Notes From Lakewood Church-Develop Your Gifts & Talents

PLACE: Lakewood Church-Houston, Tx
Joel Osteen, Pastor

DATE: Saturday, November 3, 2007
TIME: 7:00 p.m.

THE MUSIC:
Worship Team: Cindy Cruse Ratcliff, Da’dra Crawford Greathouse, Steve Crawford, Choir & Band
Songs: Forever, Cover The Earth, My Savior Lives, Love So Amazing, How He Loves You and Me, Here I Am To Worship, Favor, My Life My Love My All

This week was Mass Choir and the choir stand was totally full. This was the weekend for anyone to sing with the choir if they attended open practice nights. Great opportunity to try it out or to see how it feels from up there. My husband is in the choir and kind of mentioned it in passing to me. He didn’t push the issue………..I wonder why? I can sing………..I really can!!

Anyway…………the choir sung Kirk Franklin’s, “My Love, My All” and they did a wonderful job.

 THE MESSAGE:
Scripture Reference: Proverbs 18:16, 1 Timothy 4:14
Subject: Being Comfortable With Who God Made You To Be 

Quick Notes From The Sermon:
Pastor Joel spoke about identifying the gifts that God gave you and disciplining yourself to strengthen those gifts. He said we should stay in our strength zone because that is where our gifts are. We should ask ourselves what we are good at naturally and focus on those things. Don’t spend all your time trying to improve where you are weak.  Stay in the area of your gifting. Don’t fall in to the trap of comparing yourself with others. If you are going to compete, let the competition be with yourself. Run your own race and be the best you can be.

Pastor Joel said that the need to impress comes from getting our worth from what we have and what we do rather than from who we are. Staying in your gifts and developing them is a part of your God given destiny. Most of the time, there is one thing we are born to do. You can’t live your life trying to be like someone else. When you compare yourself with others you lose focus and become distracted. Pastor Joel talked about his struggle to find his place in ministry after his father died. He said God told him that his dad fulfilled his purpose, and that he had to fulfill his own purpose. Pastor Joel said that freed him to follow his own path.

Don’t despise the gifts that God has given you. Stay focused and pursue what God has put in your heart. God has put different gifts and talents in each of us. Quit thinking that you have to measure up to others. Celebrate who God made you to be. Take what God has given you and make the best of it.

**These are my quick notes from the sermon. To get the full effect you can watch this service and other archived services at Lakewood’s website or Pastor Joel’s website. You can also sign up for the free podcasts or call 1-800-487-0565 for copies of the sermons.

THE ATMOSPHERE:
I enjoyed the sermon on developing what God has given you. Lakewood has a lot of opportunities to do just that. There are a lot of ministries to choose from that will help you develop what God has entrusted you with.

Love your church and the services? Have you ever wished that you could share your joy with the world? We would love to feature your church on 1800Gospel. 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. We would love to hear from you!

“I now find myself playing songs that I have never even heard before…

…MAN, THIS IS SOME   AWESOME STUFF”   I have been playing the piano for 10 years and I’ve never been able to place at the level I should be until I ran across Jermaine’s Hear and Play website. After I ordered my first set of DVD’s, “Mastering Worship Chords,” and I began to master those chords, I now find myself playing songs that I have never ever heard of before. Jermaine, what you guys have done to come up with a way to teach slow music learners like myself is amazing… MAN, THIS IS AWESOME STUFF!!!!Shalya Henson http://zone.hearandplay.com/pages/MissyMedlock

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