Date: 25-01-26
Preacher: Pastor Choe Humphrey
Title: ‘Never Thought Of’
‘Never Thought Of’
It was my turn to chair this Sunday and I got to see Ps Humphrey’s slides earlier to prepare the chairing. However, other than the title which was ‘Let us continue the Great Commission of Jesus’, I couldn’t make head or tail what the gist of the message was going to be. Certainly I was looking forward to the message.
The main biblical reference was from Acts 16:6-10 which told of Paul and Silas being directed to Macedonia after Paul had a vision of a man pleading with him to go there. One must also know the working of the Holy Spirit behind all these.
It was at this point in his message that Ps Humphrey directed the congregation to the three words ‘Never thought of’ to bring a collective awareness that much of a person’s life would be filled with this ‘hindsight’ when we look back at our lives.
Hence in the case of Paul and Silas, following the leading of the Holy Spirit, went to Macedonia and in the process, brought 2 families to be saved and set free a female slave who was demon possessed. It was the manner in which these events took place that brought on the ‘never thought of’ effect that Ps Humphrey was talking about.
One was the family saved was that of Lydia’s and the other, the family of the jailer who was in charge of the jail where Paul and Silas were. What was ‘never thought of’ was especially so with the jailer whose salvation certainly happened in a strange way. Paul and Silas were thrown into jail for casting out demon which had possessed a female slave earlier. The slave’s master had them jailed and flogged, for the female slave possessed, was a source of income for him. That night Paul and Silas, despite being badly beaten, and some others, were in jail worshiping God by singing. As a result, all their chains were broken and the prison door threw open. They could have escaped and the jailer was so worried he wanted to end his own life. Paul and Silas assured him they would not escape and that paved the way for the jailer’s salvation.
It is rare to hear a speaker change the title of his/her message half way but that was what Ps Humphrey did. However it was done for a good reason and you guessed it right. He changed it to ‘Never thought of’. He also shared a ‘never thought of’ event in his own life and that was his own courtship and marriage to the girl he met in church. They now have two children.
Of course such ‘Never thought of!’ events happened because God’s ways are always higher than ours and so are His thoughts.
Hence, in my case I never thought that a message to continue the Great Commission of Jesus can be preached in such a creative and effective manner.
