Sunday service on the 5th of August. «Time is short!»
11.08.2012
”Time is short!“ was a brief and compact title of the sermon preached by regional pastor of New Life Church Maria Semirenko.The sermon was built upon the following key thoughts:
1) to conduct our life doing right things, the works of the Spirit,
2) to take and use every opportunity which God brings our way,
3) to manage our own time and gradually move in the direction where God has called us to go.
Time is one of the things in life which we tend to take for granted. Oftentimes we seem to have plenty of it ahead but, in fact, it really surprises how quickly the time passes. It is what apostle Paul referred to as ”the days are evil“ in Ephesians 5:15-17 calling us for being careful and wise and suggesting we make the most of every opportunity. ”Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), making the very most of the time (buying up each opportunity)” -that is how this verse reads in the amplified version.
Maria Semirenko offered several practical pieces of advice on how to spend our time efficiently in order not to waste it and our personal life along with it. She also encouraged those who think that they had lost the opportunity once brought by God: ”The Lord will provide you with one more chance, one more opportunity. More than that, He is interested in it and looking forward to present the opportunity again. The only thing required of you is to hear God and be quick to obey.“
The speaker called the audience for accomplishing today something that is in our hand to accomplish today without postponing it till tomorrow or waiting for favorable circumstances. To confirm her words she cited Ecclesiastes 11:4 (AMP) ”He who observes the wind [and waits for all conditions to be favorable] will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.“
Finally, Maria Semirenko gave a home task to think over the following topic: ”What would I do today if I knew that my life was going to come to an end tomorrow.“ Surely, for a short period of time we would have managed to accomplish a great number of good and useful things which we had been putting off till tomorrow since a good while ago.
”Don’t ask the time where it went but tell it where to go,“ – many people took these words from John Mason’s book, which the speaker announced, into consideration.
As usually, on the last Sunday of a month the church celebrated Communion. The congregation took bread and wine in great reverence being aware of the privilege of being partakers of the sacred rite.
