On March 16, 2010 my son, Isaac, was born! He weighed in at over 8 lbs (much bigger than his sister was at birth) and he hasn't stopped growing since. At his one month check up he was over 10 lbs! How is he growing steadily? We can look first at the physical factors: he is drinking milk six times a day, he is sleeping when he needs to sleep, and he is getting regular interaction from his mom, me, and his sister so that he knows he has a support system around himself as he grows. The older he gets the more these things will change (they will all be a part of his life and schedule, but the amount of time for each will change as he grows). The older he gets, the meals in the middle of the night will be replaced by sleep and the amount of food eaten during a meal in the daytime will increase, plus he will be getting different types of foods later on such as fruits and vegetables and eventually, meat and potatoes. Our interaction with him will become much more than holding him and talking to him or singing to him...it will become play time in a big way as well as specific teaching time and bonding time. Beyond these physical factors, God is causing Isaac to grow. You see, we did the same things with our daughter, but she is different than he is. She was much smaller and developed at a different rate than he has thus far in his life. One day though, he will be where she is now...a smart, joyful, and energetic two year old!
Now why am I telling you all of this? Other than the fact that I am a very proud husband and father (and I am!), the parallels between raising children and making disciples are very similar. We are commanded to make disciples according to the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). What does this entail? Well, discipleship is simply helping other Christians to grow in their faith so that they will be as much like Jesus as possible and they too will help other Christians to grow. 2 Timothy 2:2 says, "The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."
There are things we need to do to help Christians grow, such as showing them how to feed themselves through reading, studying, and memorizing the Word of God as well as how to pray and communicate with their Heavenly Father. As they grow up we teach them how to make decisions in life that show that they have been saved by God as well as how to share their faith with others. Our ultimate goal is for them to be able to raise up other mature Christians who will be able to do the same with others...just like I want my son to be a godly husband and father someday, raising up children who love Jesus with their entire beings!
How are you doing in raising up mature Christians that raise up others also? Do you need to first be discipled so that you can do this with someone else? This is what we are to do as Christians...make disciples of all nations so that all may know Him!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Thoughts on the Great Commission
One of the things we have been doing this past year at our church is focusing on discipleship. We have been advocating it through our Sunday School and also by using MasterLife groups. MasterLife was chosen as our main curriculum for the small groups because it is organized and reproducible. But our goal and hope is that this will not be treated simply as another Bible study for people to check off the list and think they have been “discipled”. Our goal is to group people together (men with other men and women with other women) so that they will do life together and grow together in Christlikeness. When Jesus gave us the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, He did not tell us to simply baptize people, but to “teach them to observe all He commanded us”. He told us to make mature disciples who will be disciple-makers.
So with this in mind, I am going to pose a question to you in order to challenge your thinking and cause you to evaluate and possibly reprioritize the things you do in this life. So the question is…if our mission as the Church is to make disciples (faithful followers of Jesus Christ who reproduce themselves), then why aren’t more people in our churches discipled?
Before you get too upset with me…I know our churches have been doing Discipleship Training classes and things like that for years. But have our people seen these classes simply as a Bible study? Something to check off their list? Or have these classes actually made a significant enough impact on their lives that they are turning around and investing in others to help them grow in their faith? My observation and guess is that very few in our churches that have gone through these numerous classes have become “disciple-makers”. Now don’t get me wrong, these classes have been somewhat beneficial and have taught our people some valuable truths from the Bible and about life. But where does the practical fulfilling of the Great Commission come into play?
Imparting knowledge alone to an individual is a far cry from true discipleship. You have probably noticed I use the phrase, “doing life together”, quite often. The reason for this is because discipleship and the Christian life best take place in the context of relationships, not classrooms. This is why we use Sunday School as well as these MasterLife groups as our main strategy to fulfill the Great Commission in our church. These two avenues provide a small group setting in which it is much easier to build and foster good relationships with one another. The goal of our Sunday School and these MasterLife groups is to “do life together” in such a way that each and every person in these groups are growing in their faith, reaching out to bring in new people, sharing the Gospel with these new people and helping them grow in their faith as well.
