Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Every thing that God does in the lives of His children prepares them for what God has called His children to do. "THE CALL," what ever it may be, is vital to us who believe. The call is our deepest connection to Jesus. The Call is our purpose on this earth. It' how we bring glory to God! I am a preacher of the gospel. God has called me to be a pastor and evangelist. I was put on this earth to preach. I know this with all of my heart. All of us are called to share the gospel. The the basis of every call is to tell people how much God loves them, however God has given us all many different gifts and talents so that we may reach those who need Him. This is the essence of the call. Simply carrying out the great commission of Jesus. In Matthew 28, Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and make disciples. Then He ascended into Heaven. He left the responsibility of this call in the hands of humanity. Jesus went up, the Holy Spirit came down, the disciples went out and the lost came in. He did not leave us alone. The key factor of the call is that the Holy Spirit has indwelled the believer! In Acts 1:8 Jesus said,"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Jesus expressed to His disciples that they should wait on the Holy Spirit before they went on mission to save the world. We can not carry out the call without the power of the Holy Spirit. He is our fuel, He is our teacher and He is our guide. He is the one who draws people to Himself. The Holy spirit convicts us and changes us into an instrument of God's will. I believe when the Holy Spirit touches us in this way that we fall completely in love with the will of God. To carry out our call we must be consumed with the work of God! How can it be any other way. His will is perfect and in Romans 12 we are charged to prove His perfect will, Romans 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." To truly answer the call we must love God's will more than our own! In Our own will we will never be able to answer God's call on our lives, our will is contrary to God's will. In Galatians 5 we are told that the spirit and the flesh are at war. They fight against one another. We have to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus. That cross represents the crucifixion of our own ideology, "our will" and to give our lives over to God's will. If we really think about it, as a follower of Jesus there is no greater life. God's will is awesome, in 2 Peter 3:9 we read," The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." He loves humanity in such a way that His will is that all of mankind should come to repentance. How can we not love His will? He has called you to be a part of something great. "The greatest work in the History of the world!" The salvation of man! You are called according to His purpose. Every event in your life up to this point has been molding you for this moment. He has equipped the called and the called is you.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
The One Good Part
Luke 10:41-42
And Jesus a answered and said to her,"Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. "But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."
There I was pen in hand, eyes on the paper. I had been studying and taking notes for days! My sermon was coming together on schedule. My heart was intent, my mind was focussed, I was in the zone! Then all of the sudden I hear this little voice."Daddy, your always busy!" my daughter Taybi exclaimed. She was wanting me to play with her. I have two little girls, both of them have stolen my heart. And I don't mind saying that I have loved being the honored guest at their formal tea parties and the esteemed prince who dances with them at the ball. You see, In her eyes there was nothing more important at the moment than our time together and how she wanted my full attention. The unfinished message that lay on my desk in front of me had no influence on her. She wanted to spend time with her Daddy! The rest of the world had no bearing on this one fact! It was then and there that I faced the dilemma. Should I finish my work, or drop everything and spend some time with the cute little blonde haired girl who stood beside my desk? Should I tell her that she would just have to wait and continue my work? I am reminded of Mary and Martha the sisters of Lazarus who had spent quite a bit of time with Jesus. He had been a guest in their home on more than one occasion. I started this devotion with a passage out of one of those occasions. Martha was busy entertaining all of the guest that they had that day. She was working herself into a tizzy, worrying about pleasing everyone around her! Meanwhile she complained to Jesus that Mary had not been helping. All she was doing was spending time with Jesus. I don't know if Martha liked Jesus' answer or not but I will tell you that the world does not agree! He said Mary had chosen the one good part and it would not be taken from her. I believe, in this day and time, we have a greater need than ever before to be more like Mary. To chose the one good part as often as we can. Nothing will ever be able to replace our fellowship with Jesus, or for that matter, our fellowship with one another! We never will get that time back. Once it's gone it's gone for good. I'm not talking about scheduled time. I have scheduled time that I spend with Jesus every day. I have scheduled time that I spend with my family everyday. I'm talking about those times when the Lord Jesus compels you to drop whatever you are doing and spend some good quality time with Him. I believe that was the very thing that was happening through the heart of my little girl Taybi. My first ministry is to be to my wife and children. God has ways of letting us know when we are neglecting our responsibility. In my case, on that particular day it was Taybi, letting me know how busy I had been. I would like to challenge you today to be ready to drop everything. Be ready to spend some quality time with Jesus. Wether it be in prayer, reading your bible or spending some time with family and friends in His name. Jesus encourages spontaneous quality time. He ministered to the person in front of Him. Remember.... He just dropped everything and went to lunch with Zacchaeus. Not to mention countless others. Oh by the way, I dropped what I was doing to spend some QT with my little girl. That day I was the one who Taybi experienced Jesus through. I was the one who showed her how much He loves her just by being with her. That day we both chose the one good part. I challenge you to do the same!
