A daily, Bible-based message of hope and encouragement.
 A daily, Bible-based message of hope, encouragement and exhortation. The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber. <Previous Message · Archive edition Friday, February 24, 2012  The squirrels may annoy us in regard to eating the bird feed but they sure are diligent! We took this photo out the window right in front of our office.  Listen to this message on your audio player"Sleeping In Church" "Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead" (Acts 20:9).  Signaling for the children to be quiet with her index finger poised over puckered lips, a Sunday School teacher asked her young children, upon entering the sanctuary, "And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?" One observant little girl replied, "Because people are sleeping."Acts 20 has an interesting "sleeping in church" story. The apostle Paul was traveling and stopped by Troas, where he stayed for seven days. On the last day he was with them they gathered to break bread and Paul spoke to the people. He kept talking till midnight in an upstairs room with many lamps when a most unusual event took place.  "Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on." I can imagine that lengthy service as I've sat through a few of those, myself, and I'm pretty tired by midnight. Lamps of their time surely would not have provided the type of light conducive to wakefulness. And Eutychus sat in an upstairs window; surely a recipe for disaster as "Paul talked on and on." Sermons have gotten shorter during my lifetime and certainly some of the recorded sermons in the Bible and church history. For example many consider Deuteronomy to be a single sermon! Or consider Ezra's message in Nehemiah 6: He read "from early morning until midday" and the people were "attentive" (v.3). I believe I speak for preachers everywhere of the blessing they find in preaching to attentive people! Pilgrims of the 1600's would sit on backless log benches for the hour long opening prayer, followed by a two hour sermon each Sunday. If a parishioner fell asleep he was quickly awakened by a bone fastened to a string lowered on the head of the offender by an assigned deacon. Perhaps we should reinstate this practice by assigning ushers to this exercise! These days most people don't want the preaching to be more than half an hour in much of the western church and the pastor sure better have some bells and whistles to keep the people's attention, like PowerPoint, props and video supplements. But people still fall asleep in church!  "When he (Eutychus) was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead." Now I've experienced some interesting disruptions in church services. I recall, as a boy, someone dropping the offering plate off the balcony with a loud clanging of change spilling out in all directions on the tile floor (thankfully it didn't hit anybody below.) Or when a child was playing with a speaking toy and the entire congregation got to hear the space ranger, Buzz Lightyear, call out to Sheriff Woody of Toy Story fame, "To infinity and beyond." A common disruption in churches today are cell phones that don't get turned off. It's one thing for parishioners to forget to turn off the ringer; quite another annoyance when they have one of those blasting quirky ring tones and even worse when they feel obligated to take the call right in their pew, which actually happened one time when I was preaching!  But Eutychus' story really takes the cake! If the internet were available in the New Testament period this would have gone viral, been a top of the news story, hitting every public and cable network and major newspaper. Reporters surely would have been on the scene with their interpretation of the situation. Surely politicians would be introducing legislation to limit the length of a sermon. See below for a link to the entire Scripture text and "the rest of the story!"Only God knows the full meaning of the story, but clearly this is an account of human weakness and divine intervention. The next time you get sleepy in church perhaps Eutychus' story will come to mind and it will prompt you to sit a little taller and lean forward as you listen more intently to what God has to say through His appointed messenger. But one practical lesson we will end with: Don't sit on the window ledge in church, especially if you're sleepy! Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber  Daily Prayer: Father, we thank You for Godly messengers who faithfully feed Your children by diligently teaching the whole counsel of Your Holy Word. Some attend church with an intense spiritual hunger, while others may come out of a sense of duty and still some to be seen by others. Give us a hungry heart that yearns for more of You so that our lives are set apart to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all that we do. May we be attentive to Your life-transforming truths as You impart them to our hearts in our personal devotions and through Your anointed messengers. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. "Fire and Ice": This weekend our community (Mount Joy, Pennsylvania) is having a Main Street "Fire and Ice" Festival with ice carvings and a Chili Cookoff Challenge. Brooksyne will be making chili and we'll be serving it, along with others, as part of an amateur contest on Saturday from 11:00-3:00 on Main Street in Mount Joy (at the Union Community Bank Portico.) It would be our pleasure to meet and serve chili to our local readers! For details visit www.msmj.orgMisc. notes: The story of Eutychus is found in Acts 20:7-12 Many years ago Christianity Today had a humor column I enjoyed called "Eutychus and His Kin". Here is the text of Jonathan Edward's final sermon preached at the First Church in Northampton, MA on July 1, 1750 after being voted out as the Pastor. Note especially the challenge to the youth. C.H. Spurgeon's messages stayed within 40-45 minutes. This was necessitated partly by the length required for the printed sermons. For the first six years of Spurgeon's ministry, paper was heavily taxed, so individual printed sermons were formatted to use as little paper as possible. That is why the type is so small in the New Park Street Pulpit series, but it becomes more readable in the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit. Spurgeon delivered the messages with ringing vocal tones and perfect articulation of each word. All observers testified that he had no difficulty whatsoever in making himself heard clearly in the furthest parts of the largest auditoriums!  