Last Friday's ACF meeting at Thames (not Men's Mission) -- UWO Asian Christian Fellowship

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Date Posted: 19:02:22 03/26/03 Wed
Author: Joe
Subject: Last Friday's ACF meeting at Thames (not Men's Mission)

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalm 46:10

Hey guys and gals,

I just wanted to send an email to follow-up on ACF at Thames Hall (not Men�s Mission) this past Friday. After talking to and getting feedback from different people, I think there might be something of a feeling of awkwardness surrounding our meeting.

I guess this is an email of some of the thoughts I�ve been thinking about worship and being silent, and I�ll be very honest and tell you that I�m just learning all this, so before you read on, please pray that the Lord will show you what is right and what needs correction.

Oh, and I know this looks long to read, but if you could humour me and just give me 10 paragraphs, I�ll try to make my point� =)

10. To start, I think that both the worship and Bible study teams are glad for the time of silence that we enjoyed Friday night. Hopefully most of you enjoyed it too; though it may have been a new experience for some, being silent before the Lord is a discipline that He uses to bless and encourage us. Overall, I�m really thankful for the time we had with the Lord, and I know that the Lord spoke to people.

9. I know some people have said that they felt awkward by the silence of the night, and I�d be lying if I said I didn�t feel a little awkward at times too. But I think the awkwardness is not what the Lord intended. He led us to be still, and I think He had reason and purpose to do so. Those who shared Friday night shared what was put on their hearts to share, and I think He _was_ speaking and He _was_ teaching and that more people experienced His presence than who shared.

8. In the few days since Friday, I guess there have a been a gamut of feelings and reactions to the meeting. From thankfulness for time spent with the Lord, to disappointment at not seeing more people share, to confusion as to why the Lord would lead us into worship and then not make everyone share; I think we�ve had a lot of things to think about. At the risk of overloading our exam-cramming brains, here�s a couple more things to think about�

7. First, I think it was the Lord�s will that we spent Friday night worshipping in silence and waiting on Him. Of that, I think we have no doubt.

6. Second, the Lord is faithful, and time spent with Him is never time wasted. Though only a few people shared, I think He spoke to many more. A song we could have sung at the end of the night is �I Give Thanks,� because in faith, I think we can thank the Lord for what He did that night.

(Why was it so quiet then? And did it seem awkward?)

5. I used to think that our worship must be met with a word from the Lord, that each time we spend time in silence before Him, He necessarily reveals something for us to learn or do. I�m learning that that isn�t true. Our worship is something the Lord desires, and through it He blesses us with His presence. We don�t always need to speak or sing; just spending time in silence before the Lord is also worship. Sometimes that�s not easy to do because we don�t always grow up doing it. In church, our services are scheduled and structured and jam-packed, and we�re not taught that to be silent for long periods of time is also profitable and worthwhile.

4. Our Bible study was supposed to be on Mary and Martha and their approaches towards worship. Jesus defends Mary, and though Martha is not naturally inclined to be still and just sit and worship, Jesus encourages her to choose that good part, that one thing that is needful, as Mary has. If you are a Mary, praise God, because your tendency is already towards being still. But Martha, who is not naturally inclined to stillness and silence, still learns it, and so must we � and WILL we � as we practice. Just know that we may not hear something from the Lord every time we are silent before Him because our silence and worship in and of themselves are both pleasing to Him and blessings to us.

3. But sometimes He does speak when we are silent. And when He does, we can respond in different ways, and those ways are all correct in the right context. Luke tells us that Mary, when the angel Gabriel shares with her that she is to give birth to Jesus, and after the shepherds come to praise her newborn Son, treasured those things and pondered them in her heart. She didn�t blurt it out to just anyone, but entrusted that revelation to a few. But Luke also tells us in Acts that after God shows Peter the vision to share the gospel with the Gentiles, he goes and does so.

2. There are times when the Lord teaches or says something personal to us, and we can ponder it in our own hearts with thanksgiving. He doesn�t always specifically tell us to share what He reveals, and we can judge when and what and with whom we share. But we should also keep in mind that what He may be teaching us might also be of benefit to others and that by sharing it, we�ll be helping others too.

1. But there are also times when we receive something that we _know_ the Lord wants us to share or do. When God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham gets up the _next day_ and sets out to do it. When the Spirit tells Philip to go to the Ethiopian chariot, Philip actually _runs_ towards it! The point is, we shouldn�t be afraid to share what the Lord puts on our hearts to share, and we should do it right away. To know that He wants us to share and not to do so is disobedience. What He puts in our hearts is not always for us, but also for others.

The Point?
(A) We don�t need to come into worship with notions that the Lord must reveal great things to us every time we worship. (B) And when He does speak, I don�t think that people are necessarily disobedient because they don�t share. Sometimes we are. It�s not up to anyone else to judge that; only you and the Lord know for sure. (C) But when the Lord puts something on our hearts and _tells us to share_, we shouldn�t hesitate or be afraid. The word of the Lord never returns empty, but always accomplishes what He desires.

(almost done, I promise!)

It�s always a bit intimidating to share what the Lord is telling us to share, especially when we�re not used to doing it, and especially when it�s a really big group or an unfamiliar audience. One encouraging story of the Lord being faithful when we obey is in Acts. When Peter gets the vision to go and share the gospel with Cornelius, a Gentile, he does.

Seeing as how this was the first time Peter would be sharing the gospel to non-Jews (ie. not used to doing it, AND unfamiliar audience!), I wonder if he had some grand message planned that would wow the Gentiles from the very start. But we never really find out because when Peter obeys and goes to Cornelius and starts speaking, the Holy Spirit comes and does the rest of the work. Luke says that the Spirit came when Peter was still speaking, and Peter himself says that he had only begun to speak when the Spirit came.

What a blessing to know the Lord was faithful with Peter! That all Peter had to do was obey and be willing to speak what the Lord put on his heart, and after Peter obeyed, the Spirit took over from there! It�s never us or our words that will do the work; it�s always the Lord. So we shouldn�t be afraid that we�re not eloquent or wont know what to say. Just trust the One who put the words on your heart to share, and He will do the rest.

But what if we don�t hear anything from the Lord? Be patient and don�t be discouraged. Habakkuk writes: �I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me, and how I may reply when I am reproved� The vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay.� The vision WILL come, the Lord WILL speak, but we do have to keep waiting for it. The Lord promises!

Anyways, I hope this is maybe a bit encouraging. These are just some of our thoughts on worship, and really, we�re still learning about all these things. I think just working on and talking about this email taught us a lot, so if anyone has ideas about worship and what it means to be still and silent, we�d love to hear them so we can keep learning together!

Sorry for going on for so long�
k, back to your studying! =)

Blessings!
Rob, Jesse, Joe

(email back to jechan2@canada.com, or post replies to http://www.voy.com/139048/ please)

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