By utilizing these two “group settings” (Sunday School and MasterLife groups) we are seeking to mobilize our church to be missional in their lives here in our local community, but also to be missional in their lives as it regards the billions of lost people among the nations around the world. We are called to make disciples of all the nations…that they may know Him and worship Him alone!
So with this in mind, I am going to pose a question to you in order to challenge your thinking and cause you to evaluate and possibly reprioritize the things you do in this life. So the question is…if our mission as the Church is to make disciples (faithful followers of Jesus Christ who reproduce themselves), then why aren’t more people in our churches discipled?
Before you get too upset with me…I know our churches have been doing Discipleship Training classes and things like that for years. But have our people seen these classes simply as a Bible study? Something to check off their list? Or have these classes actually made a significant enough impact on their lives that they are turning around and investing in others to help them grow in their faith? My observation and guess is that very few in our churches that have gone through these numerous classes have become “disciple-makers”. Now don’t get me wrong, these classes have been somewhat beneficial and have taught our people some valuable truths from the Bible and about life. But where does the practical fulfilling of the Great Commission come into play?
Imparting knowledge alone to an individual is a far cry from true discipleship. You have probably noticed I use the phrase, “doing life together”, quite often. The reason for this is because discipleship and the Christian life best take place in the context of relationships, not classrooms. This is why we use Sunday School as well as these MasterLife groups as our main strategy to fulfill the Great Commission in our church. These two avenues provide a small group setting in which it is much easier to build and foster good relationships with one another. The goal of our Sunday School and these MasterLife groups is to “do life together” in such a way that each and every person in these groups are growing in their faith, reaching out to bring in new people, sharing the Gospel with these new people and helping them grow in their faith as well.
By utilizing these two “group settings” (Sunday School and MasterLife groups) we are seeking to mobilize our church to be missional in their lives here in our local community, but also to be missional in their lives as it regards the billions of lost people among the nations around the world. We are called to make disciples of all the nations…that they may know Him and worship Him alone!
Monday, March 1, 2010
The Acid Test of Life
John 14:15 (Jesus said) "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."
John 14:21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."
How do we show that we truly love Jesus? By keeping His commands. Allan Taylor said it this way: "The acid test of our love for Christ is not how much Bible we know but how much Bible we obey!" (Sunday School in HD, p. 57).
How are you doing on knowing and obeying the Word of God and thereby proving that you are His loving child?
John 14:21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."
How do we show that we truly love Jesus? By keeping His commands. Allan Taylor said it this way: "The acid test of our love for Christ is not how much Bible we know but how much Bible we obey!" (Sunday School in HD, p. 57).
How are you doing on knowing and obeying the Word of God and thereby proving that you are His loving child?
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Teaching People Through Sunday School
2 Timothy 3:16-17 - "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."
The Bible, the Word of God, is central to the life of the Church and central to the life of every true follower of Jesus. Listen to these words by Pastor Mark Dever:
"Because we have separated ourselves from God by our sin, God must speak if we are to know Him...God will not be known if He does not speak, and we cannot know Him if He has not spoken a word that we can rely on. God must reveal Himself. That is the point of the Bible. Because of our own sins, we could never know God otherwise. Either He speaks or we are forever lost in the darkness of our own speculations." (Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, p. 49)
The Bible is how we know who God is, who we are, how we relate to God and how we relate to one another. In order for us to know these things we must study the Bible and teach from it regularly. Thus, teaching the Bible is a foundational aspect of our Sunday School strategy.
We can reach out to one another and the lost world around and bring them to Sunday School, but if we are not regularly and faithfully studying and teaching the Word of God to them, then Sunday School becomes nothing more than a social gathering. The Church has a purpose and that purpose is to love God, love others, and make disciples (faithful followers of Jesus Christ) of all nations. This purpose cannot be accomplished apart from the studying and teaching of the Word of God.
One of the goals of our teaching the Bible is that some of those sitting in our Sunday School classes will hear the Gospel and God will draw them to Himself through repentance and faith that they would be forever saved and changed by His gracious, merciful, and eternal work. Another goal we aim at in teaching during Sunday School is for the encouragement and building up of the Church. Those who are sitting in our Sunday School classes that have already experienced God's miraculous salvation need encouragement and direction in how to live the Christian life in a way that will bring honor and glory to God.
Even though these two goals for our teaching the Bible in Sunday School are great goals, we know that the Sunday School experience is supposed to be so much more than just a one hour Bible study on Sunday mornings. In the previous post about reaching through Sunday School we relayed the fact that Sunday School ought to be more about people doing life together than just a "school" setting. Many around the country look at Sunday School as old and just a time of Bible study, but that is not what we are aiming at in our strategy with Sunday School in our church - we are aiming at doing life together with the goal of doing "spiritual good" to one another, to borrow a phrase from Mark Dever. This is our aim because we know that the teaching of the Word of God will be more effective in reaching the lost world around us if they see the Church living it out together in front of them. We don't want to just sit in a class once a week, we want to do life together (teaching and doing). So that we may know Him!
The Bible, the Word of God, is central to the life of the Church and central to the life of every true follower of Jesus. Listen to these words by Pastor Mark Dever:
"Because we have separated ourselves from God by our sin, God must speak if we are to know Him...God will not be known if He does not speak, and we cannot know Him if He has not spoken a word that we can rely on. God must reveal Himself. That is the point of the Bible. Because of our own sins, we could never know God otherwise. Either He speaks or we are forever lost in the darkness of our own speculations." (Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, p. 49)
The Bible is how we know who God is, who we are, how we relate to God and how we relate to one another. In order for us to know these things we must study the Bible and teach from it regularly. Thus, teaching the Bible is a foundational aspect of our Sunday School strategy.
We can reach out to one another and the lost world around and bring them to Sunday School, but if we are not regularly and faithfully studying and teaching the Word of God to them, then Sunday School becomes nothing more than a social gathering. The Church has a purpose and that purpose is to love God, love others, and make disciples (faithful followers of Jesus Christ) of all nations. This purpose cannot be accomplished apart from the studying and teaching of the Word of God.
One of the goals of our teaching the Bible is that some of those sitting in our Sunday School classes will hear the Gospel and God will draw them to Himself through repentance and faith that they would be forever saved and changed by His gracious, merciful, and eternal work. Another goal we aim at in teaching during Sunday School is for the encouragement and building up of the Church. Those who are sitting in our Sunday School classes that have already experienced God's miraculous salvation need encouragement and direction in how to live the Christian life in a way that will bring honor and glory to God.
Even though these two goals for our teaching the Bible in Sunday School are great goals, we know that the Sunday School experience is supposed to be so much more than just a one hour Bible study on Sunday mornings. In the previous post about reaching through Sunday School we relayed the fact that Sunday School ought to be more about people doing life together than just a "school" setting. Many around the country look at Sunday School as old and just a time of Bible study, but that is not what we are aiming at in our strategy with Sunday School in our church - we are aiming at doing life together with the goal of doing "spiritual good" to one another, to borrow a phrase from Mark Dever. This is our aim because we know that the teaching of the Word of God will be more effective in reaching the lost world around us if they see the Church living it out together in front of them. We don't want to just sit in a class once a week, we want to do life together (teaching and doing). So that we may know Him!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Reaching People Through Sunday School
"If you don't reach people, you can't even have Sunday School!" - Allan Taylor
The Church is charged with the task of reaching the lost world for Jesus Christ. Our mission is to make disciples of all nations (see Matthew 28:18-20). This does not mean that we want to stop with somone saying a prayer of confession and repentance towards Jesus. We want to, of course, "baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit", and have them publicly identify themselves as one who has been saved by God. But we also want to "teach them to observe all that He has commanded us". In other words we want them to live out their public confession before the world and reach out to others who have not heard about Jesus. Sunday School is a great place to do this.
Why is Sunday School so important? Here in our church, as in many churches, Sunday School is our largest area of ministry. Besides the corporate worship services, Sunday School is the place in which we have the most people participate every week. But unlike the corporate worship service, Sunday School is a place where we are grouped together in small groups and are able to build relationships with one another. In our corporate worship services, the main personal interaction time is found before and after the service and during the greeting time, which lasts all of a few minutes. Most people are coming in from Sunday School just minutes before the service starts and as soon as it is over they are ready to head out to lunch to beat the other churches to lunch or to get home in order to eat and take a nap. The point is this: these times before and after the service as well as the greeting time during the service are short and thus are not conducive to building strong lasting relationships with one another as the body of Christ.
Sunday School is a great place for us to interact with one another and build these relationships because in our view of Sunday School, it is not just a one hour a week Bible Study, but a small group of people doing life together...being the Church. People will travel and go to church to hear good preaching, but if that is all they get then they miss out on the sweet fellowship with the body of Christ that pushes us towards Christlikeness and we are told not to do that (Hebrews 10:24-25). This fellowship is encouraged in Sunday School as we participate in Bible study on Sunday mornings together, but also catch up with one another and make plans to spend time with one another and minister to one another during the week.
Sunday School is where we are grouped together by commonalities; in our church we do this through an age-graded system. Our Sunday School classes generally, but not all, have people roughly the same age as one another and are generally in the same life stage as each other. This helps with building those relationships among each other because normally they tend to have the same interests and schedules. So because this is the case, it is easier for them to invite others similar to them into the group to be a part of them and introduce them to the Gospel and eventually involve them in the life of the Church (disciple them).
We must be consciously focused outwardly on reaching people in our Sunday School classes. Reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what we are supposed to do primarily. Doing this through intentional and established relationships is effective; and these relationships are best established through our Sunday School classes doing life together. Yes, church is supposed to be a place where we have our needs met, but if it only becomes that then we have missed it. We must as the body of Christ be balanced and always looking Godward to become like Him, Inward by ministering to one another, but also Outward by reaching out to the lost world around us. Here at our church, Sunday School is our main strategy for reaching people for Jesus Christ, that we may know Him and make Him known.
The Church is charged with the task of reaching the lost world for Jesus Christ. Our mission is to make disciples of all nations (see Matthew 28:18-20). This does not mean that we want to stop with somone saying a prayer of confession and repentance towards Jesus. We want to, of course, "baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit", and have them publicly identify themselves as one who has been saved by God. But we also want to "teach them to observe all that He has commanded us". In other words we want them to live out their public confession before the world and reach out to others who have not heard about Jesus. Sunday School is a great place to do this.
Why is Sunday School so important? Here in our church, as in many churches, Sunday School is our largest area of ministry. Besides the corporate worship services, Sunday School is the place in which we have the most people participate every week. But unlike the corporate worship service, Sunday School is a place where we are grouped together in small groups and are able to build relationships with one another. In our corporate worship services, the main personal interaction time is found before and after the service and during the greeting time, which lasts all of a few minutes. Most people are coming in from Sunday School just minutes before the service starts and as soon as it is over they are ready to head out to lunch to beat the other churches to lunch or to get home in order to eat and take a nap. The point is this: these times before and after the service as well as the greeting time during the service are short and thus are not conducive to building strong lasting relationships with one another as the body of Christ.
Sunday School is a great place for us to interact with one another and build these relationships because in our view of Sunday School, it is not just a one hour a week Bible Study, but a small group of people doing life together...being the Church. People will travel and go to church to hear good preaching, but if that is all they get then they miss out on the sweet fellowship with the body of Christ that pushes us towards Christlikeness and we are told not to do that (Hebrews 10:24-25). This fellowship is encouraged in Sunday School as we participate in Bible study on Sunday mornings together, but also catch up with one another and make plans to spend time with one another and minister to one another during the week.
Sunday School is where we are grouped together by commonalities; in our church we do this through an age-graded system. Our Sunday School classes generally, but not all, have people roughly the same age as one another and are generally in the same life stage as each other. This helps with building those relationships among each other because normally they tend to have the same interests and schedules. So because this is the case, it is easier for them to invite others similar to them into the group to be a part of them and introduce them to the Gospel and eventually involve them in the life of the Church (disciple them).
