Dr. Tom's sermon

Sunday, after we got back really late the night before on Saturday from the b-day party, Dr. Tom was giving the sermon. I was excited, b/c I knew I would understand it all in English. we had a great service. the first part of the service includes everyone praying together for specific requests. i see how this really brings the body of the church closer and unified in one Spirit. Then, there was the band that led worship. Bruce and Luke, the missionary kid twins, have been put to work as soon as they moved here. they did not know how to play the guitar or drums before coming to thailand, but they know now. you do always end up doing things you never thought you could do on mission trips. noi taught bruce the guitar and she made sure to tell him if she was going to teach him this, that he must always use this gift to glorify God. that means, he would be playing in church or whenever needed. well he stepped up to the plate and he's doing it. then anna, used her gift of dance. she taught her other thai adolescent friends a dance to an english Christian song. they all dressed alike and performed it. it was precious. not only did they have good rhythm, but they were so creative in how they glorified God with it. at one point in the song, they positioned themselves as a live nativity scene. anna was mary acting like she was holding Jesus. then i saw the most precious thing... a thai girl in the background was flapping her wings like she was an angel. these kids have a great faith. after being blessed up to this point in the service, dr. tom came and led the sermon. no, he is not trained as a preacher, but as a physician. well, the Lord can use him in any way He chooses, so Dr. Tom also preaches from time to time on the mission field. he is a great teacher. i learned so much from his sermon about Elisha and Naaman in 1 Kings. he discussed the healing of Naaman's leprosy when Elisha's servant told him to be healed by dipping himself in the Jordan River seven times. can you imagine, he thought the water was muddy and he has cleaner rivers back in damascus, so why would he need to do this, he thought. well, he needed to do it as an act of faith. finally his servant convinced him to do it. sure enough, he was healed. interestingly though, his skin became as pure as a baby's skin. God didn't even settle to give him back his old skin, but instead God gave abundantly beyond what Naaman could have imagined by getting new, fresh, like a baby's, skin. what a great picture of how God gives to us in such abundant ways. God also used the bad leprosy for a good opportunity. just like God uses the bad in our lives for good. anyway, good points made.