| Part 1 - Sermon Summary by Dan Stevens |
Many living in large cities of the world get annoyed with the heavy traffic in their cities. Rarely a foreigner visiting the city for a few days gets annoyed with the same traffic. We get annoyed when we are proximate to a troubling situation. Not from a distance. Evangelism starts when we intentionally locate ourselves near a troubling situation and allow ourselves to get annoyed with it. Paul in Act 16 was met by a demon-possessed woman every day and he was annoyed.
Paul could have been annoyed that she was a distraction to his teaching ministry. I also suspect Paul was annoyed with her masters who were exploiting her trauma to fill their banks. Paul was probably annoyed with the bystanders also, who were callous and apathetic to her sufferings. Paul's righteous anger should challenge us. For Paul, It wasn’t just an emotion but one that translated to action at a great cost for him and Silas.
Do we frequent places that can trouble us or do we avoid them? The tragic stories of the house maids. The struggle with addictions of a young friend. The feeling of meaninglessness of an accomplished colleague and on and on. Apathy is not an option for those who follow Christ. Are we letting our concerns translate into action, or are we falling into a pattern of passive observation?
What is happening in the place God has placed you in? Are you annoyed with the troubling situation? Sounds like a ripe environment to share His love.
A whole new perspective on “annoyances” ! What should annoy us from a Godly perspective and how we should handle them to propel God’s kingdom !