This Thursday we had the opportunity to hold a church service for the people here in Rivas. I was nominated to bring the message because my dad is a pastor. When I was asked this, I immediately froze. Me, Becky Walker, preaching? I never considered preaching to be hereditary. Haha. I knew that whatever I said, it had to be of God to be worthwhile. I prepared what I would say in Spanish and got my bug spray on to walk to church. Ya gotta come prepared for the biting gnats around here.
I was able to be comforted in Jeremiah 33:3 which says "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known." This is definitely what I needed to preach a sermon. All the hidden things. I also needed boldness.
After reading my devotional book this morning by Oswald chambers, I decided I would talk about uniting the secular and sacred areas of my life (example would be walking for secular, and attending church for sacred). It said that all circumstances can be used to encounter more of Jesus. In order unite the areas, I have to be bold in my faith.
This is important whether we are praying for families in house to house visits or riding on the extremely crowded bus. I have lived my church life separate from my day to day tasks for so long. I am asking God to open my eyes about how to step out in faith (get out of my boat like Peter did to walk on the water) each day. There are opportunities to share God's low with people every day.
Church ended up going really well. It was held in a house with a dirt floor because the family had illnesses that didn't allow them to attend church normally. We started with some songs in Spanish (we tried to sing and mouth the lyrics as we crowded around Kathryn's iPad haha). The worship was so good. Something about 20 people worshipping the same God with the speakers cranked really is an unexplainable feeling. The pouring rain added to the fun too. Then Dara spoke to us about how God was working on her heart. You can see God work through these girls. Jena read Matthew 14:23-32 about Peter stepping out of the boat in faith to walk on the water, and I spoke about the need to step out in faith and take advantage of the ministry opportunities around us every day. Every part of my life, in both the sacred and secular can be an opportunity. I am still working on this, and will probably continue to work on it for the rest of my life. We ended the with a prayer for the family that was sick. I felt so honored to be a part of the experience.
Word of wisdom: bugs are less intimidating if you name them as pets.
