by Ryan Smith | Dec 1, 2016
It’s become a bit of a common occurrence.
I’m sitting across the table from someone who is interested in becoming a church member. Over a cup of strong black coffee (because I’m a man), we discuss the Gospel, what church membership means and why biblical church accountability is important.
At the end of our time together, I always ask the question, “How can you help the church and how can the church help you?”
Inevitably, the reply comes, “I just want to serve.”
Granted, the reply has a variety of manifestations, but they basically boil down to the same idea. People want to be used for the health and wellbeing of the church and are eager to offer their services.
This is great, and I love this about prospective church members.
However, I know they are likely thinking about service in relation to nursery rotation, teaching Junior High boys, greeting or simply giving of their time and resources – basically something with a sign-up sheet.
These are noble acts of service, and the church (yes yours) needs people to help in these areas.
But as I slowly see them start to wince anticipating I’m going to bring up the vacancy with the Junior High boys (or give a lecture on tithing), I always say the same thing.
Even before the nursery rotation or coffee-bar station, your church needs you to serve in three ways:
1. Make your home a center of discipleship.
Discipleship doesn’t begin at the church doors (though it should certainly take place there). Biblical discipleship begins in the home. Whether or not you have a family at home, no matter what ages your kids are or if it’s just you in the home, this might look different for you than for others. But the idea is the same. Make your home a holy place. Make it a place that honors God where the Bible is read, God is worshiped and family relationships are biblical. Be hospitable. Invite people over and invest spiritually in them. Share the Gospel with your neighbors.
Don’t have anything in your home you wouldn’t want others in your church family to have in their home. God has gifted you with a home – whatever it may be. Creatively use it, first and foremost, as a place for making disciples of Jesus.
2. Be present for the church.
Yes, attend worship services and other church body activities. But being present for the church isn’t just about taking up a seat.
Ask yourself how your church life would look different if you considered your presence with the church to be for the sake of others rather than simply for yourself? Would you arrive at the same time you do now? Would you sit or park in the same place you do now? Would you talk to anyone other than the people you regularly talk with now? Would you act differently in the community and behind closed doors throughout the week?
Being present for the church can be different than being present with the church. Use your time before, after and during worship gatherings to meet new people; encourage and pray with others; sing the truths of the Gospel so the faint heart next to you might be encouraged; and generally look for a need in the body you have been equipped to meet. Let your church attendance be for the sake of the church, not the church’s activities be just for the sake of you.
3) Pray for and with the church
This one is simple, but often goes overlooked. Your church needs prayer. Your pastors need prayer. Other churches in your community need prayer. We live in a world where the church is becoming increasingly isolated from the culture as the truth of the Gospel is seen as even more of an offense.
People in your church may lose jobs, relationships or even worse for the sake of the Gospel. When you get together with people from your church – even over dinner on Tuesday at Chili’s – consider praying for your church and pastors before you eat. Spiritual battles need spiritual weapons and prayer is a weapon vital to protecting the church and its spiritual health.
As you can see, these acts of service on behalf of the church have little to do with titles. You won’t get an award for 20 years of faithful service each week in reading the Bible at home with your family. No one may ever see you pray for the church. Your prayer with another church member on Sunday morning may take place in a corner chair and not on a platform.
But when we focus on our time outside of the few hours on Sunday morning, we inevitably will strengthen those hours as we meet together. Our churches will be strengthened as our members see service not as a role on Sunday morning, but as a lifestyle lived daily.
Serve your church. Be a disciple and make disciples, whether in the church building on Sunday, the office on Tuesday, or at home on Thursday evening.
This is the foremost way to serve your church.
“Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it” (1 Cor. 12:27).
by Hannah Hanzel | Nov 29, 2016
It was going to be a special Christmas. Everyone home. Everyone safe. But like the horrific vision from the ghost of Christmas Future, you see an empty chair. The chair was meant to be filled – filled with your loved one. Is the chair a high chair? Is the chair your grandparent’s recliner? Is the chair your spouse’s usual seat at dinner? Or is the chair your wayward child’s dust-covered stool in the kitchen?
