. "By faith I will praise", "enter with praise"... We should praise at all times, not only when things are going good.
3. Learn to discipline your tongue.
4. Learn to hope.
"My hope is in the name of the Lord." Hope suggests that there is a possibility of dissapointment, and hope enables us to take a step into Him.
5. Learn to notice.
While in the crowd, Jesus noticed someone's need, and He stopped, noticed and met the need.
6. Look up
When you are feeling drowned or tired, you need to take time to look up to God.
Immanuel, God is with us. There's power in the presence of God. And we should never take it for granted.
As seen by
Susan @ 11:12 AM
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