Church growth, mission, and evangelism

Welcome to the late edition of of the church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. I couldn't get on the net today and I had a two hour band rehearsal tonight. So I'm late.

Let's continue with our discussion of death and the life there after.

What ever happened to Hell? As attitudes toward death and dying changed, another significant shift began to take place within the human family. The reality of Satan was increasingly ignored or discarded as myth. Hell, in the eyes of unbelievers and even some believers, was abandoned. As hell was becoming for many no more than a swear word, sin was also an accepted way of life. If people can ignore what the Bible calls sin, then they can quite logically discount what it says about the reality of Hell.

 

Why do members of organized churches have such a low assurance of heaven? Could it be that in our description of heaven that we have failed to mention the horrors of its alternative? Or have we even neglected the whole question of life after death by emphasizing only this life? Just because people don’t believe in hell doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. If there is no Hell, then Jesus lied.

 

If the Bible is true, we know that there is abundant life after death for the followers of Christ. Those who have accepted His grace and been saved will be with Him in heaven.

Jesus said to fear him who after the killing of your body has the power to throw you into Hell. It refers to God because Satan cannot throw you into Hell. Sin is eternal separation from God and can only be pardoned by the death of Christ on the cross.

 

The king of terrors. Age and circumstances often dictate the degree of fear a person may feel when facing death. Sometimes the fear of death grows significantly with age. Fear is universal in all times and places. It is a normal human response to the unknown. And the experience of death is an unknown.

 

Eighty percent of people die in hospitals or convalescent centers. Dying has become a lonely business. Most hospitals do their best to conceal the fact that a patient might be dying and when the end draws near, they isolate him or her from family and friends.

 

Some believe that telling the truth to a person who is dying is destructive to his morale. This deception is practiced by the medical community thinking that they are being kind. The conspiracy of silence is based on the assumption that people don’t want to talk about death, especially their own.

 

The truth is that all of us are going to die and the conspiracy of silence cannot change that fact. Most of us have a desire to hang on to physical life as long as possible. Many stories abound about a person’s desire to hang on for a certain event. Terminally ill people tend to hang on to life until they reach some date that is important to them-a wedding anniversary, a birthday, or religious holiday.

 

There are many who die prematurely, having reached a point in their lives when they feel that they have no more goals left. Idle retired people reportedly have a shorter life span than those who continue with purposeful activity. More than likely it is the process of dying that frightens people and not death itself. Death may be like that. Its power to terrorize fades as we near the actual moment of passing.

 

One of the most common attitudes toward death is denial. Another approach to death is to laugh. Humor becomes the protective mechanism that allows us to laugh at ourselves and defy the specter of death. Then there is irrational fear. Christ, through His death on the cross, broke the power of the devil to hold us in the fear of death.

 

Fear is a very painful emotion, one which may immobilize us or cause more pain than a physical blow. The greatest fear comes when God is a stranger. When we fear God, we don’t cringe before Him like a prisoner. Our fear is a love which causes us to treat Him with respect. Like a little child putting his little hand in the bigger hand of his father, it is the sort of fear that fosters trust. Likewise God asks us to put our trust in Him.

Again thanks for visiting. Please stop by www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Look for our podcast tomorrow. It will be a good one. Thanks and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

Monday is upon us. A new opportunity to learn about church growth, mission, and evangelism. Today we are going to start a discussion of death and the life thereafter. The Rev. Billy Graham just happens to have a book called Death and the Life Thereafter. Get it. It's terrific.

If we are in a battle with this enemy called Death, I believe we should learn about it, in order to learn about the dying experience. We need to know how to face that enemy on our own behalf, and how to deal with the inevitable deaths of loved ones and friends.

 

Death is perennial. CS Lewis pointed out during WWII that war does not increase death; death is total in every generation. Why me? Why now? Why this?

 

Why must we die? The Bible says that all men are appointed to die once. We can fight it, we can avoid it, we can ignore it, but death ultimately intrudes into our well planned lives and change things around. We want to deny death, but the fact that the body is in the ground and the soul of the deceased has departed is more than we like to admit.

 

Today we are confronted with so many voices telling us how to live and this is a reasonable ambition, but they indicate that we are desperately trying to cling to this present world. Life is transitory. If we want to make the most of life, we need to face the fact that it is going to end. Only those who are prepared to die are prepared to live.

 

Can we afford to ignore the warnings of our ultimate enemy? We need to break the conspiracy of silence about the subject with a biblically sound, realistic approach. While death was not part of Godâ??s original plan, we cannot escape it. Death never takes a holiday.

 

Adolescents are notorious for denying the reality of death; it is the farthest thing from their minds. In the vigor of youth they take life for granted, and perhaps they should at that age, but all of us tend to take life for granted when times are good. Death is the last thing on our minds when we have full stomachs. But, if the individual has a mind and feelings, there is no way to deny the reality.

