[Weekly - Su/M] What did you learn/teach at church?

My wife spoke on honoring your father, whether he was a good father or not. The fact that the Bible tells us to honor our mother and father makes it an imperative, and the best way to honor your father is to live a life long relationship with God the Father. Thus honoring God enables us to bring honor to our earthly fathers.

edit: Being a Salvation Army church we ended the message with an altar call.
 
We were gearing up to go to church this Sunday when, two minutes before walking out the door, I got a call from another church with tech troubles that somehow got a hold of my number. haha Sooooo, we went to a church that's still starting up, and they had a guest preacher from Ghana. He spoke about many things, but chief among them was a concern for faithfulness to calling.
 
Ember and I missed church this morning after staying up until after 2 a.m. to get the house ready for my parents to visit. Ugh. I was disappointed enough by the fact that I wasn't going, but telling my daughter that we were staying home twists the knife. :(

So for those of you who did make it to church today, what did you learn or, for the pastors among us, what did you teach?
 
My better half was filling in for the Corps officer again and spoke on freedom. Although is was on freedom in Christ, freedom from fear, anxiety, loneliness etc. she did wander off at the start in the freedoms of the USA and the responsibilities it gives us. Although it was unplanned and ad lib it did fit well with the message.
 
Guest preacher at the church we were at on Saturday. That church is doing a Ten Commandments series over the summer. He got the "do not misuse the Lord's name" commandment. His preaching style was one of "give all the background information at length, then deliver the interpretation of the text in its historical context and then lead us to asking about how we reflect--rightly or wrongly--that text." His background information was...lengthy, but he made a point about priests and their functions being a known thing to the Israelites coming out of Egypt due to the exceptionally high number of priests that would have been there. Never made the connection before. He also talked about the translation challenges of "take...in vain."

Ultimately, though, he pointed out that to boil this commandment down to "don't say 'God' or variations on it as a form of swearing/cussing" is...while a good plan...truncating its meaning a great deal. Instead, he made the point that Israel, and now the church, "take/carry" His name at all times, so we are His representation, so we need to not carry it "in vain."
 
Our pastor preached a fantastic sermon about how true peace and unity are found only in Christ. If anyone is interested in the full transcript of the sermon, send me a PM and I'll reply with the link.
 
Our pastor taught on Ephesians 3:1-7. He spoke on surrendering to the sovereignty of Christ and recognizing our urgent need to read Scripture daily. It was a fantastic sermon!
 
My better half spoke this Sunday. Title, "The third commandment: What does it mean to us today?" She first did the easy (?) part, our speech, didn't say the words, but skated close. Including things like OMG, she didn't do a list of don't but gave a guide line. If you aren't saying His name in prayer, or having a discussion about Him you should probably think twice about using His name or a substitution. Then came the meat part. If we claim His name as Christians and are not living a life honoring Him that is taking His name in vain. Colossians was the basis for most of it.
 
Our pastor taught on Ephesians 3:8-9 yesterday. He spoke on humility, using Paul as an example, and Christ's work as the basis for our confidence in prayer. Good stuff!
 
Our pastor taught on discipleship from the opening verses of Ephesians 4 today. The lesson coincided with all 3 senior pastors sharing their vision for discipleship in and through the church.
 
THIS THREAD LIVES

This last week, my pastor spoke on Ephesians 4:7-11 and reminded us that all Christians are called to teach, even if they are not called to full-time ministry.
 
Again I pick a week when my lady was speaking. Message on rejoicing in God, and what it means. Basically an 8 minute message interspersed with 9 songs.
 
Today, the pastor at the church we went to started off his seven-week series on "Worship Reset." He's dealing with a theology and practice of worship, and addressing issues related to the "worship wars." He was definitely topical today, but talked large about the big-picture framework for worship, that worship isn't all about me and my preferences. There was more, but that was the biggest part of the big picture he preached.
 
Today was a real up time for me at the corps, great message based on 2 Chronicles 7:14, but what really got me was the Sunday School lesson, I taught on one my favorite passage. Lest you think I chose that at random, it was from our ongoing Sunday School book and I just happened to get assigned today's lesson. Where was it from? Judges 4:1-24, a wonderful part of the continuing cycle of failure and redemption of the Israelites. What makes it so wonderful? God's action in the life of unlikely heroes, God chose women to play the key roles. Deborah the prophetess who judged Israel, and Jael the wife of a metal worker. Barak the military leader of Israel even refused to take a step to battle without Deborah's presence with him. Equating it with having God with Him and acting for him. Jael? She was given the glory of defeating Sisera, rather than Barak, by taking up a tent peg and hammer and giving Sisera the point of everything right through his thick skull. God giving the delivery of Israel in a patriarchal society to two women. God chooses who He wants, when He wants to accomplish His purposes. Pray about what God wants you to do.

By the way I like this passage so much it gave me a name for two characters in Guild Wars 1 and GW2. Jael the Hammer and Jael the Red.
 
One of our pastors spoke on Ephesians 4:25-32 and taught on the danger of "respectable sins." It was one of those sermons where you leave feeling a little sore, but you know that the pastor was teaching Biblical truth. Definitely a convicting sermon, which proves that the teaching was effective.
 
Missed going to church this weekend because of post-celebration exhaustion. We had a barbecue with a bunch of our seminary and church friends celebrating that we're having a boy. It was a good time of being church as we got to share in not just fun times but also meaningful fellowship. :)
 
Our Administrative Pastor (who usually doesn't teach) taught Sunday on Ephesians 5:1-12. He spoke on our response to truth: Do we receive it or do we turn away from it? Good stuff!
 
This Sunday was more topical than strict linear exegesis, so the pastor bounced around a bit. Still, the sermon was revolving chiefly around how we are to come to worship and offer to God rather than go to worship in pursuit of everything being to our tastes and satisfaction.
 
@Ember and I worked in the children's area at church yesterday, but our adult Bible fellowship (a.k.a. Sunday school) teacher taught on the sinfulness of man as one of 5 Gospel "threads." During the first lesson in the set, he explained that we rarely get an opportunity to make a full, uninterrupted presentation of the Gospel from start to finish, but we can weave "threads" of the Gospel in to everyday situations where time and opportunity is limited. The Gospel is still the same, whole and in tact, but we can play at least a small role in many people coming to Christ.
 
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