The Power of Prayer

'Pray without ceasing.' 1 Thessalonians 5:17 NKJV

When the Bible says, ‘Pray without ceasing,’ that means pray every day, not just periodically or when you’re in trouble. ‘The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.’ (James 5:16 NKJV) The word ‘fervent’ means passionate, persistent and determined. It’s not the number of our prayers, how many they are; nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how eloquent they may be; nor the geometry of our prayers, how long they may be; nor the music of our prayers, how sweet our voice may be; nor the logic of our prayers, how argumentative they may be; nor the method of our prayers, how orderly they may be; nor even the theology of our prayers, how good the doctrine is, that God responds to.

Fervency of spirit is what ‘avails much’. The most powerful thing you can do is pray! And when you join with a prayer partner, your potential is awesome. ‘If two of you agree on earth concerning anything that [you] ask, it will be done for them by My Father in Heaven.’ (Matthew 18:19 NKJV) It works like this: the less you pray, the less you want to pray; the more you pray, the more you want to pray. Nothing will motivate you to pray like answered prayer. But you can’t start with the answer; you’ve got to start with the prayer! Here’s a fact of life: we only keep doing what rewards us. So the key to building a great prayer life is to pray until you get answers. Think how deeply rooted doubt has actually become in our hearts when we’re surprised to find our prayers answered! So pray in faith and expect God to answer!

You are Loved!

Three Important Questions You Must Ask

'So be careful how you live... Make the most of every opportunity...' Ephesians 5:15-16 NLT

Following a plan is like using a GPS device (Global Positioning System). If you have a smart phone it has GPS and maps. It knows where you are, you tell it where you want to go, and it creates a personalised road map. The difference between a GPS and you is you have to create all your own turn–by–turn directions.

Mark Twain said, ‘The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting the first one.’

To reach your destination you must ask yourself three questions:
(1) What’s my present position? It’s impossible to ignore the reality of where you are right now and still be successful. The former CEO of General Electric observed, ‘Strategic management is trying to understand where you will sit in tomorrow’s world, not where you hope to sit; it’s assessing where you want to be, and where you can be.’

(2) What’s my desired destination? Write down what your dream will look like when you’ve achieved it. Henry J. Kaiser, founder of Kaiser–Permanente health care system, said, ‘The evidence is overwhelming that you cannot begin to achieve your best unless you have some aim in life.’

(3) What are the in–between steps? Don’t expect them to be quick or easy. Creativity is messy. It’s far from an exact science. But unless you know where you want to go and identify the steps that will get you there, ten years from now you’ll still be where you are today. So Make the most of every opportunity.

You are Loved!

Love Your Pastor

'He...gave some to be...pastors.' Ephesians 4:11 NKJV

 

I don't do this often; talk about myself. But since it is pastor appreciation month I thought I would share something I received from a friend.

 

"Pastors have a tough job. They get more kicks than kisses. If a pastor is young, he lacks experience; if he’s grey–haired, he’s too old. If he has five kids, he has too many; if he has none, he’s setting a bad example. If his wife sings in the worship team, she’s being forward; if not, she’s not dedicated enough. If he preaches from notes, he’s dry; if his words are impromptu, he’s too shallow. If he spends too much time in his study, he’s neglecting his people; if he makes home visits, he’s not a good time manager. If he’s attentive to the poor, he’s after public approval; if he attends to the wealthy, he’s ingratiating. If he suggests improvements, he’s a dictator; if he doesn’t, he has no vision. If he uses too many illustrations, he neglects the Bible; if he doesn’t use enough stories, he’s unclear. If he speaks against wrong, he’s legalistic; if he doesn’t, he’s a compromiser. If he preaches for an hour, he’s windy; less than that, he has nothing to say. If he preaches the truth, he’s offensive; if he doesn’t, he’s wishy–washy. If he fails to please everybody, he’s hurting the church; if he tries to please everybody, he has no convictions. If he preaches tithing, he’s a money–grabber; if not, he’s failing to develop his people. If he receives a large salary, he’s mercenary; if he doesn’t, it proves he’s not worth much. If he preaches on a regular basis, people get tired of hearing the same person; if he invites guest preachers, he’s shirking his responsibility." Wow! And you thought your pastor has an easy life! How’d you like to change places? Bottom line: We need your Love and prayers!