 

Paul proclaimed that death is the last enemy, but it need not be feared. The Bible stresses that death is an enemy both of God and us. We are not talking about a death that is a release from pain, debilitating disease, or advanced age, but death that leaves fragments of many promising careers and lives, children who have not yet learned to play in the sunshine.

 

Why is death an enemy of God? Because it destroys life, in contrast to God who is the creator and author of life. The Bible tells us that neither sin nor pain, disease nor death were part of Godâ??s original plan for man. Death was the penalty for sin.

 

Death is the common lot of every human being and of every other living thing-both plant and animal. Sin and death, the Bible tells us, have afflicted the whole of Godâ??s creation, including the natural world, and only when Christ comes in His glory at the end of the present era will sin be eradicated and creation restored to Godâ??s original plan. There will be a generation of believers who will not die. Those who are alive when Christ returns in glory will not die but will be changed in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye.

 

Christians are not immune to the fear of death. Death is not always a beautiful release, but an enemy that separates. It does not respect the young or the old, the good or the evil, the Christian or the heathen.

 

The way of Christ assures us that, while death is a certainty, so is heaven. For the Christian, death can be faced realistically and with victory for he knows that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord. It is not a sign of weakness for the Christian to face death with reluctance. We can find peace, assurance, triumph, and even humor in a subject that is avoided by many but vitally important and inevitable to everyone.

Thanks again for joining us. And be sure to visit our sponsor's website: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org. They always appreciate company. Send your comments to: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org

Until tomorrow, thanks, and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

Welcome to our church growth, mission, and evangelism podcast. Today we finish up our series on when God builds a church. Hope you enjoy it.

As always we will finish up with some good news. Take time to visit: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org. Send your comments to: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org. See you next week when we will start a new series in our blog.

Thanks and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery 

Thank goodness it's Friday. We've survived another one. Welcome back to our church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. We're glad you're here.

Today we will finish up talking about when God builds a church.

Make the church experience something for which people will want to return. Do everything that you can to make it easier for your church members to bring people with them to church. Make a special effort to see that everything is done with excellence. Do everything with a bent to the evangelism process. We should do everything with excellence so that people will want to come back!

 

We exist to evangelize the lost, edify the saved, minister to the needs of others, and be a conscience in the community. Make your mission statement visible and repeat it often. Have several sermons dedicated to reinforcing the mission statement of the church. It is imperative that all staff members agree with the primary mission of the church so that they can communicate that mission effectively to the congregation.

 

Every ministry needs to find ways to implement evangelistic outreach in their departments. Remind people to invite their friends and acquaintances to weekly services and special events. Remind the congregation about upcoming events and opportunities for the come and see method of evangelism. Unchurched people are more likely to come with you to a special event than they are to come to a regular church service.

 

If you are going to preach a sermon series, remind people of the relevance of the topic in their lives and remind them to invite anyone who might benefit from the message. You can print up fancy post-cards describing the upcoming sermon series for your members to pass along to others.

 

Be sensitive to guests, but don’t program primarily for them. On of the most powerful methods of evangelism is an authentic worship service. Take great pains to make sure the basics of the gospel are clearly explained. A visitor expects to see you worshiping God and fulfilling your purpose, not catering to his need for entertainment.

 

Offer a “what we believe class�. Have decision counselors who can lead people through a basic understanding of the gospel. You can have a decision day, a chance to make a positive, life-changing decision, early in the year. People who have been procrastinating are often willing to set that weekend aside as a target date and are more likely to respond.

Our only hope is through Jesus Christ. If we really believe that that is true, we are going to do everything we can to persuade as many people as possible to come to Jesus Christ while there is still time.

 

God wants you to walk by faith and begin to believe that he can do great things through a few faithful people. Pray for a vision of what your church could be. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to become the church that God wants you to be. Our problem is not so much that God doesn’t give us what we hope for as that we don’t know the right thing for which to hope. Put your hope in a big God who can fulfill big dreams. Determine that you will try something so big that if God isn’t in it, you will fail.

 

Pray that God will reveal to you any principle your congregation has failed to implement. It’s healthy for every church to set goals and think optimistically, but you must be objective. Some churches have the potential to grow a hundredfold. Others are limited in what they can do because of location barriers, leadership challenges, lack of facilities, or financial difficulties.

 

Develop a mission statement and communicate it to the congregation. Post it in prominent places where people can be reminded often. Develop a five year plan for change. It usually takes five years for a dead church to be turned around. The reason that most churches stay dead is that very few leaders will stay around long enough to see it happen. They usually leave to go to a church that has already turned around.

 

Work on the one hour of weekly worship. It is the most important hour of the week. More visitors and members are present and the tone of the entire ministry is usually set in that hour. When that hour is done with excellence members will want to come more regularly because they don’t want to miss.

 

Find a worship leader who has the heart and talent to lead people to worship God. Get men involved in worship. Start a what we believe class. Give up control. Don’t micromanage. Visit other churches that are alive and growing. Celebrate victories and give God the glory.

