Oh my friends, we are loaded with countless church activities, while the real work of the church, that of evangelizing and winning the lost is almost entirely neglected.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the contrast between the many activities of the church and the essential mission of evangelism, which is often overlooked.
Oswald J. Smith's quote emphasizes the tendency of religious organizations to focus on numerous activities and programs, while the fundamental purpose of the church—spreading the message of faith and reaching out to those who have not yet embraced it—remains largely ignored. This statement serves as a reminder to prioritize genuine outreach and mission work over mere routine and tradition.
In practice
During a sermon, to encourage the congregation to focus on outreach activities.
God does not have to come and tell me what I must do for Him; He brings me into a relationship with Himself where I hear His call and understand what He wants me to do, and I do it out of sheer love to Him... When people say they have had a call to foreign service, or to any particular sphere of work, they mean that their relationship to God has enabled them to realize what they can do for God.
Let me say that it is not a question of us getting more of the Holy Spirit, but rather of the Holy Spirit getting more of us.
Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice, before everyone has heard it once?
Missions is God finding those whose hearts are right with Him and placing them where they can make a difference for His kingdom
It occurs to me: why is it mainly women, who to pass on the faith? Simply because the one who brought us Jesus is a woman. It is the path chosen by Jesus. He wanted to have a mother: the gift of faith comes to us through women, as Jesus came to us through Mary.
The likeness of Your Church, O Lord, is that woman who went behind and touched the hem of Your garment, saying within herself: 'If I do but touch His garment I shall be whole' (Mt. 9:21). So the Church confesses her wounds, but desires to be healed.
Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality.
The Church must persist in the teaching transmitted to her by Christ.
It is God who gives us the spirit of worship (Psalm 133:3), and it is what we know of God that produces this spirit of worship. We might say that worship is simply theology, doctrine, what we think about God, going into top gear! Instead of merely thinking about Him, we tell Him, in prayer and praise and song, how great and glorious we believe Him to be!
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