Failing Faithfully: Isaiah 6:1-13 - 26th Sunday after Pentecost
My office bookshelves are lined with dozens of volumes about growing the church and reaching new generations. Their authors lead massive congregations which have defied the odds and brought thousands to faith in Christ. But there is one book that stands out from the rest: it’s entitled FAIL, and it’s written by a pastor whose experiences of ministry failure inspired him to organize the Epic Fail Pastors Conference, which brought together pastors, missionaries, and church leaders whose dreams of bringing people to faith in Christ went down in flames. But ministry failure is not as uncommon as you might think. For 40 years, Moses struggled to lead God’s people through the wilderness and died without before bringing them to the promised land. God called prophets to urge his people to repent of their wickedness. Sadly, the people did not repent, and many of these prophets were murdered by their kings or their fellow Israelites. When God calls the prophet Isaiah, God tells him point blank
