Philippians 4:19-20 “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
The other week, we had a substitute pastor visit our church,
since Pastor J was taking a well-earned vacation. Pastor Loren preached on the
above verse, but challenged us to use the Providence
(God’s care in meeting our needs), according to the riches in Christ Jesus, for
the glory of God in ministry to the unchurched. The Christian church (Believers
- the body of Christ; not the building) has been given a joint responsibility
by the Lord in the Great Commission of Matthew
28:18-20 to “go
and make disciples of all nations”. This was not a “Great
Suggestion.” We are not to “feed the good dog”, so to speak, and just tackle the
easy and fun tasks of ministry as a comfortable Christian, but “seek and speak”
the good news of Christ’s gospel to all, about what the Lord has done and is
doing for us today. You may be where you are because God may have something to
say to us and those around you there. We receive that we may then give (Matthew
10:8), from self and from the Holy Spirit overflowing out from us, giving
praise at every opportunity for His gifts, mercy and grace. Remember Luke 15:3-7 Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and
loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go
after the lost sheep until he finds it? And
when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and
goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice
with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I
tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one
sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to
repent. Eternal lives are at sake. Ministry brings
glory and joy to God and glorifying God is the motive, the purpose and the goal,
for we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us
to do (Ephesians 2:10).
James 4:3
“When you ask, you do not
receive, because
you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
It’s
necessary to look at our effort and evaluate where we are in God’s purposes and
His account. There is always more that needs to be done, and we can improve and
do better. Personal growth, serving the church and the congregation, social
impact, evangelism, missions, et cetera have not arrived. Where are we at? What
does God have for us next? We have got to realize that God sees better in us
then we see in ourselves, and He has plans for us; plans for glorious growth
and improvement, as we work and move forward. Jeremiah
29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
If
we focus on the goals, while standing firmly on the rock solid foundation, that
is faith in Jesus, then God takes care of the rest. Don’t be shooting for a 3.0
GPA in ministry, when you have 4.0 potential. Let’s not let a world of
distractions steal our attention from the necessary, fruitful and rewarding act
of ministry. Church stewardship
& leadership consultant, Brian Dodd wrote the “10
Signs Your Christianity Has Become Too Comfortable” Here they are:
- You are not attending church with a high level of
expectancy.
- You no longer seem to be
concerned about the spiritual condition of neighbors, family
members, or your co-workers.
- You haven’t had a spiritual
conversation with
a non-Christian in a long time.
- The Bible seems
like a history book. It’s lifeless to you.
- Your happiness
on a Sunday mornings is more important than what it takes to
reach the unchurched. As long as you get your parking spot, your seat, and
hear the music you like, everything’s fine.
- The plight of
the poor doesn’t concern you.
- Pictures of
overseas suffering do not move you to action.
- You do not give your financial
resources sacrificially.
- Your prayers don’t
seem to be making past the ceiling.
- It doesn’t even dawn on you that God could do something incredibly radical in your life at any moment today. It’s not even on your radar.
Let’s not be there. Let’s get off of our pews! There’s
people out there waiting for us!
By the grace of God, let’s do better. We all have 4.0 potential.
In Christ, Brian
2 comments:
It doesn’t even dawn on you that God could do something incredibly radical in your life at any moment today. It’s not even on your radar.
That is something to think about! Anything is possible.
I like your thinking Ma. Living in a fairly predictable material world, its easy to forget that our Almighty Creator made and controls it all from His spiritual world of heaven.
Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,So are My ways higher than your ways,And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Just because our Maker is bigger and higher than we can imagine, doesn't mean that we don't think about Our God, who loves us. Just the opposite, because God sees, Gods knows, God cares, and can do anytime at anytime, according to is purposes. We can't, so we depend upon He who can. That comforts us.
Matthew 19:26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Thank you Ma for thinking and writing.
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