Notes From My Church-We Speak to Nations
PLACE: Lakewood Church-Houston, Tx
Joel Osteen, Pastor
DATE: Saturday, April 21, 2007
TIME: 7:00 p.m.
THE MUSIC:
The entire worship team was again in attendance: Cindy Cruse Ratcliff, Israel Houghton, Da’dra Greathouse and Steve Crawford. Worship started with Israel’s “We Have Overcome”, Chris Tomlin’s “Forever God is Faithful”, and Lakewood’s “Cover The Earth”. “Come in From The Outside” is a great song because the lyrics remind us to come to God just as we are. It tells us that we can come in from where we are, because all God needs to change our lives is our heart.
Next up was “Be Still”, a song I am very partial to because of the beautiful lyrics. Whenever I hear it, I am reminded that even though chaos seems to be all around me, all I need to do is “be still” and know that God has it all under control. Here is a favorite part of the song for me:
I will soar with You above the storm.
Father, You are king over the flood,
I will be still and know You are God.”
Other songs performed were “Hallelujah”, Israel’s “We Have Overcome”, and Lakewood’s “We Speak to Nations”. “We Speak to Nations” was the audience favorite of the night! There was a beautiful video playing along with the song of faces of different nations. The powerfully anointed lyrics spoke of us calling all nations into the Kingdom of God. The beginning of the song asks the question, who will shout to the corners of the earth that Christ is King? The anointing was evident when the chorus of the song answered:
We speak to nations-Fall on your knees,
We speak to nations,
The kingdom is coming near to you.
We speak to strongholds-Be broken!
Powers of darkness, you have to flee,
We speak to nations,
The kingdom is coming near to you,
We speak to you-Be free!”
THE MESSAGE:
Scripture Reference: John 7:24, John 13:35
Subject: Enlarge Your Circle of Love
Sermon Synopsis: This week Pastor Joel spoke about enlarging our circle of love. He said that too often we associate with people just like ourselves. It is easy to write people off as different and as a result, we don’t interact with them. Reach out to someone who is outside your circle of influence.Pride is what causes us to judge others on what we see. Pastor Joel said that most of our behavior comes from our experiences. Don’t make judgments, give people the benefit of the doubt. If it wasn’t for the grace of God, we could be in a similar situation. We should thank God for giving us grace in a particular area when we look at someone and judge him or her based on what addictions they have.We all need to get past thinking that we will accept others only if they believe like we do. Prejudice means to prejudge. It means that we attempt to see if we like someone based on their looks. We see ourselves through rose-colored glasses and others through a magnifying glass. However, God looks past the surface and sees the heart. We should also look past the surface a get to know a person before we pass judgment.
What is going on inside of each of us is more important than what is on the outside. Give people room when they are in the process of changing. We should not have a “holier that thou” attitude. There is too much judgment in our society–we should see others as God sees all of us. Open your heart to others and you will see a completely new world open to you.
**Of course, this is only a very short summary of Pastor Joel’s sermon. To hear all the funny stories and great jokes be sure to visit Faith Based Blog to watch a portion of the service on video. He even talks about bling! To get the full effect you can watch this service and other archived services at http://www.lakewood.cc/ or http://www.joelosteen.com/.
THE ATMOSPHERE:
This week’s message was perfect because Lakewood is one big melting pot. There are people of all nationalities represented. It is great to look around and see so many different kinds of people. At Lakewood, you will be able to enlarge your circle of love easily. Differences are a big part of what makes the church special. You can look around and see a face different from your own, and know that God loves you both the same.
……..and that is what happened in my church this week. What was it like in your place of worship this week? The entire universe is filled with God’s love and grace. We would love to hear about your church service. Post a comment or e-mail me at dominique@1800gospel.com and tell us all about the music, the message and the atmosphere at your church.
Dominique
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