Sunday Night: My Passion Series

Sunday Night: MY PASSION

Place: BLCC

Date: 4/23/17

Text: John 4.16-26

CT: We are to worship God always with everything.

FAS: Passion-any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate.

That is what the dictionary said about passion.

What are you passionate about?

Your spouse?

Your job?

Your car?

Your hobby?

Your music?

Pick out what you are passionate about. Maybe it is a cause. Abortion? Poverty?

Any thing that begins to control the way we act and what we do becomes a passion.

Is this good or bad? Depends on what you claim to be passionate about. There are definitely passions that are not good for us.

When I was younger I have to say farming and keeping our family farms together was my greatest passion. Was I passionate about my beautiful wife? Yes, but I often put the farm ahead of her and my kids. Not too smart on my part. The farm was my life. My passion for it was overwhelming and ran my life. Nothing else mattered as long as the farm was doing OK.

I lived this way for far too long I must admit.

My passion was so misplaced that something had to happen for my life to get on the right track. Thank God it did.

Luckily my brother invited me to take part in an Easter cantata. Since I enjoyed music I agreed. I had no idea how much that one act would change my life. My passion began to change. Oh it took years before my new passion would win out but it started with that one cantata where I met Jesus for real and he became king of my heart. I began leading worship at church mainly because I could sing well. But doing it made me change.

I truly began to follow Jesus and his commands became clearer and clearer to me. Love God, love people and realize it is not about you. I actually remember where I was standing when this realization came to me. I became so passionate about leading the church in worship. I read or watched anything that would help me better understand what worship leading was all about in the eyes of God. I lead the worship team for about twelve years until one day I realized God had more in store for my passion.

At 50 years old I came up with the bright idea to be a preacher. Yea laugh if you want. You would have if you knew where I came from. I was a farmer who knew nothing about writing sermons and pastoring people in the ways of God. I hated English class in college and now I was deciding to write and speak in front of people every week.

But passion can make you do strange things. I went back to school. Got my masters in three years. They gave you seven to do it, but my passion had kicked in. I knew God wanted me to preach the Good News of His Son.

Then Blue Licks came along and it wasn’t easy. I was pretty comfortable at the church I had been a member of for 54 years. But I decided after much prayer and talking with my wife to go to Blue Licks, a little church just down the road.

There were those who didn’t like me or my approach and my enthusiasm for God. But my passion was stronger than all those who pushed back. Many joined me in my passion and we grew. My passion and my love for my Lord will not allow me to ever give up on sharing His Word with others. Even when they may not want to hear or even be around me anymore. I am privileged to be in my fourth year at BLCC.

My passion is to be God’s servant and serve among a great group of servants like here at this church.

Well that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. But there was another story in the Bible about passion and what it can cause people to do. Read John 4.4-26:

4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)