So many people this time of year reflect on the “First Christmas” when God came into the world as a small baby. But how many will think upon the “34th Christmas” this holiday season? The Christmas when all the world was quite different. Everything, if anything, we know about the 34th Christmas is based on scholars’ speculation. One thing we know for certain is that this Christmas had an empty chair as well.
This was the first Christmas Mary would have without her Son, Jesus Christ. This, to her, was what should have been Jesus’ 34th birthday. She fed, bandaged, loved, and raised the Son of God for 33 years. When the time had come, He placed the sins of the world upon His sturdy shoulders, died on a manmade structure, rose back to life three days later, having conquered death, and then ascended home to heaven. What a sin-shattering, yet divinely restorative year it had been for the world!
Can you picture Mary on the morning of the 34th Christmas? While I’m sure she was sorrowful for Christ’s physical absence, Mary had something more to cherish than the earthly satisfaction of a full house. She had the spiritually reconciling gift of a full heart. Not only did she have forgiveness of sins, but Luke 2:19 tells us that from the time Christ was born she held the treasures of her experiences inside her heart.
If in this past year, you’ve dealt with the loss of a loved one and mourn as Christmas time approaches, I’d like to guide your grieving heart back to Christ. Identify with Mary in her song, her pain, and her efforts.
First, we see Mary as a young woman in Luke 1:46-55, singing to the Lord. She is found worshipping God as the Promise Keeper before Christ was even born. Mary knew God had made promises to her people and had never failed to uphold and honor those promises. Likewise, find joy in God’s promises to you. As you face a holiday without your loved one, rest in the promise-keeping heart of the Father. One of my favorite worship songs states, “You’ve never failed, and You won’t start now.”
Second, Mary understood pain in its entirety. She expected pain and very likely thought of that foreboding pain ever since Luke 2:33-35. In this passage Mary and Joseph were at the temple with the newborn Jesus when a “righteous and devout man called Simeon” approached them. Simeon prophesied about the Messiah as he took Jesus into his arms. Joseph and Mary marveled at this, and moments later Simeon speaks to Mary directly. Simeon tells Mary of the pain to come, not only for her Son but also for her, “…A sword will pierce your own soul too”. For nearly 33 years she knew in her heart that her Son would suffer greatly. She couldn’t stop His pain and to her ultimate sorrow, she knew her sin caused her Son the pain. Mary knows pain.
Lastly, you can identify with Mary in her efforts. She knew God to be sovereign and continued to thrive. After Christ had made His final exit as He ascended into heaven, in Acts 1:14 we see Mary with the disciples, continuing to pray and serve. She understood that, while there was a time to grieve, there was likely a time to grow soon after. She chose to be spurred by the Spirit rather than stopped by the sorrow.
Every empty chair has divine reasoning. Jesus, Son of God and physical son of the Virgin Mary, says in Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
Dear Mourner, Christ left an empty chair at His mother’s home on the 34th Christmas. He left many things empty that year such as a cross and a grave! Rejoice in your salvation this Christmas! Rejoice that while you mourn over an empty chair, Christ has filled your heart to the brim with His love.
by Caleb Gordon | Nov 22, 2016
I’m not sure where it happened or why it has happened, but for some reason, Christian people don’t think that going to church on a regular basis is really that important. There is this mindset that gathering once a week with other Christians corporately is not truly a necessity to vibrant Christian growth.
D.L. Moody says, “Church attendance is as vital to a disciple as a transfusion of rich healthy blood is to a sick man.”
As soon as you start pushing a little on this idea, people start saying stuff like, “Don’t be legalistic, we’re free from all that stuff.” And I will says yes and amen to that idea as well, but we’re free to do what we OUGHT to do, not what we WANT to do.
Why is it that most of the time we miss or skip church? We can make excuses, but at the end of the day, we do what we want to do. Many times we miss out on church due to selfish reasons. The truth is, we skip church most of the time because we are more interested in doing other things. That’s really sad. Being active in a local church has many rewards and benefits.