We must be consciously focused outwardly on reaching people in our Sunday School classes. Reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what we are supposed to do primarily. Doing this through intentional and established relationships is effective; and these relationships are best established through our Sunday School classes doing life together. Yes, church is supposed to be a place where we have our needs met, but if it only becomes that then we have missed it. We must as the body of Christ be balanced and always looking Godward to become like Him, Inward by ministering to one another, but also Outward by reaching out to the lost world around us. Here at our church, Sunday School is our main strategy for reaching people for Jesus Christ, that we may know Him and make Him known.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Who Are We Looking At?
I came across this quote this morning as I was finishing up the book, The Deliberate Church by Mark Dever (pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C.):
"Transformation into the likeness of the Lord happens as we gaze at Him together over time. The biblical hallmarks of church health - holiness, faith, love, sound doctrine - are cultivated in us as we are captivated by Him."
So as the Church of Jesus Christ universal and as local churches spread throughout the world, who are we looking at? Are we seeking to know Jesus and to be captivated by Him so that we can become like Him and glorify Him in all the world? I pray this is the case...that we may know Him!
"Transformation into the likeness of the Lord happens as we gaze at Him together over time. The biblical hallmarks of church health - holiness, faith, love, sound doctrine - are cultivated in us as we are captivated by Him."
So as the Church of Jesus Christ universal and as local churches spread throughout the world, who are we looking at? Are we seeking to know Jesus and to be captivated by Him so that we can become like Him and glorify Him in all the world? I pray this is the case...that we may know Him!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Sunday School and the Great Commission
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching the to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
For the past few months, I have been taking our Sunday School teachers through the book, The Six Core Values of Sunday School by Allan Taylor (Minister of Education at First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia). This book is designed to cast a vision and help set in motion a plan to fulfill the Great Commission through Sunday School. For months we have talked about Reaching people, Teaching people, Ministering to people, Involving people, Assimilating people, and Building Relationships with people. These are the core values and what we are seeking to instill into the life of our Sunday School classes.
The idea is that Sunday School is not just a one hour on Sunday morning Bible study. Many seem to see it as that however. But as for us, Sunday School is a vital part of the strategy of our church to fulfill the Great Commission. It is the place where the Church is the Church. My old pastor in Fort Worth, Dr. Al Meredith (Wedgwood Baptist Church), would always remind us that "You haven't been to church until you have been to Sunday School." Our Sunday School classes are the place where we get involved in the lives of one another and learn to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15). Our Sunday School classes are the place where we are intentional in encouraging one another and reaching out together to the lost world around us. Sunday School happens throughout the week as we do life together.
In the coming weeks, I will be posting on these Six Core Values of Sunday School and seeking to lay a foundational understanding for our church on the value and effectiveness of Sunday School and how we all can be a part of it. That we may know Him and make Him known.
For the past few months, I have been taking our Sunday School teachers through the book, The Six Core Values of Sunday School by Allan Taylor (Minister of Education at First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia). This book is designed to cast a vision and help set in motion a plan to fulfill the Great Commission through Sunday School. For months we have talked about Reaching people, Teaching people, Ministering to people, Involving people, Assimilating people, and Building Relationships with people. These are the core values and what we are seeking to instill into the life of our Sunday School classes.
The idea is that Sunday School is not just a one hour on Sunday morning Bible study. Many seem to see it as that however. But as for us, Sunday School is a vital part of the strategy of our church to fulfill the Great Commission. It is the place where the Church is the Church. My old pastor in Fort Worth, Dr. Al Meredith (Wedgwood Baptist Church), would always remind us that "You haven't been to church until you have been to Sunday School." Our Sunday School classes are the place where we get involved in the lives of one another and learn to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15). Our Sunday School classes are the place where we are intentional in encouraging one another and reaching out together to the lost world around us. Sunday School happens throughout the week as we do life together.
