Rev. Ray and Pat Amos

Isaiah 13-17

DEVOTION FOR TODAY, August 28, 2019

“GOD’S HAND IN HISTORY”

I remember the day that it happened. I was just a boy riding in our family car. There was a church on the side of the road that was abandoned with tall grass and broken windows. There was sadness because of the condition of that church. It was as though that house of God was crying for help. That was the moment I clearly heard a voice in my soul that called me to preach. That night at home I silently preached my first sermon beneath the covers of my bed.

I grew up knowing the path that I was to walk would one day be a pastor’s way. I love being a pastor and preacher more than anything I could ever imagine doing. If I could say anything to pastors who are early on the way, it would be to Love the Lord with all your heart, and care (I mean really care) about your people. Most of our sermons will not be remembered, but you can count on it; whether we cared or not will be. The hymn ponders a question: “I wonder, have I done my best for Jesus. I know my Lord expects the best from me. How many are the souls that I have lifted? How many are the chains I’ve helped to free?”

The Christian walk is very personal, yet never private. A healthy congregation understands that. Each member has their personal walk with God, while at the same time we walk and work together. Before they were called “The Twelve” each disciple was called by name one by one. He calls each one of us the same way that we might together be one body.

I have a cross-stitch that was given to me by a physician friend in Kingsport several years ago. It was something I heard him say often; and now, I can’t forget it. The words of John Donne’s poem: “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main…I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

Grace and Peace, Rev Ray

“Link to YouTube Video – THE LETTERMEN – NO MAN IS AN ISLAND”