*Fellowship
*Community
*Accountability
*Having a sense of belonging and purpose.
*Having a mission
And the list can continue. I want you to read this verse and see how important being apart of church body truly is.
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb. 10:19-25).
In short, the Lord is saying don’t skip church, even though so many are doing that on a regular basis. Don’t abandon each other. Church is important. Gathering together is vital to a healthy walk on your Christian journey.
If you have the ability to grow stronger in your Christian faith, why would you want to ignore that possibility? Push past being mediocre and strive for excellence.
by Christina Beverage | Nov 16, 2016
In February, I will have the adventure of a lifetime. Running 13.1 miles through the magical land that is Disney World. And although chilling with the Fairy Godmother, running through Cinderella’s Castle and high-fiving Mickey at the finish line is fun, there’s a lot of preparation that still needs to take place in the following months to get myself ready for the race.
As I train for this big race, I’ve been reminded of a few things about my walk with the Lord along the way.
1. Your strength is not your own. The same goes for my spiritual walk. As I spend time in the Word, I discover my need for a Savior that much more. I realize the lack of strength I personally have and have to seek my source of strength from God. I must strive to draw my might and power from Him and keep my focus on Him in order to continue the race set before me.
Growing up I was a ballet dancer, which meant running was never really my forte. Leaping and twirling, yes. But running not so much. As I train for a distance of 13.1 miles, it has become abundantly clear to me that my strength is quite lacking.
2. It takes consistency. Just like in training, it is important that I practice consistency in my daily walk with Jesus. As I spend time in His Word each day, I will grow and learn. I will discover a deeper intimacy with Jesus that only comes through seeking Him on a daily basis. To develop the kind of relationship with the Lord that I long for (the kind we see in the Scriptures), consistency is key.
I will never make it through an entire half marathon if I don’t consistently run in the months leading up to the race. It is crucial that I am consistent in my training and always seeking to improve as I gain endurance for the run.
3. You have to talk about it. As believers, we are commanded to “Go, therefore, and make disciples…” (Mt. 28:18) If we keep silent, how will we do this? We have to talk. We have to share. We have to use our words to spread the Gospel. The only way for us to produce fruit is to get out there and talk about our Jesus to those who don’t know Him.
A huge part of my race is the fact that I will be running for charity. As a Miracle Maker for Children’s Miracle Network, I not only have to train, but I also have to fundraise. To fundraise, I have to talk to others about my race and my passion behind the charity I’m supporting. If I kept silent, I wouldn’t raise any money.
As I train for my big (magical) race in February, I am constantly reminded of the bigger race set before me. The race that ends at the feet of Jesus Christ.
by Angela Sanders | Nov 10, 2016
I’m sad and concerned today, not because my candidate lost the election.
He didn’t.
No, I’m sad that so many people who didn’t vote for him are frightened, and I’m concerned by the insensitivity being displayed by SOME of those who claim to be Christians in response to their pain and confusion.
Please notice that I said ‘some,’ not ‘all.’ I think the first step both sides need to take toward reconciliation in the days ahead is to step away from polarizing assumptions, sweeping generalizations, stereotypes, and labels. But that’s another post…
Anyway, SOME who claim to be my brothers and sisters in Christ are witnessing ‘meltdowns’ of political opponents that, right or wrong, indicate despair, mocking them, then saying things like, “We’re taking our nation back” and “God answered our prayers.”
Well, maybe He did. Maybe He didn’t.
The Bible says that the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective (James 5:16), but it also says that what comes out of a person’s mouth reveals what’s in their heart (Luke 6:45).
IF you are one of the SOME who are praising God in one breath and then mocking, belittling, or wounding people in the next, odds are, you are not the person whose prayers were answered (James 3:10-12), even if you are happy with the outcome.
It could have been someone who cast their vote for Hillary whose prayers were answered, not those prayers asking for Hillary to win, perhaps, but those asking for God’s will to be done.
Doubt that could happen? I don’t.