By the way...You are Loved!

Be Flexible in all you Do

'The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.' Psalm 37:23 NKJV

The Psalmist writes, ‘The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand.’ (Psalm 37:23–24 NKJV)

There are three things God desires from us:
(1) God delights in the fact that you’re willing to step out in faith and try.
(2) He doesn’t guarantee that you won’t stumble, but that ultimately He won’t let you fail.
(3) When you feel like you can’t go on, He will uphold and strengthen you.

What more could you ask for? God never changes, but life does. So you must be ready to adapt to unforeseen circumstances. Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, is credited with having been a visionary leader. His dream was to provide value to customers in order to improve their lives. But he was notorious for changing plans and abandoning strategies that didn’t work. Sam’s son Jim Walton admitted, ‘We all laughed at some writers who viewed Dad as a grand strategist who intuitively developed complex plans and implemented them with precision. Dad thrived on change, and no decision was ever sacred.’ What good is a well–planned strategy if it doesn’t yield good results? 

God is more committed to the vision He’s given you than you are. But when He leads you in a new direction, you must be ready to follow Him. Like Israel in the wilderness, when the guiding cloud moved they had to move with it. The same goes for you. So, be flexible.

You are Loved!

The Power of Prayer has a Three Fold Potential (3)

Prayer will personally awaken you spiritually

 

 Jude 1:20-21 “But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”

 

Charles Spurgeon wrote; “in the ark of salvation we find a lower, second, and third story; all are in the ark but all are not on the same story. Most Christians, as to the river of experience, are only up to the ankles; some others have waded until the stream is up to the knees; a few find it breast high; but only a few! How few find it a river to swim in, the bottom of which they cannot touch. Wise is a person who learns to pray with this prevailing power. Such a one will not only participate in changing the world, but will watch a continual change in his or her personal life.”

Spiritual growth comes through prayer as you learn to love Jesus.

Prayer has the capacity to change you, and Who of us doesn't desire a closer relationship with Christ.

 

Paul told the Philippians in 3:10 “I want to know Christ—I want to know Him.” “To know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death”

When I was young believer I didn’t get what Paul was saying in PHP 3. It seemed like way to much work. My question was, God you want me to know Christ? Your relationship with Christ has to be more than a surface relationship. When I was stalking my wife, I wanted to know her, be with her, love her, and die old with her. That is what Paul is saying here. I tell her that all the time. We need to tell Christ that all the time.

Finally, The bible tells us that you have the power and…
Capacity to change the church through prayer because of your relationship with Christ.

Circumstances change because we pray. A joyful, loving, and caring church is one which keeps each other in prayer. The opposite is an unjoyful, unloving, uncaring Christian community. When we fail to remember and support each other in prayer there are missed opportunities because we are not listening to God with an open mind and heart.

Christian community without prayer is not possible. It’s like trying to cook a good meal without the necessary equipment; or fix a car without the necessary tools and repairs—it is not possible. Prayer not only gives us the necessary resources to be the community God wants us to be and accomplish the tasks he wants us to do; prayer also changes our impossible situations into possible ones.

The bible tells us we have the Capacity to change the World through prayer

More importantly, prayer changes us to change our world! Prayer transforms our harmful attitudes and behaviors. So as Paul would say, never underestimate the power of your prayers—God works miracles through them.

When we take on the task of prayer amazing stuff happens.

Prayer: we [express our hearts to God in Prayer] by believing God for an expanding multitude of growing Christians that are learning to walk in intimacy with Him; Believing God for the impossible.

 

You are Loved!

 

The Power of Prayer has a Three Fold Potential (2)

 

     Christian Unity comes about Through Prayer.

We become unified in heart and purpose when we pray together. Prayer unifies us to the mission of Christ. But Disunity on the other hand, is one of the biggest factors that break apart people and churches. I love the phrase there is power in our words; because we can use our words to uplift or teardown.

Paul encourages the Philippians to do something incredible and use their words and actions to uplift.

