A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope,
encouragement and exhortation.
Monday,
September 24, 2018
![]() You
can't miss this mailbox at the Stoltzfus Pumpkin
Farm! The pumpkins gourds and squash make for an
exquisite fall barn decor below our message.
"The
Blessing Of Conviction Of Sin"
Message
summary:
"One of the greatest downfalls of the
Modern Church is we’ve replaced 'that
convicts me' with 'that offends me'."
Listen to our message on your audio player. "When He [the Holy Spirit] comes, He will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment" (John 16:8). About ten years ago I served as an interim pastor of a small country church. One Sunday I preached a sermon and the next week was informed that a college student who had come with a friend was very upset with me and would not be returning to the church. She told her mom, a regular attendee, that my subject matter had offended her and a friend she had brought, both of whom attended a "Christian" college in our area that is severely compromised. The offensive point was on marriage and sexual morality and both had bought in to Satan's lies regarding the subject. A message proclaiming Biblical truth was offensive to them. Amazingly, illustrating the hastening departure from a Biblical worldview and standards that follow, this message would not have even been controversial ten years earlier!* I just read an interesting quote that describes this well: "One of the greatest downfalls of the Modern Church is we’ve replaced 'that convicts me' with 'that offends me'." We tend to use the word conviction in a theological context in two ways:
When
confronted with sin we have two choices:
Jesus,
in His final teaching before He went to
the cross, spoke of the coming Holy
Spirit. "When He comes, He will
convict the world of sin,
righteousness, and judgment" (John
16:8).
Conviction of sin is a blessing. It may be uncomfortable, it may be politically incorrect, it may cost us, and it will humble us. But when we acknowledge sin we place ourselves on a path of blessing. Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber ![]() * It
occurs to me that sadly, now some
ten years later after I preached
that message, that it would be
rare to hear this type of message
in many churches since so many
preachers have been muzzled in
fear of offending someone.
Furthermore at the direction we're
heading in ten more years (or
likely sooner) such a message will
be "hate speech" and will subject
the preacher to a different type
of conviction. (See 2 Timothy 3)
Yesterday
afternoon we went to a volunteer picnic
hosted by WJTL, one of our local Christian
radio stations. Brooksyne and Ester
volunteer at various concerts WJTL
sponsors such as the Jason Crabb concert
they served at last week. Lancaster County
has two Christian radio stations each
serving a different audience. WJTL is the
contemporary station while WDAC tends to be
more traditional.
After
the picnic we passed through the Lancaster
County countryside.
Yesterday
we passed the Stoltzfus Gourd and Pumpkin
Farm along Landisville road. It was Sunday
so they roped off the produce market with
a sign that posts "Closed Sunday" with
smaller letters stating "please respect
this".
(Click on photo to enlarge) Another
display at the Stoltzfus Gourd and Pumpkin
Farm
Autumn
officially arrived this last weekend and
this Amish family was bundled up as they
traveled home from church yesterday
afternoon. Since it's still early in the
season why not put on extra wraps and still
enjoy the open buggy. There are many
beautiful views throughout Lancaster County,
even after the fall harvest.
Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental Resources
"Asleep in the Light"
Video
Keith Green
"Search
Me, Oh God" Video Steve Green
"Refiner's
Fire" Video
"What is the conviction
of sin?" From gotquestions.org
"The State of Our Hearts" Article by Alex
Mastrolonardo "If we’re not careful, we
can tune out God’s voice in Scripture with
the white noise of a hardened, unrepentant
heart. Repeatedly ignoring God’s warnings
and failing to turn from disobedience will
slowly numb the Spirit’s conviction like
white noise until you can sin and feel
nothing at all."
The Stoltzfus Gourd and Pumpkin Farm is located here (Google map) To receive the "Daily Encouragement" each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe to our email list. You can also subscribe to the Wordpress rss feed or through a Wordpress email subscription. (See the email subscription on the right side after opening this page.) Permissions: Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not protect or restrict it. We do request that you keep the contact, copyright and subscription information intact. Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version. Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity." © Copyright 2018 Stephen C. & Brooksyne Weber - All Rights Reserved Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA |