TRUE DEDICATION Part 3

Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven and said: "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below--you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way."   1 Ki 8:22-23 (NIV)

Dedication means praise and sacrifice and open declaration.  Today we learn one final truth about dedication from King Solomon

Dedication means Ministry

We cannot be dedicated to God without being dedicated to meeting the needs of the people He has made.  Solemn dedicated this temple to the needs of the disappointed and the defeated, those besieged by sin and by loneliness, those involved in the battles and the prisons of life. 

Too many make dedication the most impractical of things.  It could never be lived, only talked about.  Theirs is a dedication made up of myths and fables and pipe dreams.                                   

If you're striving to become more dedicated to the Lord it doesn't take you long to discover that there is a whole Christian subculture in which dedication is make up of spiritual sounding words and big name conferences and fancy looking materials.  You cannot practice dedication in a conference or with mere words or on the pages of a notebook.  It's built out of trusting God with the practical needs of your everyday life.  You might be able to learn about it at a conference and be inspired toward it with a notebook, but don't ever fall into the trap of believing that the conference is where real dedication is expressed.  Dedication is expressed in ministry.  It is expressed in what you choose to DO with your life to serve the Lord and the to serve the people He has made.

Family Discussion Question:  Can you think of one simple ministry your family could do this week?

Children’s activity:  Do a simple ministry project with your children this week.  (Write a card to encourage someone, make cookies for somebody or ?)

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle

Be sure to come to the Celebration THIS SUNDAY to see more testimonial videos and hear about one of the great heroes of the faith;Abel.