And Jesus a answered and said to her,"Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. "But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."
There I was pen in hand, eyes on the paper. I had been studying and taking notes for days! My sermon was coming together on schedule. My heart was intent, my mind was focussed, I was in the zone! Then all of the sudden I hear this little voice."Daddy, your always busy!" my daughter Taybi exclaimed. She was wanting me to play with her. I have two little girls, both of them have stolen my heart. And I don't mind saying that I have loved being the honored guest at their formal tea parties and the esteemed prince who dances with them at the ball. You see, In her eyes there was nothing more important at the moment than our time together and how she wanted my full attention. The unfinished message that lay on my desk in front of me had no influence on her. She wanted to spend time with her Daddy! The rest of the world had no bearing on this one fact! It was then and there that I faced the dilemma. Should I finish my work, or drop everything and spend some time with the cute little blonde haired girl who stood beside my desk? Should I tell her that she would just have to wait and continue my work? I am reminded of Mary and Martha the sisters of Lazarus who had spent quite a bit of time with Jesus. He had been a guest in their home on more than one occasion. I started this devotion with a passage out of one of those occasions. Martha was busy entertaining all of the guest that they had that day. She was working herself into a tizzy, worrying about pleasing everyone around her! Meanwhile she complained to Jesus that Mary had not been helping. All she was doing was spending time with Jesus. I don't know if Martha liked Jesus' answer or not but I will tell you that the world does not agree! He said Mary had chosen the one good part and it would not be taken from her. I believe, in this day and time, we have a greater need than ever before to be more like Mary. To chose the one good part as often as we can. Nothing will ever be able to replace our fellowship with Jesus, or for that matter, our fellowship with one another! We never will get that time back. Once it's gone it's gone for good. I'm not talking about scheduled time. I have scheduled time that I spend with Jesus every day. I have scheduled time that I spend with my family everyday. I'm talking about those times when the Lord Jesus compels you to drop whatever you are doing and spend some good quality time with Him. I believe that was the very thing that was happening through the heart of my little girl Taybi. My first ministry is to be to my wife and children. God has ways of letting us know when we are neglecting our responsibility. In my case, on that particular day it was Taybi, letting me know how busy I had been. I would like to challenge you today to be ready to drop everything. Be ready to spend some quality time with Jesus. Wether it be in prayer, reading your bible or spending some time with family and friends in His name. Jesus encourages spontaneous quality time. He ministered to the person in front of Him. Remember.... He just dropped everything and went to lunch with Zacchaeus. Not to mention countless others. Oh by the way, I dropped what I was doing to spend some QT with my little girl. That day I was the one who Taybi experienced Jesus through. I was the one who showed her how much He loves her just by being with her. That day we both chose the one good part. I challenge you to do the same!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Foolish Message / Mighty Savior
1 Corinthians 1:21
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
We don't understand it. It's a mystery. We can simply tell people what Jesus has done for them and they trust and believe in Him. Being a privileged preacher of the gospel I have been amazed at how God works through the preaching of His word. His word is powerful. His word is Sharper than a two edged sword piercing the soul and spirit. It even discerns the thoughts and intents of our heart. (Hebrews 4:12) God's word shows us who we are, "sinners!" God's word shows us who Jesus is, "God's only Son who loves us and gave Himself for us!" If we try to reason out how God speaks to us through his word we come up empty. God does not convict the heart to salvation through human reasoning.1Corinthians 1:18 says,"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." When the gospel is preached God is speaking to the heart of people who know and realize that they have a need for salvation. There is in every person the desire to find God. There is a curiosity In everyone to figure out life after we die. In Ecclesiastes 3:11 we read, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end." We all have a desire to seek out eternity but we will not find it until we find Jesus. We can not rationalize or reason it out. It is as simple as faith. Just believing that Jesus is the Son of God, He paid for your sin on the cross and he rose from the dead. We have to believe in the good news that is preached to us from His word. Romans 10:9 says, that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. Even the apostle Paul wrote and said, in 1 Corinthians 2:2," For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." This is the greatest message that will ever be preached. People will be changed forever at this word. That God sent His only Son into the world to save a condemned world. If your a Christian and you read this, please preach the gospel. The person without Jesus is a person condemned to spend eternity in hell. They need to know how to be rescued. Just tell them what the bible says, "JESUS SAVES." If you are reading this and you have never trusted Jesus to save you and give you eternal life. You need not wait another moment to receive His salvation. Just know by doing so you will be claiming Him as Lord of your life and you will never be the same! The Bible tells us that "whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." He is waiting for you to cry out to Him. He is waiting to Hear the words, "Lord Jesus, please save me." He is mighty to save. He saved me and He will certainly save you.