In the coming weeks, I will be posting on these Six Core Values of Sunday School and seeking to lay a foundational understanding for our church on the value and effectiveness of Sunday School and how we all can be a part of it. That we may know Him and make Him known.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Witness Our Love
"The ultimate goal of building this kind of community - one built on distinctively Christian love that flows from the distinctively Christian Gospel - is to display God's glory throughout our surrounding neighborhoods, our cities, and ultimately the world." (Mark Dever, The Deliberate Church)
Indeed, this is the ultimate goal for our lives here on this earth - to display the glory of God Himself to the world! When you read the Bible you cannot escape this truth; it is there throughout the Old and the New Testaments. It is the reason why the Lord chose the people of Israel as His chosen people - to display His glory to the nations so that people from every tribe, tongue, and nation would come to Him in repentance and faith and worship Him alone forever. When you read about the ten plagues that the Lord brought upon Egypt you will see the Lord's reasoning behind these attacks on the Egyptian's so called gods - see Exodus 7:5, 7:17, 8:10, 8:22, 9:14, 9:16, 10:2. What was the result of these attacks upon those in Egypt who witnessed them? Many believed and followed God (look at Exodus 12:38)!
Going a little further down the road, to the dedication of Solomon's Temple; look at Solomon's prayer of dedication in 1 Kings 8:41-43, 56-61. We see there that Solomon knew and expected people from other nations to hear about God and to come to faith in Him through the corporate witness of the people of Israel.
Likewise in the New Testament we see Jesus telling His disciples at the last supper to "love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35). The disciples love for one another was a public witness of who God is to the unbelieving world around. Paul also, in his letters penned his prayers for the churches. For the church in Philippi, he prayed that their love would abound more and more (Philippians 1:9) so that ultimately it would be "to the glory and praise of God" (Philippians 1:11).
For the Church today (both the worldwide, universal Church and the local church) our goal is the same - to display the glory of God! What we do as the body of Christ matters. How we act as a church matters greatly. Are we taking the name of the Lord in vain and breaking the 3rd commandment by calling ourselves Christians and living like we want to live? Does the unbelieving world around us that is watching us (and make no mistake thinking that they are not) look and see a group of believers who truly love God and one another or do they see a group of people who call themselves Christians but put on display all sorts of self-centeredness, pride, envy, strife, hard-heartedness, and hate?
Let us heed the words of our Lord Jesus and truly seek to love one another as He loved us. Our relationship with one another and love for one another in the church is predicated upon our relationship with and love for God. Much is at stake if we do not love one another...the greatest of which is the name of the Lord God Almighty! May we honor and glorify Him rather than bring shame upon His great name! That we may know Him and make Him known!
Indeed, this is the ultimate goal for our lives here on this earth - to display the glory of God Himself to the world! When you read the Bible you cannot escape this truth; it is there throughout the Old and the New Testaments. It is the reason why the Lord chose the people of Israel as His chosen people - to display His glory to the nations so that people from every tribe, tongue, and nation would come to Him in repentance and faith and worship Him alone forever. When you read about the ten plagues that the Lord brought upon Egypt you will see the Lord's reasoning behind these attacks on the Egyptian's so called gods - see Exodus 7:5, 7:17, 8:10, 8:22, 9:14, 9:16, 10:2. What was the result of these attacks upon those in Egypt who witnessed them? Many believed and followed God (look at Exodus 12:38)!
Going a little further down the road, to the dedication of Solomon's Temple; look at Solomon's prayer of dedication in 1 Kings 8:41-43, 56-61. We see there that Solomon knew and expected people from other nations to hear about God and to come to faith in Him through the corporate witness of the people of Israel.
Likewise in the New Testament we see Jesus telling His disciples at the last supper to "love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35). The disciples love for one another was a public witness of who God is to the unbelieving world around. Paul also, in his letters penned his prayers for the churches. For the church in Philippi, he prayed that their love would abound more and more (Philippians 1:9) so that ultimately it would be "to the glory and praise of God" (Philippians 1:11).
For the Church today (both the worldwide, universal Church and the local church) our goal is the same - to display the glory of God! What we do as the body of Christ matters. How we act as a church matters greatly. Are we taking the name of the Lord in vain and breaking the 3rd commandment by calling ourselves Christians and living like we want to live? Does the unbelieving world around us that is watching us (and make no mistake thinking that they are not) look and see a group of believers who truly love God and one another or do they see a group of people who call themselves Christians but put on display all sorts of self-centeredness, pride, envy, strife, hard-heartedness, and hate?
