Every once in awhile I’ll look out while preaching and notice that someone is concentrating to the message so hard that their eyes are closed.  I have even noticed the concentration ratcheted up to the level where they even begin to snore.  Perhaps you remember the story of this happening once while Paul was preaching.  Let’s look at the story together today from Acts 20.

On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. 9 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. 10 Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” 11 Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. 12 The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.

While this has always served as a story to comfort young preachers that even Paul has people fall asleep while preaching, there is more here for us.  First of all I think of how important Paul considered this message that he would literally preach to the people all night long.  Then I think how amazing it is that the people considered the message of the gospel so important that they would listen that long. (except for those that fell asleep and died)  Perhaps this should serve as a reminder to us all of just how important the message we carry is.  We are all called to share the love of Christ with the world and Jesus’ message is critically important.  It’s the kind of thing you stay up all night talking about.  I pray that we might all get a fresh sense of the importance of our task to share the gospel and Jesus’ love with the world.

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave