RESPOND: 04-11-12

Goodbook messages arrive every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with a Scripture reading and ideas for how to apply the reading in our lives. We are reading through the book of Acts. For additional Scripture reading, you can follow the Advanced Track.

Reading: Acts 16:13-15 (Advanced Track: 2 Sam 11‐15, 1 Chr 20, Ps 32, Ps 51, Ps 86, Ps 122)

¹³ On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴ One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. ¹⁵ When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

Application:

There is a difference between being a worshiper and a responder.  It is one thing to worship God – to gather, to pray, to sing, to read Scripture, to break bread.  But it is another thing to respond – to take the message to heart and to respond with action in our lives.  This is when real transformation takes place!

In our reading for today, Lydia went from being a worshiper to a responder.  She was already a worshiper of God.  But on this Sabbath, God opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.  And boy did she ever respond.  She was baptized.  She shared the Good News with members of her household.  They got baptized.  Then, she opened up her home to the Gospel.  She persuaded Paul and his crew to come to her house for more faith conversations.  It is believed that Lydia’s house became a house-church in Philippi.

Oh that we could all respond like this to the message of the Gospel.  First, receive the Good News in our own hearts and lives.  Then, share it with our family and friends.  And third, to see where we live and move and work as places of ministry where we can reach others with the Good News of Jesus.

I don’t want worship to be a standalone experience in my life – something I do for an hour on Sunday.  I want worship to be a launching pad from which I respond throughout the week to what God is up to.  This is my hope for everyone who worships with me.  That’s why I have started incorporating response cards with my sermons.  The response cards challenge worshipers to prayerfully consider how we can respond to the message with action in our lives.

So, the next time you worship, ask yourself: How can I respond?  Then, view the next week as an opportunity to turn your response into action.

1)      Worship
2)      Respond

Comment with your thoughts, questions, and ideas about how to apply this…