Let us heed the words of our Lord Jesus and truly seek to love one another as He loved us. Our relationship with one another and love for one another in the church is predicated upon our relationship with and love for God. Much is at stake if we do not love one another...the greatest of which is the name of the Lord God Almighty! May we honor and glorify Him rather than bring shame upon His great name! That we may know Him and make Him known!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
The Deliberate Church and the Word of God
One of the things that seminary instilled in me was a love for reading. Growing up in California, I was always more likely to be outside playing sports than indoors reading a book. Sure I read a few books growing up, mostly novels with a good story plot, but I was never a "Reader". I skimmed my way through books in college and hit the eject button on some of the information that I learned for the tests and papers after I was done. The one book I did read in college, however, was the Bible. That was the one book that I couldn't get enough of. In fact, my good friend Donald, and I would literally spend hours in our apartment reading and sharing about all we were learning from God's Word as we devoured it day after day. Those conversations and that time spent with God and my friend Donald have kept he and I close to this day, even though we are on opposite ends of the country.
Yesterday, I started a new book about church health and leadership called, "The Deliberate Church". This book was written by a well known pastor in Washington D.C. named Mark Dever and his friend Paul Alexander. It is a follow-up book to Dever's previous (and highly recommended book), "Nine Marks of a Healthy Church". The first thing that Pastor Dever mentions is the centrality of the Word of God in the life of the church. He told the search committe when his church was in the process of calling him to be the next pastor that he would be "happy to see every aspect of my public ministry fail if it needed to...except for the preaching of God's Word." This is because God's Word is what the Lord uses to give people understanding of who He is and who we are in comparison to Him, convict people of their sin, instill in the lives of people true faith, repentance, and spiritual life and gives people instructions on how they are to live their lives for His glory and name's sake.
Dever says, "God's Word is His supernatural power for acoomplishing His supernatural work. That's why our eloquence, innovation, and programs are so much less important than we think; that's why we as pastors must give ourselves to preaching, not programs; and that's why we need to be teaching our congregations to value God's Word over programs." It is the Word of God that transforms me and those around me. It is vital that we as the people of God spend time in His Word so as to know Him and to make Him known throughout the world!
Because of this truth about the centrality of the Word of God in the life of Christians and the Church, we in our church have begun in the past year MasterLife groups where we group several men together or several ladies together in a small group as a way to go through life together, not just a 6 week Bible study. The goal is for us to grow together towards Christlikeness. Several of the main things that the MasterLife study pushes is having a daily quiet time with the Lord in His Word and in prayer as well as weekly memorizing and meditating on a Scripture verse. The Christian life can only be lived out if we stay plugged into our Lord through His Word and through prayer! These foundational disciplines will spur us on to love God and love others so that the other areas of our lives will be effected in such a way as to glorify God in all that we say and all that we do (1 Corinthians 10:31).
My hope and prayer is that we would all spend time in the Word of God this week so that we may know Him and make Him known!
Yesterday, I started a new book about church health and leadership called, "The Deliberate Church". This book was written by a well known pastor in Washington D.C. named Mark Dever and his friend Paul Alexander. It is a follow-up book to Dever's previous (and highly recommended book), "Nine Marks of a Healthy Church". The first thing that Pastor Dever mentions is the centrality of the Word of God in the life of the church. He told the search committe when his church was in the process of calling him to be the next pastor that he would be "happy to see every aspect of my public ministry fail if it needed to...except for the preaching of God's Word." This is because God's Word is what the Lord uses to give people understanding of who He is and who we are in comparison to Him, convict people of their sin, instill in the lives of people true faith, repentance, and spiritual life and gives people instructions on how they are to live their lives for His glory and name's sake.
Dever says, "God's Word is His supernatural power for acoomplishing His supernatural work. That's why our eloquence, innovation, and programs are so much less important than we think; that's why we as pastors must give ourselves to preaching, not programs; and that's why we need to be teaching our congregations to value God's Word over programs." It is the Word of God that transforms me and those around me. It is vital that we as the people of God spend time in His Word so as to know Him and to make Him known throughout the world!
