Sheet Cake and other Spiritual Truths

So last night I scurried home from Accelerated Ministers Training. After 8 hours in intense classes I drove the four hours (250) miles home and realized that I needed to make a dessert for this afternoon's youth leadership meeting. So after changing out of my heels and snappy sweater to a much more forgiving set of worn jammies, I set about the business of fixing a Texas Sheet Cake, one of my favorite and most popular desserts.

Rob sat in the kitchen with me while we post processed the past few days. As we chatted, I worked on the cake. If you've ever made Texas Sheet Cake you'll realized it's a bit of an edeavor - not completely complicated, but definitely one that requires full attention. Rob and I discussed, and I stirred, heated, poured. Finally as I was whipping up the icing, the timer dinged and I pulled my greatly-anticipated cake from the oven to add the final delectable layer and I knew in a second that something had gone terribly ary. The cake, which should be fluffy and moist, was instead the consistency of a tortillia. Somewhere in my fervancy, I had missed a step. It is amazing how crucial the baking soda is in a rising cake recipe.

Sadly, I had wasted an hour of my time. I'd dirtied dishes, (quite a few, it's an involved recipe), trashed the kitchen, wasted ingredients (the butter alone was about $3 worth), heated the oven, and it was all for naught. I can't serve this cake, no one would eat it!!

So this morning, as I am cleaning my kitchen (before I prepare for church, cleaning your kitchen in church clothes is a whole other lesson in itself) as I washed the pieces of cake down the disposal I realized there had to be a lesson in this failure. It's come to my attention repeatedly lately that God always uses failure as teaching opportunities. So what was the lesson in my failed sheet cake?

I had forgotten the baking soda. I'd busied myself with preparations, getting out the ingredients, prepping the pan, pre-heating the oven. I knew the plan, I was focusing on the end goal, but I'd forgotten the power of the baking soda to allow the cake to rise to it's full potential.

It's just like the church and Holy Spirit. We can busy ourselves with Sunday School programs and bulletin covers, making sure the power point is just so. We can have committees and volunteers and take large offerings. We can preach sermons and fill pews. But without the Holy Spirit, without Pentecost, we will never rise to the full potential God has called the church to. We will always wind up with some weak imitation that people will just bearly tolerate, a poor representative of what God has truly called us to be.

So this morning, as you take your shower, primp your hair, polish off your church clothes, don't forget to invite the Holy Spirit to church with you. And if you are leadership, in all your fervored plans and efforts, remember to seek His support, leading and guidance. Remember, without it, all your best laid plans will fall flat. Blessings this morning!