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
We don't understand it. It's a mystery. We can simply tell people what Jesus has done for them and they trust and believe in Him. Being a privileged preacher of the gospel I have been amazed at how God works through the preaching of His word. His word is powerful. His word is Sharper than a two edged sword piercing the soul and spirit. It even discerns the thoughts and intents of our heart. (Hebrews 4:12) God's word shows us who we are, "sinners!" God's word shows us who Jesus is, "God's only Son who loves us and gave Himself for us!" If we try to reason out how God speaks to us through his word we come up empty. God does not convict the heart to salvation through human reasoning.1Corinthians 1:18 says,"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." When the gospel is preached God is speaking to the heart of people who know and realize that they have a need for salvation. There is in every person the desire to find God. There is a curiosity In everyone to figure out life after we die. In Ecclesiastes 3:11 we read, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end." We all have a desire to seek out eternity but we will not find it until we find Jesus. We can not rationalize or reason it out. It is as simple as faith. Just believing that Jesus is the Son of God, He paid for your sin on the cross and he rose from the dead. We have to believe in the good news that is preached to us from His word. Romans 10:9 says, that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. Even the apostle Paul wrote and said, in 1 Corinthians 2:2," For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." This is the greatest message that will ever be preached. People will be changed forever at this word. That God sent His only Son into the world to save a condemned world. If your a Christian and you read this, please preach the gospel. The person without Jesus is a person condemned to spend eternity in hell. They need to know how to be rescued. Just tell them what the bible says, "JESUS SAVES." If you are reading this and you have never trusted Jesus to save you and give you eternal life. You need not wait another moment to receive His salvation. Just know by doing so you will be claiming Him as Lord of your life and you will never be the same! The Bible tells us that "whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." He is waiting for you to cry out to Him. He is waiting to Hear the words, "Lord Jesus, please save me." He is mighty to save. He saved me and He will certainly save you.
Beautiful Church
Ephesians 4:15-16
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head- Christ- 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
God the Father gave Jesus to us. Jesus went to the cross and gave His life. He ascended to Heaven and gave us His Holy spirit. The Holy spirit lives in us and gives us power. And when God calls us to Heaven He will give us an inheritance that will stand forever! God has given us so very much! The funny thing is, in the middle of all of this we find that He takes nothing from us. He just gives us more. He gave us the church. People will often argue that they have no need of church. Some say, they don't have to attend church to have relationship with God. If we consider the problem in that statement we will find the underlying issue. This statement basically says, "I don't belong." The Christian doesn't attend church. The Christian is the church. Believers make up the church! To say you attend church is to view yourself as an outsider. To say you attend church is like saying it's something you turn off and on like a television set. We are the church and whether we meet to worship our great God and King or work together in ministry, we bring with us a missing part! Our opening passage says that the body(the church) is being knit together by what every joint supplies according to effective working by which each part does it's share. The Bible tells us that Jesus loved the church and He gave Himself for it. (Ephesians 5:25) His church is His hands and feet. His church is His how God chooses to operate in the world. We are the Church and every individual takes part in the details of ministry, worship, fellowship and growth. 1Corinthians 12:6 says, And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. Every believer has a significant, detailed part in the church. Not only that but God has a specific place for each believer to serve in,1 Corinthians 12:18 says,"But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased." The church is essential to the Christian and the Christian is essential to the church. The church grows us and helps us to walk closer to Christ. We supply our gifts and talents which help to grow the church. As a pastor, God has taught me to love His church. He has given me a passion to help grow His church. If I could describe the workings of the church In one word it would be "beautiful." How can it be that God would take people from all different walks of life, race, and culture, put them together and tell us to carry out His great commission? How does He take people who have nothing in common and give them a desire to work together? My church is beautiful! It's beautiful because of what Jesus has done in our midst. I'm a part of something beautiful! How could it be that God would take someone like me and bless me in such a way as to place me in His church? My church is not a place I attend. My church is my way of life. My church is my family. It's where I call home. My church is where I receive encouragement, love and support. My church is where I give encouragement, love and support! My church is truly beautiful!