I know passionate, devoted Christians who fell in every voting category possible this election, and I don’t believe for a second that every person who withheld their vote from Trump was godless with evil intent any more than I want people to think that I’m godless with evil intent because I voted for him.
So, what was ‘God’s will’ for this election?
Well, I don’t believe anyone can say with certainty that it was for Trump to win. There was too much in him and the way he handled himself for us to call him ‘God’s man.’ Likewise, I don’t think anyone can say with certainty that it was God’s will for Hillary to win. There is too much in her and the way she handles herself for us to call her ‘God’s woman.’ All of this being true, none of us will ever know for sure whether our own prayers to see a specific candidate in the White House were answered with a ‘yes’ or a ‘no,’ and none of us can claim righteousness using the election’s outcome as confirmation. To do so would be both arrogant and foolish.
Is Trump’s election a reward? Is Trump’s election a punishment?
I don’t know.
Maybe it’s both. Maybe it’s neither.
Whatever the case, I do know it’s an opportunity, an opportunity for those of us who claim to be Christians, regardless of political affiliation, to prove God good, the power of the Holy Spirit real, the Gospel of Jesus Christ true, and our faith genuine.
Of course, we won’t be able to rely on words anymore. In the ears of so many, Christian rings hollow, love stirs doubt, and Evangelical raises suspicion.
We’ll have to move beyond words, demonstrating grace by treating people better than even they think they deserve to be treated and extending mercy by showing kind, compassionate restraint even when we believe someone to be wrong or out of line.
We’ll have to serve as Jesus served. Humbly. Generously. Without showing favoritism.
Only then will God’s power be revealed. Only then will He be glorified, His character and will upheld, in our lives.
What’s God’s will for this election? I believe it’s exactly that.
by Ginger Gann | Nov 10, 2016
Benjamin Franklin, William Willett, George W. Bush and Coldplay – what does this group of seemingly mismatched men have in common? They each play a roll, or have an interest in saving time. Better said, their interest is in seizing opportunity to make good use of time, while saving coal, candles and kilowatts. Beginning in March 1918, we here in the U.S. set our clock forward by an hour, only to fall back again the first Sunday in November.
I don’t have statistical data about the amount of wax we’ve managed to save over the years, but I do agree we should not only save time, but we should also seize every opportunity to use our time – to save.
In Acts 3, two of 12 from another list of seemingly mismatched men, were making their trek up to Jerusalem to pray in the temple. There at the temple gate sat a man lame from birth, begging. The Bible says in verses 3-6, “When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple complex, he asked for help. Peter, along with John, looked at him intently and said, ‘Look at us.’ So he turned to them, expecting to get something from them. But Peter said, ‘I don’t have silver or gold, but what I have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!’”
And he did!
Taking time out to save, on this otherwise ordinary day, altered everything –for all time (pun intended).
This man “jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him” (Acts 3:9-10).
A couple things:
The disciples could have passed right on by this man, without noticing him, as I imagine they have done before. This is not the first visit to the temple for any of these three men. This day is different. This day Peter, John and the Holy Spirit made their way to the temple to pray. This time, the disciples looked at this lame man, and according to verse 5 – he saw them too!
- As disciples, we should be looking each day for new opportunities to be used by God.
After seeing these followers of Jesus, the Bible says the lame man expected something. Peter and John were known, and they were known to have been with Jesus. When you have a reputation as a Jesus follower, people expect something from you. Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I have…” You may not have everything some folks need, but what you do have (love, respect, grace, kindness, forgiveness, faith, strength, joy) give it!
- Doing nothing, when given an opportunity to do something in the name of Jesus, is not an option.
That day at the Temple gate, this lame man received much more than he ever expected. He is now saved from his disability, yes, but he knew instantly he had been saved from far more than a physical circumstance. While this man took time to express his overwhelming gratitude, through praise and worship, others were watching. The people stood amazed, as Peter explained by what name and power this miracle took place. As a result, Acts 4:4 says, “many who heard the message believed. The number of men who were saved grew to about 5,000.”
I pray we never underestimate what can be done through each of us, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the name above all names – Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
A man ahead of his time!