ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
December 4, 2024 To be honest, I feel a bit apprehensive about sharing what I’m about to share, but I’m going to do it anyway. A week ago Sunday, I had finished putting together the worship material for this past Sunday. I had two pages of notes, thoughts, quotes, and other random stuff for the sermon, but it didn’t even remotely resemble a sermon. I didn’t look at it on Monday, but then Monday night, I dreamed the sermon—basically the entire sermon. I’ve had moments in the past where I woke up in the middle of night and had a thought that I jotted down. Funny thing is that on a number of occasions, the following morning, I looked at what I had jotted down and thought to myself, “That’s absolute balderdash!” However, this time, I woke up in the middle of the night and wrote for about an hour. I returned to bed, and when I heard my alarm, I went to the computer and found a nearly finished sermon. Oh sure, there were a few connections that needed to be made and some clarifications, but I was astounded by what I had. There’s always a sense of unease when someone says, “I had a dream last night and here is what God told me.” My uneasiness stems from the numerous occasions when what I was told did not reflect the God I have met in Jesus. At the same time, there have been amazingly faithful people who have received a message from God to do something that was risky, yet faithful. And they did it. In Matthew’s Gospel, we read how Joseph was about ready to toss aside his pregnant fiancé as the child was not his, but an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said to Joseph, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” That dream changed the entire trajectory of the story. So today, I am not ready to make any grand decrees about how I dreamed this past Sunday’s sermon or assume with great confidence that it was a gift of God. And I definitely do not wish to put the sermon on par with Joseph’s dream or the dreams of the great prophets, yet I remain intrigued by the experience. A part of me believes God is still talking, and who am I to say that God won’t use the dream of a preacher in Spring, Texas. Whether it’s a dream, a conversation, an unexpected butterfly fluttering on my back patio, or simply a quiet moment spent with you, Lord God, I humbly pray for an openness to receive whatever I may need to hear in that moment. Amen.
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AuthorRev. Bruce Frogge Archives
February 2025
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