The final meeting of this year's convention was the call to service meeting. Dr Steve Brady spoke eloquently and from the heart on the matter of being available to God to use the gifts, natural and supernatural, that He has given us. His 'scouser' humour laced his exposition of Eph.2:8-10 and Eph.4:8ff.
Some straight-laced Christians might have had difficulty with his illustrations and humour, but with DMLJ, he certainly gave me a sense of the presence of God. He said that we must not merely be taught the Word of God but be transformed by it.
That is challenging. How many 'sermon tasters' attend such conventions is impossible to say, but that they are there is proved by the fact that transformation of life and attitude does not follow the preaching of the Word. Men can say all the right words in public but what is the real spiritual result in their lives - nay, in our lives? They can say what is thought to be the right thing to say in such situations, but what is the end result in their, nay, our, lives? Will the local and regional church know any difference as a result of sitting under a full diet of expository sermons? Or will men defer once again, as is their custom, to the final authority of the church or denomination? Time will tell.
Dr Brady structured his final message around the following headings: God will ask his servants on the last Day, that great and terrible Day of the Lord,
(1) What did you do with the talents;
(2) What did you do with the time; and
(3) What did you do with the treasure;
I gave you?
The message gave me a sense of God's presence, and as we left the tent, we had a lot to process and act upon.
All in all, a good convention and excellent ministry.
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