Sermon Central
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In 1996 Reverend Christopher Gray A Vicar Was ...
Contributed by Nigel Heath on Mar 29, 2009 (message contributor)
In 1996 Reverend Christopher Gray a vicar was knifed to death in the grounds of his vicarage by a man he had been helping who had recently been released from prison.
Reverend Gray was apparently a great academic with a heart for the poor and disadvantaged. He turned down a good job in the diplomatic service in order to do the Lord’s work at personal risk. He had chosen to do this in an area of social need in a district of Liverpool. It cost him his life.
POINT
I wonder if there were any at his ordination and induction into the ministry in Liverpool who thought it was a waste of his life and talents to go into ministry!
There may also have been those at his funeral who said the same. After all his tragic death in such circumstances may seem to us an enormous waste. But how does the Lord see it?
C T STUDD
‘If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him’
APPLIC
We are exhorted in Romans 12:1-2
’present your bodies to God as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship.
The description ‘spiritual worship’ is defined in terms of being a ‘living sacrifice’.
Our worship to God, however sacrificial it may be, is never a waste of a life because our life is measured primarily in terms of our talents, wealth, opportunities or productivity, but by the lengths we are prepared to go in order to express our love and devotion to our Lord.
If like Christopher Gray it costs us our lives to follow our passion and show our devotion for the Lord by serving as he did, then it is never a waste.
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