The young pastor came before his congregation and began to preach his sermon. God had placed it on his heart to begin a series on loving God, loving others.
He preached his heart out, making points and using illustrations that moved people to tears and emotion.
The pastor came to the end of the message and gave an invitation to come to the altar. There wasn’t an inch available for anyone else. It seemed the whole congregation had come to the altar, lining the altars 2 and 3 deep. What an incredible service, what an incredible sight.
The following Sunday, the young pastor began to preach his sermon on Loving God, Loving others. As the sermon went on, there seemed to be some familiarity about his message. When
the end came, some went to the altar, but no one said anything. The emotion they had experienced the Sunday before was not the same as what it was on this day.
The following Sunday, the young pastor began to preach his sermon on Loving God, Loving Others. The service ended, the altars were open, no one came. Sensing some frustration, an old deacon in the church approached the pastor, pulled him aside, and began to chide the pastor. He began by saying, “Pastor, I know we get busy sometimes and we know that you in particular are a very busy man, but we have heard you preach the exact same sermon for the past 3 weeks. I know we are forgetful at times but I think you need to write some other sermons.”
The young preacher smiled and said, I’ll stop preaching this sermon when this church has a passion for God and for Others like they did 3 weeks ago.
This touched the heart of the
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