Because of this truth about the centrality of the Word of God in the life of Christians and the Church, we in our church have begun in the past year MasterLife groups where we group several men together or several ladies together in a small group as a way to go through life together, not just a 6 week Bible study. The goal is for us to grow together towards Christlikeness. Several of the main things that the MasterLife study pushes is having a daily quiet time with the Lord in His Word and in prayer as well as weekly memorizing and meditating on a Scripture verse. The Christian life can only be lived out if we stay plugged into our Lord through His Word and through prayer! These foundational disciplines will spur us on to love God and love others so that the other areas of our lives will be effected in such a way as to glorify God in all that we say and all that we do (1 Corinthians 10:31).
My hope and prayer is that we would all spend time in the Word of God this week so that we may know Him and make Him known!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Why Read the Bible?
Matthew 22:37-40 And He (Jesus) said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
How can we love God and others if we do not first seek to know Him and them? I can say that I love my family, but if I do not spend time with my wife or my daughter then those words will be meaningless. Likewise, if I say that I love God and that I have been bought with His blood and yet do not seek to spend time in getting to know Him then my words and my life are meaningless.
The question then becomes, "How do I get to know God?". The most obvious answer is to grab a Bible, God's Word by which He reveals Himself to humans, and start reading. It is by opening up the Word of God and asking Him to give me understanding as I read it that we will be begin to know who He is and what He wants us to do. It is by spending time listening to Him as we read that we will gain a sense of who He is and who we are in comparison. We will find within the pages of the Bible, not a cold objective list of do's and dont's, but the story of the glory of God and His work to redeem a people to Himself so that He will receive the glory because He alone is worthy of all worship! We will see within the pages of the Bible where we fit into that story of God and how we through His work of salvation in our lives can bring Him glory in this life and for all eternity. The Bible is a God-centered book; it is not primarily focused on humans.
Jesus said in John 14:15, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." Just a few verses later in John 14:21 He says, "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." So here is where the importance of spending time reading the Bible comes into play. Not only do we have to first know God and spend time with Him in order to show our love for Him, but He says that we show that we love Him by keeping His commandments. And how can we keep His commandments if we do not know what it is that He commands us to do? In order to know what His commandments are we must read His Word.
I truly hope that each of you are opening up the Bible each day so as to know God more. If you don't know where to begin let me direct you to a few resources. First off, in our church we have a publication called, "LifeWalk" which is put out by LifeWay which will take you through each book of the Bible in a year. If you would like to try some other reading plan then you can try one of these Bible Reading Plans. At any rate, please seek to know God because it is the most important issue in your life you will face. Read...so that we may know Him!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
That I May Know Him
Philippians 3:7-11 says, "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."
This is one of my most favorite passages in all of the Bible. As one who has been saved by God's great grace from that which I duly deserved (death and eternal torment apart from God), I cannot help but echo the words of Paul which he penned to the church in Philippi so many years ago as reminder of who we are striving after. It is not possessions on this earth which I desire; it is Christ. It is not success from a human perspective that I am after; it is Christ. It is not heaven which I await for; it is Christ! And in Him alone, my hope is found!
My desire is that this blog will serve as an avenue to encourage and challenge others to evaluate their own lives and seek hard after God because that is what we were created for! Let us worship the Lord together as we tackle issues of life, the Church, the Bible, books, and other things so that we may know Him!
This is one of my most favorite passages in all of the Bible. As one who has been saved by God's great grace from that which I duly deserved (death and eternal torment apart from God), I cannot help but echo the words of Paul which he penned to the church in Philippi so many years ago as reminder of who we are striving after. It is not possessions on this earth which I desire; it is Christ. It is not success from a human perspective that I am after; it is Christ. It is not heaven which I await for; it is Christ! And in Him alone, my hope is found!
My desire is that this blog will serve as an avenue to encourage and challenge others to evaluate their own lives and seek hard after God because that is what we were created for! Let us worship the Lord together as we tackle issues of life, the Church, the Bible, books, and other things so that we may know Him!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)