Php 2:12-16  “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. 14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, "children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation." Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life."

Do you want to Shine? Then don't grumble and complain. Were does grumbling lead us?

To dis·uni·ty

The state of not being able to agree about important things: lack of unity; especially: dissension

We have a choice everyday to choose unity or Dissention. To work out our salvation or to complain about it. In the church unity is a hard balancing act. We all want to do it our way or to see it done our way. When things get done differently we rebel. Luke shared about the church that was in unity and harmony with one another in Acts 4:31-35; this is what the church should be like.

Act 4:31 “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. 32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.”

What was the church to be?

One heart - one mind
They shared their possessions
They testified to the resurrection of Jesus, they were about making peoples days better through Christ.
Grace was upon them
They were givers

This is what happens when People are functioning in Spiritual unity. It brings people of various backgrounds together at the throne of grace. Prayer is the factor that changes our world. More tomorrow...

 

You are Loved!

 

The Power of Prayer has a threefold Potential!

The Power of Prayer has a Threefold Potential!

We know God commands us to pray. We know that it is his will. When we pray, we are being obedient. Every time the church prayed in Acts, they received power and God received glory. When we pray and ask God to make us a praying individual or church that is a powerful thing.  

Visions come in many fascinating ways. God has always given me a vision for a praying church. I have always asked God to fill us to capacity spiritually, even though it is not on me to make that happen. It’s upon us to allow God to work in our lives because we know Christianity is not just a social club, but a life changing moment in our lives when Jesus Christ comes into our heart. Paul explained that simply as “we have become a new creation.” The new creation we have become leads us to relationship with God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Prayer is just a natural part of that relationship.

There are lot of definitions I could use but let me put it this way: Why is prayer so important? Because Someone prayed for you!  Someone cared enough to spend energy praying that you would come to know Jesus. You wouldn’t be here if someone hadn’t been praying for you or being an example of Christ in your life.

The vision we have here at Calvary is for a praying church that asks God how can we reach those who need Jesus by making someone’s day better through prayer. Making someone’s day better isn’t just about doing something for them, it’s much more.

The next step in being there for people is to pray for them. Evangelism and prayer go hand in hand.

1.   Prayer will help us fulfill the Great Commission…

 Reaching our community is simply praying for one person at a time. In Matthew 28:19 Jesus tells us, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”

We are commanded to make disciples. That seems big, but the “we” is the church. The church’s task: goal, responsibility, and commissioning is to preach the gospel of repentance and forgiveness. We pray in the harvest…

This year was the first year I got cherries on our rainier cherry tree. That tree had sat there for three years and never gave us any fruit. Then one day Larry asks me if I had ever pruned the tree? Of course I hadn’t; so he prunes it and guess what? I get cherries.

When we are looking at the great commission it isn’t about us just witnessing to people, we need to pray for them as well. 

Jesus was speaking to His disciples in Matthew 9:37&38 “Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

The word “ask” that is used in the NIV; in the Kings James the word is “Pray therefore.” We are to pray to the Lord of the harvest for others to come into His kingdom.

The Greek word for prayer is Deomai, and it  Means…

1) to want to
2) to desire, long for
3) to ask, beg
3a) beseech
3b) to pray, make supplications, entreat

If we want to see the others come to Christ then we must pray for the Lord of the harvest to help us. I hope you will be a part of making that happen in our church and community.

You are Loved!

Eye-Opening

'Jesus Himself came up and walked along with them.' Luke 24:15 NIV

As I was drinking my coffee this morning and reading in Luke following the crucifixion; Cleopas and his companion were on the road that led home to Emmaus. That’s when ‘Jesus himself came up and walked along with them.’ Their hopes lay buried in a tomb; their faith had turned to doubt. So what did Jesus do? He held a Bible study! ‘Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.’ (Luke 24:27 NLT)

Jesus knows that when you’re walking the road of doubt, you need to get into His Word and get it into you. I know you here that from me often, but it is true. When you get into God's word, three things happen:
(1) Your eyes will be opened. ‘Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him.’ (Luke 24:31 NKJV) There are things you will only see when God reveals them to you through His Word. That’s why Bible reading must be one of your highest priorities.
(2) Your heart will burn. ‘They said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us?”’ (Luke 24:32 NKJV) When you put God’s Word to work and begin to walk out its precepts, it will energize you and change your life.
(3) You’ll want to tell everybody. ‘They rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed.”’ (Luke 24:33–34 NKJV) You say, ‘But I’m timid, and not very good with words.’ When you truly fall in love, you’ll find a way to express it. So today look for an opportunity to tell someone what Jesus has done for you. Why don't you make their day better!

