Sunday, January 8th was “Vision Sunday” a beautiful day where we all took part in the prayers of the people, reiterated our vision and watched a video at the announcements of the Global Impact Celebration coming in February… (Watch it today!)  Here is an excerpt of my sermon preached:   

There are three words I want you to remember from this Vision Sunday, and live with for the rest of your life: See, Say, Share. See the hand of God. Say what you’re seeing. Share what you’re seeing.

This is why I love the old testament book of Psalms. A theme of the Psalms could in fact be, See, Say, Share!

It’s one of the reasons for the next several weeks we will be preaching exclusively through the Psalms!  Martin Luther called the Psalms, the Bible in miniature. The word Psalm means hymn. It is the Bible’s hymnal! There are 150 songs, 73 of which were written by David, which is why some have called the Psalms, God’s greatest hits, His solid gold collection!

But here is the most important thing, if the Bible is God’s message to humanity then the book of Psalms is humanity’s response to God!

David sees God’s hand, David speaks to it and David shares it.  Psalm 138 is written with that exact structure.  David lifts his voice in praise to the Lord…and says:  “Because of what I have seen, I am saying, “Praise the Lord.” I will bow down toward your holy temple, and will praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness.  When I called, you answered me, you greatly emboldened me, therefore, I’m sharing it. May all the kings of the earth praise you.” David sees the glory of the Lord. He speaks the glory of the Lord. He shares the glory of the Lord with kings of the earth! Humanity’s response to God.

On this Vision Sunday, what blessings are we seeing God doing in St. Michael’s? Using the language of our vision statement: Transforming Hearts Through Jesus Christ, where are we seeing hearts transformed by Jesus Christ? Specifically, where are we seeing hearts transformed in our homes, the holy city, along the hurting coast, and in the hungering world?

It’s sinful not to stop and ask the question!  So, let me say to you what I‘m seeing!

I’m seeing men and women transformed by life groups, the alpha courses, the marriage course, grief recovery, Sunday prayer ministry, Thursday healing prayer ministry, youth ministry, mission ministry! I’m seeing children transformed in our nurseries. I’m also seeing people transformed in our nursing homes!

Let’s do what God is blessing! Case in point, this past Monday night, as I was preparing to go out of town, I saw on my schedule that Cynthia Corley was going to have shoulder surgery the following day. I then called to see how she was doing and to pray for her going into surgery. When I got Cynthia on the phone and said let me pray for you, Cynthia responded with words that made me jump for joy out of my skin. Cynthia said, “Al, I’m not having surgery!  I was healed during the Thursday prayer time!” It was so beautiful!  I should have said, “Of course you were.”  I think what I actually said was, “Really?”

Lord forgive me. My dear friends, the best way to respond to what God is blessing is to involve yourself in it!

See it. Speak it. Share it by investing your heart in the vision!

That’s why I’m so excited about the Global Impact Celebration. It’s a way for all of us as one to share in this great vision of St. Michael’s.