In this blog, we'll focus on the working being done at Sligo Presbyterian Church, Sligo, Pennsylvania. We'll also look at what's happening in Sligo, Rimersburg, Clarion, and all the other communities served by our congregation.
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Sunday's Message - Offering Our Gift of Enthusiasm
During the season of Advent, we talked about how we might unwrap some of the gifts given to us by God through Jesus Christ. Well, now that Christmas is over, we've shifted gears and considered the gifts we might offer God. Beginning on Sunday, December 28, we started to focus on the following:
Well, here we are, on what is for a lot of Christians the third most important date on any church calendar. I mean, after Christmas and Easter (and you can put those two in whatever order you want), today is Super Bowl Sunday. You see, for many very sincere and dedicated believers, right behind the birth and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, come the game, and the commercials and the halftime show, and it doesn’t matter whether you plan to watch Bad Bunny or try to find Kid Rock or, like me, do anything, and I mean, anything else. Still, I know it’s all important. As a matter of fact, in my thirty-eight years of ministry, today is the first annual meeting I’ve moderated on Super Bowl Sunday. Let’s just say it’s a big deal.
But how big a deal, well that depends on the teams involved. I mean, speaking for myself, the amount of enthusiasm I feel going into the game is directly related to the whether the team I follow is playing or not. For example, growing up in eastern Virginia, man, we were Washington Redskins fans, and so I was really fired up in ‘73 and ‘83 and ‘84 and ‘88. I’ll tell you, the ‘80s were pretty good for the burgundy and gold. And then, after moving to Indianapolis, of course, I started bleeding royal blue. And even though they were pretty awful while I actually lived there, (Those were the Jeff George/Gary Hogeboom years), in 2007 and 2010, man, I was glued to my set in Fork Union and Weirton. Of course, I really don’t have to tell y’all about feeling passionate about a football team, not up here in Steeler Country. You see, for most die-hard football fans, if you’ve got a dog in the fight, your enthusiasm level gets turned up to eleven.
And you know, that’s exactly what we’re going to talk about this morning. You see, today we’re getting close to the end of this series we started right after Christmas entitled Our Gifts to God: Offering Ourselves to Our Heavenly Father. And to this point, we’ve talked about giving to God our praise and our attention, our time and our talents, our treasures and our energy. And this morning, on Super Bowl Sunday, we’re going to look at offering God our enthusiasm, and I’m talking about our passion and our desires and our focused emotions. And to do that, we’ll be answering two questions that are remarkably similar to the ones I’ve already asked six times. First, why should we offer God our enthusiasm? And then, second, how can we give this kind of gift to God? Now that’s the plan. And with any luck, before we thaw out the pizza or mix up the Buffalo dip, we’ll have a better idea about how we can offer God something that we often reserve for our favorite team.
And of course, this all starts with the question: why should we offer God our enthusiasm? In other words, why is it important for us to direct toward God some of our passion and our desire? And why should we invest our emotions in the one who’s already given us so much? Now that’s the question. And I’ll tell you, I think the most obvious answer is simply that doing this kind of thing is exactly what God wants us to do. I mean, just listen to what Paul wrote to the Colossians:
Do your work willingly, as though you were serving the Lord himself, and not just your earthly master. In fact, the Lord Christ is the one you are really serving, and you know he will reward you. [Colossians 3:23-24, CEV]
And to Timothy he wrote,
So I ask you to make full use of the gift God gave you when I placed my hands on you. Use it well. God’s Spirit doesn’t make cowards out of us. The Spirit gives us power, love, and self-control. [2 Timothy 1:6-7, CEV]
Now that’s what Paul wrote; therefore, I think I’m safe in saying, that’s what God wants. But you know, when you look beneath the surface, well, I think there are three reasons why God wants us to make this kind of offering so badly, reasons that I’ve got to tell you, just make sense.