You are Loved!

Growing Your Hope

'Lord, where do I put my hope?' Psalm 39:7 NLT

The bible tells us to ask for more faith, because without faith "it is impossible to please God." Faith and hope go hand in hand. In Psalm 39:7 David asks the question, "where do I put my hope?" So if you find yourself in a place were you are asking that question:

 (1) Admit how you feel. That doesn’t mean sitting around wallowing in negativity; it means trusting God enough to acknowledge how you really feel. Pretending things are fine when they’re not, makes it harder to get back up. We all have down times. The Psalmist asked God to help him cope with despondency (Psalms 42–43). And at one point Paul was under so much pressure he ‘despaired even of life.’ (2 Corinthians 1:8 NKJV)

(2) Identify the source. Discouragement often comes on the heels of a setback or disappointment. Did something you set your heart on fall apart? Were your hopes unrealistic to start with? Did somebody let you down? Or is your dejection coming from a generalised feeling of burnout?

(3) Talk with a trusted counsellor. Solomon said, ‘…there is safety in having many advisers.’ (Proverbs 11:14 NLT) Don’t let pride prevent you from opening up to those who will listen empathetically and respond wisely. Talking to the right people can lessen your sense of isolation, and also pave the way for others who are hurting to do the same.

(4) Be open before God. He, not fate or circumstances, gets to write the last chapter. Maybe He’s trying to teach you something or redirect your energies. David said, ‘Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in You.’ When your hope is in God, He replaces discouragement with confidence so that what you’re going through can become a path to spiritual growth.

You are Loved!

When Prayer Is Hard Work (1)

Laboring fervently for you in prayers.' Colossians 4:12 NKJV

Paul writes, ‘Epaphras, who is…always laboring fervently for you in prayers.’ Sometimes praying for others feels like ‘laboring’. You have a hard time just uttering a few words even. Once you understand and accept that prayer won’t discourage you. You can smile and tell yourself, ‘This is the way the Bible says it will be sometimes.’

G. Campbell Morgan said, ‘A man may offer a prayer, beautiful in diction and perfect in the number of its petitions. But if it gives him gratification afterwards, that prayer cannot have been truly prayed.’ What did he mean? Simply this: you’ll feel good after you’ve prayed, but your goal isn’t to feel good about the fact that you have prayed, or that you felt particularly good during the process.

Observe: (1) Prayer is a duty. It’s like going to work. You do it because it’s a commitment, and because of the rewards it brings.
(2) Prayer is a discipline. The old–timers used to talk about ‘praying through’. Through what? Through fatigue, through fears, and every other form of resistance and distraction. When you enter the ‘prayer zone’, Satan will fight you at every turn. But when you stand in the name of Jesus, the powers of darkness will retreat and you’ll prevail (John 14:13–14).
(3) Prayer is a delight. It won’t happen every time, but if you’re faithful to the place of prayer there’ll be times when your whole being will be conscious that God is present, answering your prayer and giving you guidance. And even when the answer isn’t completely clear, you’ll leave His presence saying, ‘Now I have peace about it.’

You are Loved!

Practice Happiness [3]

'We wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our...Saviour, Jesus Christ.' Titus 2:13 NIV

The last segment in Practicing Happiness is that we must remember that Hope brings happiness. But also remember skepticism never can. You may be alive when Christ returns, or you may be resur-rected to meet Him in the air. Either way, Jesus is coming again! Don’t let doubters or false date–setters dull your sense of hope.

