How disappointing will it be to give a great portion of one’s life to a cause only to discover that you didn’t get credit for what you did because of something you didn’t address but could have addressed and was encouraged to address. So instead of reaping the rewards of eternal blessedness with God and Christ you end up suffering the same fate as those who did nothing for the cause you gave a great portion of your life for.
The sermon “Missing Opportunity” is about how practicing religion is far from doing and being what is required to be saved. The bible records two occasions when Jesus wept. Once at Lazarus’s grave and the other time as He came up on Jerusalem. Jerusalem was and is God’s city and the central location of the Jewish people He called and made. Yet when He came to give them eternal peace and the joy and blessings for which He had called them they failed to see and seize the opportunity He presented to them.
They were so close and even had the Savior in their midst yet missed the opportunity to be saved. Their problem was their failure to see the need to change what they were doing. They were worshiping but not in the way God required.
Paul said that “they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God”. The same identical thing is happening today. People are worshiping today, but not in the way God requires.
People want to worship God and be saved on their own terms. If they were God and someone worshiped them like they worship God they would not be pleased or accept it as genuine or sincere. Yet they are expecting God to accept that same worship from them. And so church folks are missing the opportunity to receive the things God has promised by not recognizing the need to reform their worship.
It seems no matter how many times they are told that what they are doing is not acceptable to God, nothing brings about the needed change. It was so frustrating and disappointing to Jesus that in His humanity He wept because even He could not get them to see.
As a pastor and preacher, it is difficult to see people you love and care for show so little or no spiritual improvement Sunday after Sunday Year and Year, much less the spiritual maturity God is requiring in all His people. But after He dried His eyes, Jesus continued with His mission for He knew while most would not change, there would be some who would.
And it is for those who would and will change and reform their worship into what is genuine and true, that He was willing to suffer and die for to save them from eternal damnation. There is still something or someone most church folk still put before true and genuine worship of God. And whatever those things are is causing them to miss the once in a lifetime limited opportunity God is providing to us all.
Look for our Sunday School preview that comes out on Thursday of this week on our Facebook page and mobile app. You can also enjoy the SS Daily Bible Readings anytime and anywhere at our website. As always, remember to fear God and keep His commandments
Pastor Jordan