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head- Christ- 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
God the Father gave Jesus to us. Jesus went to the cross and gave His life. He ascended to Heaven and gave us His Holy spirit. The Holy spirit lives in us and gives us power. And when God calls us to Heaven He will give us an inheritance that will stand forever! God has given us so very much! The funny thing is, in the middle of all of this we find that He takes nothing from us. He just gives us more. He gave us the church. People will often argue that they have no need of church. Some say, they don't have to attend church to have relationship with God. If we consider the problem in that statement we will find the underlying issue. This statement basically says, "I don't belong." The Christian doesn't attend church. The Christian is the church. Believers make up the church! To say you attend church is to view yourself as an outsider. To say you attend church is like saying it's something you turn off and on like a television set. We are the church and whether we meet to worship our great God and King or work together in ministry, we bring with us a missing part! Our opening passage says that the body(the church) is being knit together by what every joint supplies according to effective working by which each part does it's share. The Bible tells us that Jesus loved the church and He gave Himself for it. (Ephesians 5:25) His church is His hands and feet. His church is His how God chooses to operate in the world. We are the Church and every individual takes part in the details of ministry, worship, fellowship and growth. 1Corinthians 12:6 says, And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. Every believer has a significant, detailed part in the church. Not only that but God has a specific place for each believer to serve in,1 Corinthians 12:18 says,"But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased." The church is essential to the Christian and the Christian is essential to the church. The church grows us and helps us to walk closer to Christ. We supply our gifts and talents which help to grow the church. As a pastor, God has taught me to love His church. He has given me a passion to help grow His church. If I could describe the workings of the church In one word it would be "beautiful." How can it be that God would take people from all different walks of life, race, and culture, put them together and tell us to carry out His great commission? How does He take people who have nothing in common and give them a desire to work together? My church is beautiful! It's beautiful because of what Jesus has done in our midst. I'm a part of something beautiful! How could it be that God would take someone like me and bless me in such a way as to place me in His church? My church is not a place I attend. My church is my way of life. My church is my family. It's where I call home. My church is where I receive encouragement, love and support. My church is where I give encouragement, love and support! My church is truly beautiful!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Love is Risky Business
1 John 3:23
"And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us a commandment."
