When I started preaching, I would be amazed at the number of people that would tell me "good Message" or "great Sermon". I was even more amazed at the number of people who would say that and then I'd remember seeing them sleeping during the Message.
But there has been times when someone will come back and chat about a particular part of something I preached. Maybe a sermon illustration, or how the key topic rang in their ears, or how something said reflected on their own life.
In more than a few times, these instances have brought people to tears.
I hope that the tears were from the power of the Holy Spirit touching their lives in some way - maybe a caring memory, or a reassurance of grace. Sometimes people have told me directly how they were touched by something in the Message or the Scripture that particular day.
On the other side of that coin are those who see someone moved in a particular way and then will stop and stare, or point out how someone was crying on the way home after church.
I've had moments when I've been moved to tears because of a Message or the Word. Heck, there are some hymns that I can't sing because they make me cry (but yes, they will pop up during my churches' Worship Services... there is an advantage to having the pulpit far from people). And to this day, I still get choked up when I think about certain parishioners from my past, young and old, still alive and passed on, and the impact they've made in my ministry.
When the Spirit has touched someone in such a visible or meaningful way, it's a great thing to celebrate, especially in a time when we're so rushed that we can't find out own glasses on the bridge of our noses.
Let's shout out "I've got the Power!"
