Practical Christianity
“She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies sashes for the merchants.
Strength and honour are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.”
And then verse 28 says:
“Her children rise up and call her blessed”
It is time for practical Christianity. As churches continue to be closed and gatherings cannot take place because of COVID-19, it is time for the working man and woman to stand up because there is no church on Sunday... So we can have church every single day in the workplace.
You see, this woman gave her husband tremendous honour because she worked hard with her hands. I want to say to the young ladies who are getting ready to marry, make yourself look beautiful for the young man but remember, beauty is only skin deep. After the first six months of marriage when he comes home, what he wants is a nice warm home with a nice, hot plate of food made by a beautiful Christian wife. We need to be practical. Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke was a doctor. Jesus, the King of Kings, was a carpenter. Peter was a fisherman, Paul a tentmaker, Dorcas a dressmaker and Joseph of Arimathea, a businessman. We have got to get into the workplace.
They asked me to do cowboy church... What does that mean?
On a Sunday morning, that’s right. And lots of you say they should be in church, those cowboys but they are having a rodeo. But you know what they do - They ask me to come and preach the Gospel in the rodeo arena.
When Jesus used His illustrations, He spoke to the farmers about a sower and seed... They understand that. The talents - Businessmen can understand how you can use your money effectively.
You know, I remember a man driving down the road, many years ago, from Cedarberg to KZN and he was coming to invite me to speak to his farmers. He wasn’t a Christian and by the way, he got converted himself in those meetings. He wanted to check me out, he didn’t want to find out what my theological qualifications were. He drove onto the farm and told me, with his own mouth (his name was Mike Francis, he has gone to be with Jesus now) he checked my fences - He saw that they were straight and they were tight. He saw that the cattle were fat and the maize was looking good. Then he said, “Come and speak to the men” because he wasn’t going to invite me if the farm was in a mess.
Today you must understand one thing... Talk the language of the layman and he will come to Christ.
Have a wonderful day.
God bless you and goodbye.