Greetings!!
Over the last several weeks this subject has been weighing heavy on my mind. Ministry work and the local church. First lets think about what ministry work really is. I believe it is reaching out to your local community and beyond helping to provide for both the physical needs and spiritual needs of others. Some of the physical needs would be food, shelter, clothing and furniture. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 25 we are to, "feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned and be hospitable to the homeless." Does your church do these things?
While providing for the physical needs of others we can also provide for the spiritual needs by sharing the gospels. Talking to people about the saving grace of Jesus. Give them guidance and hope. Share with them Christian reading materials and try to help them come to a relationship with Christ if they do not already have one. If they are in a relationship with Christ then we can reinforce and support that relationship. Help someone to grow in their faith. Be encouraging to them.
I believe all Christians, no matter how far along they are in their faith walk should be ministry minded and always willing to reach out to another person. It is our duty so to speak. I also believe a church that is not active in ministry work is not much more than a social club where people get together once or twice a week to hang out rather than to do the work of the Lord. A church without ministries is not setting a good example of Christian behavior to the community or world around them. Jesus said let your light shine like a city on a hill. It is not works that gives you salvation but works that shows you are saved.
Jesus sacrificed His life for us. If we are to be like Jesus we must be willing to make sacrifices to help others. It is sad to see that so many have fallen away from doing what the bible teaches us to do. Many think, "its not my problem", or, "let someone else help, I have my own life to deal with", and other similar statements. I wonder if those people who think these things would feel the same way if they suddenly found themselves falling on hard times?
Times are tough right now, the economy is very bad and getting worse every day. There are more natural disasters such has hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and tornadoes, not to mention severe droughts, huge wild fires and more. Would you reach out to a flood victim, the drought victims in Texas or victims in some other area or would you say, let the government take care of them? Yes, I agree, FEMA needs to do what they were created for, but so do we!! If your church is not involved in ministry work, I strongly encouraging them to start and if they refuse, I strongly encourage you to seek a church who is. Read carefully the scriptures in Matthew 25 and hopefully you will understand why I say this is so very important.
Until next time,,,,,,,Blessings!!
Showing posts with label Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Church. Show all posts
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
The New Testament Church and today,,,,,
Greetings,
Thinking about the trying times ahead with the economy brought my mind back to the New Testament Church and ours today. The bible tells us that the people in the first churches were very giving and loving. If a brother or sister in Christ had a need church members would sell their belongings to help them. They would sacrifice their own comfort to help someone else. Isn't that amazing? Would you do that today to help someone in need? Would you sell land or personal belongings?
I dare say most today would not go "to that extreme" to help another. But according to the bible that is what we should be doing. Looking at the economy, we might have to do that in the near future to help each other survive.
I know so many who have lost their jobs, their homes and their personal belongings due to the economy. It is a trickle down effect. The company they work for has a major "downsizing" to keep the business afloat.
They lose their job, eventually unemployment runs out and they have not found work. They start selling things to try to keep the household running while they continue to look for work, but there is none to be found. Eventually, there is nothing left they can sell that will pay the bills. They have exhausted their savings account if they had one. There is nothing left but a huge pile of bills and bill collectors calling them day and night.
The car gets repossessed. The utilities get shut off. The phone is shut off. They seek assistance from local organizations but they find no help because those organizations are out of funds having to help so many people. Finally, the house is repossessed and there is nothing left. Think this can't happen? Think again, it is happening hundreds, possibly thousands of times a day across this nation!!
How far would you go to help a neighbor, a relative or a friend? Would you give up buying the latest tech gadget to buy someone food? Or would you think, like so many do, that its their problem, not yours? If you are a Christian I would hope you would be willing to buy the food and help the person in need. After all, the bible tells us, that is exactly what we are to do.
A church building should not be a country club who is more concerned about the appearance of the building than the ministry work God wants them to do. What good is new carpet or paint when there are people within your community suffering? What good is a potluck if you do not invite the hungry to eat? Gospel sings can be wonderful, they can feed the spirit of so many, but have you invited the lost to your sings so their spirit can be fed as well?
Jesus tells us in Matthew 25: 34 -46 that we are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned, (see scripture below), does your congregation do this? If not, you are not serving the Lord!
34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
When I read this scripture I see that Jesus is saying, "look, you have to accept me as Lord but you must also do these things or on the final judgement day I will not recognize you as my brethren, you will not be joint heirs with me." The last two lines of this scripture are very important. They are showing us, taking care of brothers and sisters in Christ is the most important thing. So therefore the church has a purpose. It is a purpose far beyond looking pretty.
Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with wanting your church to look nice but if you are neglecting Jesus' commands for the sake of having a nice looking church then you are wrong in that regard and need to get your priorities straight. God's work must always come first!! If we put God first in both our church lives and our personal lives everything else will fall into place. Are you putting God first in your life today? Is your church family putting God first?
Until next time,,,,,,,Blessings!!
Thinking about the trying times ahead with the economy brought my mind back to the New Testament Church and ours today. The bible tells us that the people in the first churches were very giving and loving. If a brother or sister in Christ had a need church members would sell their belongings to help them. They would sacrifice their own comfort to help someone else. Isn't that amazing? Would you do that today to help someone in need? Would you sell land or personal belongings?
I dare say most today would not go "to that extreme" to help another. But according to the bible that is what we should be doing. Looking at the economy, we might have to do that in the near future to help each other survive.
I know so many who have lost their jobs, their homes and their personal belongings due to the economy. It is a trickle down effect. The company they work for has a major "downsizing" to keep the business afloat.
They lose their job, eventually unemployment runs out and they have not found work. They start selling things to try to keep the household running while they continue to look for work, but there is none to be found. Eventually, there is nothing left they can sell that will pay the bills. They have exhausted their savings account if they had one. There is nothing left but a huge pile of bills and bill collectors calling them day and night.
The car gets repossessed. The utilities get shut off. The phone is shut off. They seek assistance from local organizations but they find no help because those organizations are out of funds having to help so many people. Finally, the house is repossessed and there is nothing left. Think this can't happen? Think again, it is happening hundreds, possibly thousands of times a day across this nation!!
How far would you go to help a neighbor, a relative or a friend? Would you give up buying the latest tech gadget to buy someone food? Or would you think, like so many do, that its their problem, not yours? If you are a Christian I would hope you would be willing to buy the food and help the person in need. After all, the bible tells us, that is exactly what we are to do.
A church building should not be a country club who is more concerned about the appearance of the building than the ministry work God wants them to do. What good is new carpet or paint when there are people within your community suffering? What good is a potluck if you do not invite the hungry to eat? Gospel sings can be wonderful, they can feed the spirit of so many, but have you invited the lost to your sings so their spirit can be fed as well?
Jesus tells us in Matthew 25: 34 -46 that we are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned, (see scripture below), does your congregation do this? If not, you are not serving the Lord!
34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
When I read this scripture I see that Jesus is saying, "look, you have to accept me as Lord but you must also do these things or on the final judgement day I will not recognize you as my brethren, you will not be joint heirs with me." The last two lines of this scripture are very important. They are showing us, taking care of brothers and sisters in Christ is the most important thing. So therefore the church has a purpose. It is a purpose far beyond looking pretty.
Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with wanting your church to look nice but if you are neglecting Jesus' commands for the sake of having a nice looking church then you are wrong in that regard and need to get your priorities straight. God's work must always come first!! If we put God first in both our church lives and our personal lives everything else will fall into place. Are you putting God first in your life today? Is your church family putting God first?
Until next time,,,,,,,Blessings!!
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