Brooksyne's Note: I have very vivid memories of growing up in church with a father who frequently slept during the pastor's sermons. Daddy was a laborer who would fall asleep in most any setting if he wasn't in conversation or physically laboring. As we grew older my siblings and I would sit a few rows in front of my parents, but we'd know when Daddy fell asleep. There'd be a deep, masculine snore and then it would suddenly stop. Mom kept Dad's snoring under control by kicking her foot against his ankle. He'd wake up momentarily but fall back to sleep in a short time. One Sunday evening Daddy fell asleep in the front pew of the church. Even in the "resting of his eyes" he could often follow the order of the service. In his sleepy stupor he mistakenly thought the pastor said, "Brother Sherrell (Sherrell was my maiden name), would you close our service in prayer?" He suddenly awoke, stood up and began to pray out a dismissal prayer...…..only to be informed that the pastor was in the middle of his sermon! Imagine how mortified my family was at Dad's mistake! Perhaps that extremely embarrassing experience kept him a bit more alert for, at least the following Sunday! Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources "Asleep In The Light" Video Keith Green This man speaks truth and deep conviction! Finally today: A man sobering up from the night before is sitting through the Sunday sermon, finding it long and boring. Still feeling hung over and tired, he finally nods off. The preacher has been watching him all along, noticing his apparent hangover and is disgusted. At the end of the sermon, the preacher decides to make an example of him. He says to his congregation, "All those wishing to have a place in heaven, please stand." The whole room stands up except, of course, the sleeping man. He has the people seated then the preacher says even more loudly, "And he who would like to find a place in hell please STAND UP!" The weary man catching only the last part groggily stands up, only to find that he's the only one standing. Confused and embarrassed he says, "I don't know what we're voting on here, Preacher, but it sure seems like you and me are the only ones standing for it!" Video Humor: Tim Hawkins - Church, Christians, & Sleeping in Church Video |
 Weber family Christmas 2011 "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update (Revised 12/11)  Are our daily encouragement messages a blessing to you? Each weekday morning Brooksyne and I prepare these messages and distribute them at no cost to you and many others all over the world. We ask you to consider making a donation to Daily Encouragement Net so that we can continue to prepare and provide this daily resource which is accessed by believers and seekers all over the world. Daily Encouragement Net relies solely on the generosity and financial support of its readers and podcast listeners. See here for more information on supporting this ministry. Gifts are tax deductible.2012 financial offerings to Daily Encouragement Net as of 2/23/12: $2,035.00 We express thanks to all who support our ministry! SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION  Were you forwarded this edition of Daily Encouragement Net? If you desire you can receive your own free! To receive these "Daily Encouragement" devotionals each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe. This newsletter is never sent by us unsolicited. It was sent to you because you either signed up to receive it OR a friend forwarded it to you. You can also subscribe to the rss feed or as an email subscription through feedburner.Cancel: We respect and value your time and privacy. If you no longer desire to receive these messages you can remove your address from the list by merely using the link automatically inserted by the mailing list software at the very bottom of each email message. (To change addresses cancel your old address and then join again using your new address.) Weekly Version: The weekly version is intended for those who may not check their email regularly or who may desire less frequent mailings. It is Friday's message with a link to previous messages. To receive the free weekly version, send a blank email to this address. Daily Encouragement on Facebook and Twitter:  The daily message and prayer on Facebook. The daily message and prayer on Twitter.Reader Survey: Please take a few minutes to assist us in improving our ministry effectiveness by filling out this online reader survey. To take the survey click here. Please feel free to pass these messages on! Our other blogs: "A Daily Prayer" - A blog simply posting the daily prayer. We keep this up each day since it's merely the prayer from the Daily Encouragement Net message! "A Little Foolishness" - Humor/satire blog (a great outlet for non-serious writing but at times with a subtle message!) (Note: This material is satire!) "Clear Minded" - Longer, periodic articles on specific issues impacting the faithful believer and church. (Actually this is my intent but I haven't done much with it!) "Hymns of Hope" - Brooksyne along with two friends made a CD using classic hymns. Brooksyne tells the background story of the 11 hymns. All of these songs are also available for download on the site.  Daily Encouragement Net is an affiliate of Christianbook.com. Any orders placed to Christian Book Distributers using this link or any specific product link to a recommended resource in a daily encouragement message will help our Daily Encouragement ministry through a small commission on the sale. Thank you for using these links when purchasing online through CBD!Personal Mission Statement "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."  How to become a child of God Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version. © Copyright 2012 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved Daily Encouragement Net Stephen & Brooksyne Weber 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 Contact us  Endorsed chaplain "Living securely today anchored in God's solid foundation" www.dailyencouragement.net |
Daily Encouragement is issued Monday-Friday. To make sure you continue to receive these e-mails in your Inbox (so they're not sent to a junk folder), please add scweber@dailyencouragement.net to your address book or safe sender list. You are receiving these recurring messages as a subscriber to Daily Encouragement Net because you signed up on our website or otherwise requested it unless someone forwarded the message to you. If you desire to unsubscribe use the link below. However, please do not use this link unless your address is the subscribed address below as you will otherwise unsubscribe the person who forwarded it to you!
| You are currently subscribed to dailyencouragement as: stephencweber.dailyencouragement@blogger.com Add scweber@dailyencouragement.net to your email address book to ensure delivery Forward to a Friend | Manage Subscription | Subscribe | Unsubscribe |  |