Ray Bakke shares this story: ‘I knew an old Glasgow professor named McDonald, who, along with a Scottish chaplain, was put in a prisoner–of–war camp. A high wire fence separated the Americans from the British, and McDonald was put in the American barracks. The Americans had a little homemade radio and were able to get news from the outside. Every day McDonald would take a headline or two to the fence and share it with the chaplain in the ancient Gaelic language, indecipherable to the Germans. One day news came that the German High Command had surrendered. McDonald took the news to his friend, then watched him disappear into the barracks. A moment later a roar of celebration came from inside. Life in that camp was transformed. Men walked around singing and shouting, waving at the guards, even laughing at the dogs. When the German guards finally heard the news three nights later, they fled into the dark, leaving the gates unlocked. The next morning, Brits and Americans walked out as free men. Yet they had truly been set free three days earlier by the news that the war was over.’ The certainty of Christ’s soon return sets you free to hope, to rejoice in the worst of circumstances, and to live with purpose. For God’s redeemed people, the best is yet to come!

You are Loved!

Practice Happiness [2]

'The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.' Job 42:10 NKJV

Ever thought how helping others brings happiness? I read a story about a ragged looking child that stood looking into a candy shop window one day. A man came along and observed the scene, took him inside and said to the saleslady, ‘Fill a bag with every kind of sweet he wants.’ The boy couldn’t believe his luck. As he filled his mouth with sugary delights, his benefactor asked, ‘Is that good, son?’ He nodded in the affirmative: ‘Uh huh.’ Then the man asked, ‘Could I have some?’ Immediately the boy’s look of joy turned to fear, and clutching the bag he ran away shouting, ‘Mine, mine!’

Happiness doesn’t come by getting; it comes by forgetting yourself and living for others. Job, one of the richest men in his day, lost his health, his wealth, and his family. It’s hard to imagine, right? Then an amazing thing happened: ‘The Lord restored Job’s losses, when he prayed for his friends.’ (Job 42:10 NKJV) Job actually got back twice what he lost. How? By reaching out to others instead of dwelling on his own problems. And that principle still works today. Jesus warned, ‘Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.’ (Luke 12:15 NKJV) God blesses you for one reason: to make you a blessing to others. You’re not supposed to be a warehouse—but a clearing house. For every verse in Scripture that promises material success, there’s another that speaks of the dangers of hoarding. So Todays Thought is: helping others brings happiness, but selfishness never can.

You are Loved!

Practicing Happiness (1)

'Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.' John 13:17 NIV

Did you know that Holiness can bring happiness? The opposite is true with sin, it never can. Sometimes we find this hard to believe because for a season sin can look like happiness.

The story’s told of a mother saying to her son, ‘Be good, and have fun.’ He replies, ’Please make up your mind!’ How revealing! Today the word ‘holiness’ has got a bad reputation. Some see it as a list of all the things the church says you can’t do. Others recall those who claimed to practise holiness, but came across as rigid, joyless, narrow and judgmental.

So let’s define it: ‘Holiness is the whole of Christ in the whole of life.’ Furthermore, holiness vanishes when you talk about it; it only becomes attractive when you live it. ‘The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.’ (Proverbs 10:22 NKJV) The only thing that adds no sorrow is the blessing of the Lord.

James writes, ‘When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full–grown, brings forth death.’ (James 1:15 NKJV) When we’re immature we think we can sin and get away with it, but as we grow wiser and more mature we know better. You’ll never meet a smoker who recommends his or her habit. And you’ll meet very few who shipwrecked a marriage, recommending an affair. The law of the harvest is: ‘...whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.’ (Galatians 6:7 NKJV) Sin destroys your capacity for happiness. A loving parent doesn’t want to see their children get hurt—and God is a loving parent. David, who tasted the bitter fruits of sin first–hand, wrote, ‘Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.’ (Psalm 29:2 KJV) Holiness is a beautiful thing when you fully understand and practise it.

You are Loved!

The Devotion Factor [3]

We must Understand Biblically the Basis for Compassion

If you have been a Christian long enough you have heard the debate over grace and works; faith and deeds. We spent a long time in Ephesians two and the phrase everyone loves is “we have been saved by grace through faith.” Who doesn’t love God’s grace? It’s the coolest thing ever. But Paul’s thought doesn't stop there.

