Thursday, October 29, 2009

What Am I Waiting For?

My son, Paul, sent me a very moving video yesterday of a sermon by a Covenant brother I have not met and do not know. His name is Harvey Fitzgerald Carey and he pastors the Citadel of Faith Covenant Church in Detroit, Michigan.

Participating in a Leadership Conference recently, sponsored I believe by Willow Creek Church north of Chicago, this African American brother deserves 20 minutes of your time as he describes God's call on his life to live out the Gospel, ministering in what he describes as the poorest zip code in the poorest city in America today.

This is a rousing call to respond in faith to God's claim on our lives--not first by measuring our resources but by believing again in the enormous power of his Spirit, by risking urselves, moving out from the comfort zones that seal us off from others into the maelstrom of convoluted life all around us.

Brother Carey's challenge came to me while reading and pondering N.T. Wright's amazing new book, Surprised by Hope, in which the British New Testament scholar seeks to reawaken in us the spirit and faith that stirred those first named Christian, who either experienced or had passed on to them the good news of Jesus's resurrection from the dead.

Listen to the video you can access from the link below (give it time to load), and while you are listening ask yourself, "What am I waiting for? Where can I go and what can I do this very day to share what the the Lord has done for me in the power of his Spirit?" And after you have listened, open The Covenant Hymnal: A Worshipbook to No. 685 and hear again the Lord calling you.

Our need, after all, is not finally for more programs and resources. It is really, as it has always been among God's people, for more faith in his will, and hope in his power, and love for the whole world of people he came among us to save.

http://msoa.awsclab.com/dump/Harvey_Carey_Against_All_Odds.wmv