The First Church Of The Potpourri

The First Church of the Potpourri

By Pastor Jim May

Oh what a difference the Spirit of the Lord makes in the life of a man or woman who has come to know Him as their Lord and Savior!

Victory Temple, we are a part of the Body of Christ, part of the Bride of Christ, washed in the Blood of the Lamb, purchased by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross at Calvary, a new creation, born again into a new man. Old things have passed away, and all things have become new. What a glorious future awaits those who love the Lord and serve Him!

But where did we come from? How did we ever get to be a part of this Body of Christ? Looking at where we have come from and what we once were, to see where we are today and where we are going, is to take a journey through an almost unbelievable course of events. One by one Jesus chose each of us; lifted us out of the miry clay, out of the sea of humanity because He saw something in each of us that we could not see in ourselves.

He has taken something that was nothing and turned that nothing into something that can do something with nothing and lead more that are nothing into something that is really something. (Did you get that?)

I like to refer to our local body, this congregation of sinners saved by grace, as the First Church of the Potpourri!

Do you know what potpourri is? I went into the washroom of the church earlier and there it sat, in a pretty little bowl. To look upon the potpourri was to see a bowl that was filled with what looked like pieces of dead, dried up flowers. But out of that dead, dry material there came a sweet smelling aroma. Somehow I don’t think that the sweet smell was just a result of the mixed up pieces in that bowl. There had to have been some outside force that was acting upon them that caused them to unite and collectively give the sweet odor that filled the room.

Here is the definition of Potpourri – “A combination of incongruous things; A miscellaneous anthology or collection; A mixture of dried flower petals and spices used to scent the air; a piece of music made up parts brought together without order or bond of connection.”

The church, this church, every church is very much like that potpourri!

King David was on the run from Saul, King of Israel. Saul was out to kill David because David was already anointed as the next king. David ran to the cave of Adullam to hide from Saul and it was there that God would begin to build David’s army. But what an army David had! I don’t know of many generals that would want to lead a rabble such as this.

1 Samuel 22:1-2, "David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men."

How would you like to lead an army of stressed out people, who were in debt over their heads, and a gang of malcontents? That’s what David was given by the Lord.

Now, I don’t want to hurt your feelings but that’s that same way that God still builds a church today.

1 Corinthians 1:27-29, "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence."

Have you seen some stressed out people in the church lately? Just open your eyes and you will see. Just about every one of us gets stressed out at times over the circumstances of our lives. Stress is a killer that causes hypertension, strokes, anxiety attacks, and even heart attacks.

Illustration:

You know your family is stressed when...

·Conversations often begin with "Put the gun down, and then we can talk".

·The school principal has your number on speed-dial.

·The cat is on Valium.

·People have trouble understanding your kids, because they learned to speak through clenched teeth.

·No one has time to wait for microwave TV dinners.

·"Family meetings" are often mediated by law enforcement officials.

·You have to check your kid’s day-timer to see if he can take out the trash.