If you go on a bit further in Eph 2:10 he goes on to say that you are “Gods masterpiece created to do good works.” This phrase here refers to works of compassion. What Paul is saying is that every believer was created to love humanity as a whole.

I wish I could float and blow up soap every week to keep you excited. But as your pastor it isn’t my job to keep you excited or entertain you or somehow keep you fully devoted to God. That’s your job. You must have a love and devotion that comes from your heart.

To be a compassionate church means we must not just consider the idea of serving through acts of compassion, but we must live it so our community sees it.

If we embrace the idea of worship being more than just songs we sing on Sunday morning; but as a lifestyle that is devoted to the fact we were saved from something very nasty and given grace to have relationship with our God through Jesus Christ; it changes us. I worship him because I love him. I’m created to do amazing things for him; and God gifts me with spiritual gifts that can truly affect people. If we embrace that it will change your life and our church forever.

Lastly as a church we must learn to Talk Jesus to People.

What I’ve been sharing ultimately leads us to this. How do I impact my little world for Jesus? Our desire as a church is that everyone in a sense buys into our mission vision. We won’t go far if you don’t.

As you can see we believe that God wants this church to be a compassionate force in this community. This isn’t the next model we are following as a church. This is what I believe God is challenging each of us to be and do.

I will never forget coming to the realization that most outsiders did not see the church as a force for good. Think about that for a minute. Those who live in our community don’t look at the church as a positive force.

 et me give you an example. “A pastor in our network who had some friends who are not followers of Christ asked them what they thought of his church. They said this: here is what we struggle with. We think the church has this amazing mission to make a difference in society but it doesn’t fulfill it. I hear you talk a lot about ideas to make your services better in hopes of drawing more people to sit for an hour on Sunday and stare at the back of some one’s head, but that is not Christianity as we understand it. Yet we spend weekends working our tails off to give hope to discarded people through food drives or mentoring programs. I think we are more like Christ than you.”

Listen, I’m not telling you we shouldn’t meet to worship God on Sunday’s, I know if we didn’t that might excite a few of you. But what I am saying is that we need to be and do in a different way; that compassionately reaches our world for Christ.

A lifestyle of devotion to God means we will desire to sings songs of praise to Him because we love Him. But true and genuine love will embrace a lifestyle that does so much more; it will impact people who impact other people who will impact other people.

Let me close with this. 

Isaiah 58:10-11 “If you give food to the hungry and satisfy those who are in need, then the darkness around you will turn to the brightness of noon. And I will always guide you and satisfy you with good things. I will keep you strong and well. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water, like a spring of water that never goes dry.”  

Let’s be the spring of life!

 

You are Loved!

The Devotion Factor [2]

The Devotion Factor [2]

 

We must Become a Church that is an Agency of Compassion

If you go back to Acts 2 you get a glimpse of what the church should be and can be.

Acts 2:42-47 “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

 Let me break this down:

They were:
Committed
Devoted
Faithful
Loving
Spirit Filled
Community Orientated

This practical application of what the church was can be our biggest factor of success as we love God as a church. My desire for you and our church is that we are successful. That God blesses us and that doesn’t happen magically. It requires each of us and this church “{to Embrace a lifestyle of Devotion to God}” 

That means we are so devoted to God we don’t have to advertise. People will see how we follow and love Christ and just want to be a part of it. We have no reason to believe that Jesus or the early church was involved in compassion to try and draw a crowd. Instead this compassionate response to the culture sprung from a deep well of genuine love for people.

When Jesus was preaching one day he saw the crowd had grown large and it was about time to eat. He had love and compassion on them and asked the disciples what kind of food supplies they have? The disciples said not enough send them home. They disciples had no interest at this point in helping people from Christ's perspective. Jesus looked at them and said let me teach you something valuable. He said give me the food you have, 2 fish and five loaves, he blessed it, and over 4000 people were fed.

What was the lesson?

If you go back to Mat 25:37-40 Jesus is sharing this parable and he says, "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” 

 

More Tomorrow...

You are Loved!