Wouldn't it be great if love always came first! If we would truly put love above all things and love each other with fervent love there would be no stopping the church. Love covers a multitude of sins! (1Peter 4:8) For God so loved the world that "HE GAVE" His only Son. He did not send Jesus into the world to condemn the world but to save the world from sin. (John 3:16-17) God's love will cover a multitude of sins! His love is fervent, relentless and powerful. His love is unconditional, uncontainable and unstoppable. His love is endless, limitless and selfless. He literally moved Heaven to earth to bring His incredible love to us. John 1:14 says, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." The word is God's divine expression. God showing His love became flesh! Jesus was fully God and fully man. He experienced all things just like us, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15) This is how love works God gave us His son because He loves us. We love Him because He first loved us. We love each other because of His love in us.1 John 5:2 says," By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments." We are told in scripture to be imitators of God! In First Peter we are told to love without hypocrisy, to be genuine, and sincere with a pure heart. Wow, If we could just wrap our hearts around this kind of love we could change the world. To love like this is to have no regard for self. To love even without love in return. To love knowing that people will take advantage of you. Knowing that you will be hurt, ignored, cursed and slandered. When you love people like Jesus loves them these things will happen. It is hard to commit to love in such a way as this. Knowing that your just setting yourself up. However there is another side. When we love like this, lives are changed, people are saved and their sins are forgiven! They come into a right relationship with God and receive real life! We must never let the other side harden or callous us. A hard heart will never win anyone to Christ. We must rescue the perishing. People are dying without Jesus. In a crowd of thousands there is always one that is ready to receive the love that we can offer them. That love that covers a multitude of sins. That love that can reach into the soul of a sinner and save them for all of eternity. I wonder how big the crowd was on the day that Zacchaeus climbed that sycamore tree? How many people were on that road? How many people brushed against the Son of God and never realized who they were walking beside? How many people took for granted the miracles that Jesus performed and never truly loved Him in return? On that day it was a little short tax collector named Zacchaeus who became a child of the Most High God. Salvation came to his house on that day and that salvation brought great joy to Jesus. Luke 19:9-10 says, And Jesus said to him,"Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10"for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Jesus sought out and saved Zacchaeus because He loved him with a fervent love. There are millions in the world just like Zacchaeus. They are waiting for Jesus to come walking down their street. They are ready to receive His life changing love. Who will be the one who shows them Jesus? Who will walk down their street seeking them out? It's risky. It's challenging and even heartbreaking. But it's worth it. Please Church, let's not be afraid to love!
"And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us a commandment."
Wouldn't it be great if love always came first! If we would truly put love above all things and love each other with fervent love there would be no stopping the church. Love covers a multitude of sins! (1Peter 4:8) For God so loved the world that "HE GAVE" His only Son. He did not send Jesus into the world to condemn the world but to save the world from sin. (John 3:16-17) God's love will cover a multitude of sins! His love is fervent, relentless and powerful. His love is unconditional, uncontainable and unstoppable. His love is endless, limitless and selfless. He literally moved Heaven to earth to bring His incredible love to us. John 1:14 says, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." The word is God's divine expression. God showing His love became flesh! Jesus was fully God and fully man. He experienced all things just like us, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15) This is how love works God gave us His son because He loves us. We love Him because He first loved us. We love each other because of His love in us.1 John 5:2 says," By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments." We are told in scripture to be imitators of God! In First Peter we are told to love without hypocrisy, to be genuine, and sincere with a pure heart. Wow, If we could just wrap our hearts around this kind of love we could change the world. To love like this is to have no regard for self. To love even without love in return. To love knowing that people will take advantage of you. Knowing that you will be hurt, ignored, cursed and slandered. When you love people like Jesus loves them these things will happen. It is hard to commit to love in such a way as this. Knowing that your just setting yourself up. However there is another side. When we love like this, lives are changed, people are saved and their sins are forgiven! They come into a right relationship with God and receive real life! We must never let the other side harden or callous us. A hard heart will never win anyone to Christ. We must rescue the perishing. People are dying without Jesus. In a crowd of thousands there is always one that is ready to receive the love that we can offer them. That love that covers a multitude of sins. That love that can reach into the soul of a sinner and save them for all of eternity. I wonder how big the crowd was on the day that Zacchaeus climbed that sycamore tree? How many people were on that road? How many people brushed against the Son of God and never realized who they were walking beside? How many people took for granted the miracles that Jesus performed and never truly loved Him in return? On that day it was a little short tax collector named Zacchaeus who became a child of the Most High God. Salvation came to his house on that day and that salvation brought great joy to Jesus. Luke 19:9-10 says, And Jesus said to him,"Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10"for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Jesus sought out and saved Zacchaeus because He loved him with a fervent love. There are millions in the world just like Zacchaeus. They are waiting for Jesus to come walking down their street. They are ready to receive His life changing love. Who will be the one who shows them Jesus? Who will walk down their street seeking them out? It's risky. It's challenging and even heartbreaking. But it's worth it. Please Church, let's not be afraid to love!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Church "SERVICE" or "SERVE US"
James 4:8
"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double- minded."