For example, when we give to God our enthusiasm, it can transform our lives. You see, it can actually alter who we are and how we live. As a matter of fact, I believe it can change how we see virtually everything we do. I mean, remember how Paul wrote, “do your work willingly, as though you were serving the Lord himself”? [Colossians 3:23a, CEV] Well, if this is something we choose to accept, all of sudden, the work we do is different, isn’t it? I mean, all of a sudden, the most mundane chores become spiritual signs, signs of faith and devotion and praise. As a matter of fact, in a very real sense, our entire lives become acts of worship, because what we do is directed toward God. But even more than that, our motives and reasons and rationales are now also directed to God. In other words, once I’ve given God my enthusiasm, my passion, my desire, my emotions no longer can I separate my faith from my actions. Instead, I’m going to actively and intentionally serve him with what I think you can call enthusiastic love, and I’m talking about a love that honors the love he has for me, rather than whatever comes from some kind of cold and detached and sterile legal obligation. You see, it’s not because I have to; man, I want to. I’m telling you, when we offer God our enthusiasm, our lives are going to be transformed and that’s a good reason for doing it
And you know, so is how this offering can testify to God. In other words, we’re actually bearing witness to him within the communities in which we live when we allow ourselves to be fired up about God and his love and his mercy and his grace. You see, those around us can begin to understand the one we worship and follow and serve when they see the enthusiasm we have to do it. But even more than that, I also believe that the desire and emotion we’re giving to God are contagious. Man, it draws others to Christ by demonstrating the genuine joy and life-changing power of the Holy Spirit. You see, when others see our passion for God, I believe that creates what you might call a “magnet effect” that draws those who don’t believe toward the faith we claim and encourage fellow believers to keep moving forward. It’s like what Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
I don’t need to write you about the money you plan to give for God’s people. I know how eager you are to give. And I have proudly told the Lord’s followers in Macedonia that you people in Achaia have been ready for a whole year. Now your desire to give has made them want to give. This is why I am sending Titus and the two others to you. I want you to be ready, just as I promised. This will prove we were not wrong to brag about you. [2 Corinthians 9:1-3, CEV]
I’m telling you, along with transforming lives, offering to God our enthusiasm is also a perfect way to bear witness.
But even that’s not all, because I believe it can also sustain us as we go through tough times. In other words, expressing our passion, our desire for God can strengthen us when we’re feeling weak and empower us when we’re feeling tired and encourage us when we’re ready to throw up our hands and to give up. As a matter of fact, it can keep us moving forward when everybody around us is ready to quit. You see, when we tap into this spiritual fervor, this spiritual desire, this spiritual energy, I believe it can provide the kind of fire that we might need to overcome discouragement and setbacks and that apathetic “Sunday-only” kind of Christianity that’s just about as inspiring as a limp dish rag. I’m telling you, enthusiasm can act as fuel that helps us overcome defeats and disappointments, fears and frustrations, and all those other energy-draining battles we have to fight from time to time, because remember, like I said before, when we direct our desire and passion and emotions to God, it transforms routine tasks and mundane moments into missions of eternal importance. I’m telling you, when we offer God our enthusiasm, not only will it result in transformation and testimony, it can sustain us as face problems and challenges. And for me, that’s why it’s important for us to make this gift, the answer to our first question.
And as to the second, how can we actually do it, how can we actually direct some of the desire and passion that we feel toward our heavenly Father, and how can we invest some of our emotions in the one who’s already given us so much? In other words, how can we offer our enthusiasm to God? Well, personally, I think Paul offers us some pretty good direction in his letter to the Romans. Just listen.
God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully.
Be sincere in your love for others. Hate everything that is evil and hold tight to everything that is good. Love each other as brothers and sisters and honor others more than you do yourself. Never give up. Eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord. Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying. Take care of God’s needy people and welcome strangers into your home. [Romans 12:9-13, CEV]
You see, based on what he wrote, I think there are three very clear and specific ways we can offer God our enthusiasm.
For example, first, I think we can do this by working diligently. In other words, we can work with passion and dedication. Simply put, we can work hard, something that the writer of Ecclesiastes certainly had in mind when he said, “Work hard at whatever you do. You will soon go to the world of the dead, where no one works or thinks or reasons or even knows anything.” [Ecclesiastes 9:10] You see, I don’t believe being passionate about God is shown by sitting around, waiting for God to act and looking for God to provide. And it’s sure not shown when we intentionally move slow and gripe and complain while letting everyone know that unfair life is. Instead, it’s about rolling up our sleeves and doing what God has equipped and empowered us to accomplish and to do it with dedication and even joy, and it doesn’t matter whether that involves preaching a sermon, driving a van, or fixing a meal. I mean, it’s about taking seriously everything we do, and I’m talking about whether at home or at school or at work. And it’s about doing the best we can do, because we’re doing it as a result of the excitement we feel about God and not for human approval. You see, in my opinion, we’re offering God our enthusiasm when we’re work diligently. That’s one way.
And second, I think we also do it by worshiping passionately, by worshiping with emotion, by worshiping with desire, by worshiping with enthusiasm. In fact, I’m talking about worshiping with the same attitude the Psalmist told to the people of Israel to have as they approached the Temple: Be joyful and sing as you come in to worship the Lord! [Psalm 100:2, CEV] Of course, I recognize that may be challenging. I mean, it’s really easy to set comfort, not passion, as our highest priority as we worship God, and since I think we’d all prefer comfort to aggravation and stress and possible disappointment, it’s natural for us to like the old favorites and to settle into the familiar patterns and to base what we do on what we’ve already done. That’s really easy to do; I know it is for me. Man, we need to be aware of that. But you know, even though I believe all that’s true, I think the passion we feel as we worship God actually has less to do with the hymns we sing or the order we follow or even the comfort we seek. In other words, I think it’s about the attitude we bring. In other words, I doubt the most dynamic worship service in the world is going to do much for a group that’s already decided to be unhappy and passive and disappointed, that spends its time griping and complaining and reminiscing. You see, to feel passion, I’ve got to be ready and willing to express my love for God and to celebrate the hope we share, regardless of the music and the order and my personal comfort. And if I’m not, no special hymn or structure is going to change anything. But if I am, I’m not sure songs or order will matter that much. As Paul wrote, we really need to “eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord” [Romans 12:11b, CEV] whenever we gather in his name. You see, by doing this, by worshiping with passion, we’re also offering God our enthusiasm.
And finally, if we’re serious about making this gift to God, I think we really need to give generously. In other words, I think we need to be ready to pass on to others some of what we have and to do it as a way to express our faith in God. As a matter of fact, it’s really putting into practice what Paul challenged the Corinthians to do when he wrote, “Each of you must make up your own mind about how much to give. But don’t feel sorry that you must give and don’t feel you are forced to give. God loves people who love to give.” [2 Corinthians 9:7, CEV] You see, it may be impossible to offer God much of anything when we’ve made the decision to hold back. But I’ll tell you, when we choose generosity, when we choose to view what we have as tools that we can use to do what God has called us to do, and when we choose to give a portion of what we have to express our love for God and neighbor and to do it with desire and emotion, with excitement and joy, when that’s our attitude, now we’re offering something that’s really important. And just to be clear, this kind of generosity isn’t only about money. It’s also about the time we have and the talents we’ve been given. You see, I seriously doubt that anybody ever gets to the point where they love to give until they’ve made the decision to give generously. And for me, along with working diligently and worshiping passionately, that’s how we can offer God our gift of enthusiasm.
And having said all that, right now, there are now only three things that separate me from Super Bowl: an annual meeting, a meeting of our Worship Team and probably a nap. Of course, since the Colts aren’t involved, I thought I could sort of relax and just enjoy without a lot of tension and frustration. But I’ll tell you, that all changed, when a member of this congregation, a Steeler fan, said to me, and I’m paraphrasing, “Man, you’ve got to be fired up about the game. I mean, you’ve got to be cheering for Seattle and against New England, right?” Now, I must have looked really confused, because he then said to me sort of like he was talking to either a five-year-old or someone suffering from brain damage, “The Patriots already have six; we can’t let them have seven.” PTL, now I understood. And so, with that in mind, right here and now, I make the pledge that I’m going to cheer for Seattle with all kinds of emotions and against New England with all kinds of passion. And in the end, I promise to be either elated or crushed by the result. I mean, that’s the least I can give back to western Pennsylvania.
But you know, regardless of how I approach the game, we can certainly offer the same kind of thing to God. I mean, we can recognize that, because it can transform and testify and sustain, it’s really important to work diligently and to worship passionately and to give generously. And I’ll tell you, by doing those three things, I believe we’ll be offering God our gift of enthusiasm.
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