I have heard them so many times. Those statements people make about there local churches. You know, statements like,"I like that church better because they have great music," or " That pastors preaching is much better than the one at the other church." There always seems to be something. Either the worship services are too long or the people are not very friendly. Maybe there are age barriers or social barriers. There are many things that drive us to leave, or join a church. Whenever I am faced with this as people either leave our fellowship or join us, my thoughts and my words are always the same. I ask, "Have you considered this in prayer? Is God leading you in this direction?" The bible tells us in1 Corinthians 12:18, "But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased." God does this so that we can be a working part of that body. The truth is, we are a consumer driven culture! The serve me generation! "What can the church offer me?" Seems to be the greatest question in Christian circles these days. Even churches get in on this. Instead of promoting Jesus many churches are using programs and activities as their primary marketing strategy. Please don't take me the wrong way. There is nothing wrong with programs or activities. They are great! However the church should keep them as secondary to the one who loved the church so much that He gave Himself for it, "JESUS." (Ephesians 5:25) He told us in John 12:32,"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." We need to be inviting people to draw near to Jesus. Not to our ski trips! Ski trips are great but they don't compel people give their life to Christ, they just encourage people to take what they can get. Only Jesus can touch a heart in such a way that they will stop thinking about what the church can do for them and start thinking about what they can do for the church. When did we decide that Jesus was not enough to build a great church? Better yet, "When did we start thinking that we are?" It's His church! He said He was going to build it on the simple belief that He is the Son of God. (Matthew 16:16-18) We call Him Lord so we can serve Him and He created the church for that purpose. We should never walk into a church with thoughts about what the church can offer us. We should walk into the church with a heart to worship and serve our awesome God! We need to have a heart to draw near to God. It is a heart like this that can hear Him. A heart like this is sensitive to the direction of God. A heart like this can be shown just exactly were it can be used in service to God. He may place that heart in a church that on the surface seems to be a very unlikely combination. This is actually a probable scenario, however if Jesus is the leader, the dance will be beautiful! "Thank You Lord Jesus for Your church, may we live to lift You up and bring You GLORY!"
"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double- minded."
I have heard them so many times. Those statements people make about there local churches. You know, statements like,"I like that church better because they have great music," or " That pastors preaching is much better than the one at the other church." There always seems to be something. Either the worship services are too long or the people are not very friendly. Maybe there are age barriers or social barriers. There are many things that drive us to leave, or join a church. Whenever I am faced with this as people either leave our fellowship or join us, my thoughts and my words are always the same. I ask, "Have you considered this in prayer? Is God leading you in this direction?" The bible tells us in1 Corinthians 12:18, "But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased." God does this so that we can be a working part of that body. The truth is, we are a consumer driven culture! The serve me generation! "What can the church offer me?" Seems to be the greatest question in Christian circles these days. Even churches get in on this. Instead of promoting Jesus many churches are using programs and activities as their primary marketing strategy. Please don't take me the wrong way. There is nothing wrong with programs or activities. They are great! However the church should keep them as secondary to the one who loved the church so much that He gave Himself for it, "JESUS." (Ephesians 5:25) He told us in John 12:32,"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." We need to be inviting people to draw near to Jesus. Not to our ski trips! Ski trips are great but they don't compel people give their life to Christ, they just encourage people to take what they can get. Only Jesus can touch a heart in such a way that they will stop thinking about what the church can do for them and start thinking about what they can do for the church. When did we decide that Jesus was not enough to build a great church? Better yet, "When did we start thinking that we are?" It's His church! He said He was going to build it on the simple belief that He is the Son of God. (Matthew 16:16-18) We call Him Lord so we can serve Him and He created the church for that purpose. We should never walk into a church with thoughts about what the church can offer us. We should walk into the church with a heart to worship and serve our awesome God! We need to have a heart to draw near to God. It is a heart like this that can hear Him. A heart like this is sensitive to the direction of God. A heart like this can be shown just exactly were it can be used in service to God. He may place that heart in a church that on the surface seems to be a very unlikely combination. This is actually a probable scenario, however if Jesus is the leader, the dance will be beautiful! "Thank You Lord Jesus for Your church, may we live to lift You up and bring You GLORY!"
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