Take time to visit www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org. You'll be glad you did. Send your comments to: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org. Check back later tonight for our podcast.

Pastor Bob Emery

Hello. Welcome back to the church growth, mission, and evangelism blog sponsored by www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org. Please take time to visit their website.

Today we continue talking about When God Builds A Church. I encourage you to pick up this great book by Bob Russell.

Evangelism. It’s easy for any enterprise to get sidetracked from its main thrust. The church can easily get sidetracked and forget its primary mission. Our primary call is to preach the gospel and bring people to salvation in Jesus. The larger our church becomes, the more some people in our community want us to become politically active. The best thing that could happen in our community is for revival to break out in our churches.

 

Satan is more intimidated by a church faithfully preaching Christ crucified than by a thousand demonstrators protesting one facet of the devil’s program on the steps of the state capital. Better legislation can’t save anybody-only Jesus can. Not only should the church refrain from being a political action committee, we also are called to be more than just a social agency to care for welfare needs.

 

The main thing is evangelism. We are bringing them the hope for eternal life. One of the primary ways that a person can grow as a Christian is by sharing the gospel with other people. People ask why we keep trying to grow when we have so many members already. We don’t know how big God wants the church to be. We are still looking for that one lost sheep.

 

Evangelism should not take precedence over truth. The prerequisite for getting in the ark was you had to believe the message and repent of your sin. We can get so desperate for growth that we dilute the doctrine to make the message more palatable. The church exists to edify Christians and minister to people’s needs as well. You shouldn’t measure your church’s effectiveness totally by the number of new members.

 

Don’t just preach evangelistic messages. Some preachers mistakenly believe that if their church is to be evangelistic, that every service must be directed to the few in their congregation who don’t yet know Christ. The primary thrust of most sermons needs to be directed to those who are already Christians. Growing Christians are more evangelistic than evangelistic sermons.

 

Inspire the members of your congregation-get them on fire for Jesus Christ and excited about growing spiritually in your church-and then they can’t help but tell their friends about it. The best evangelism is that which comes as a natural outpouring of believers’ excitement about what they’ve discovered. If they’re inspired, you won’t be able to keep them quiet.

 

Adopt the come and see method of evangelism. Some of the greatest evangelists in the Bible were those who simply said come and see. When your church adopts the come and see method, suddenly every person who has a role in the church has a part in evangelism. The entire church is a body, attempting together to be a place of evangelism. An evangelist is not just a preacher, or even someone who brings his friend, but any person who has a part in making the church an inspiring place.

 

The evangelists who are most successful in using this method are the new Christians who are the most excited about what they’ve discovered. The point is to use already existing relationships as contacts for evangelism. The number of contacts outside the church is already large enough so that there is no need to establish new relationships with the unchurched. Your church members need to invite someone to come to church with them!

Be sure to be back tomorrow for our blog and our podcast. Send your comments to bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org. Thanks and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery 

Welcome back to our church growth, mission, and evangelism podcast sponsored by www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org. Today we will continue with our discussion of when God builds a church. As always we will end with good news from Joel Osteen's book Your Best Life Now.

Please send your comments to me at bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org . We need your feedback to get better.

I highly recommend that you read  When God Builds A Church by Bob Russell and Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen.

Please join us for our blog tomorrow! Until then, thanks, and God bless. Pastor Bob Emery

Happy 4th of July to our visitors from the United States. Once again we thank the men and women of the armed forces of all nations for their service to their countries.

Today we continue discussing when God builds a church. Maybe if we did a better job building churches we wouldn't need to build armed forces, but that's another topic.

The pastor needs to depend on elders, deacons, staff members, and volunteers to help with the pasturing of the flock. You can have a counseling ministry with paid counselors, volunteer professionals, or highly trained mature Christian volunteers. But, not everyone who is hurting needs a counselor. Some times they just need a friend or someone to talk to.

 

The telecare ministry volunteers call each church household twice a year to ask how they are doing and ask if there is anything that the church could be praying about for them. Volunteers are convinced that the Holy Spirit leads them to families that need a phone call.

 

The hospital visitation ministry has volunteers who visit any members who are hospitalized. They stay and talk, pray, and offer to help the hospitalized member. The paid staff is not always the greatest at hospital pastoral care. They visit out of duty and often don’t stay long. They have been hired for their talents in other areas.

 

Wise stewardship of God’s resources is an important part of a healthy church. Biblical stewardship and generous giving can transform lives and significantly advance the kingdom of God. Yet most preachers don’t even want to broach the subject of money. It is fine to excuse your guests from the offering.

 

It’s important to preach on stewardship because God’s word speaks often about stewardship. Jesus talked about stewardship more than he did about heaven, hell, or even loving your neighbor. There are 2350 passages in the Bible dealing with money and material possessions, but it’s the least talked about subject in the church. If you fail to communicate that truth to people, you are doing them a disservice and failing to preach the whole will of God.

 

Generosity transforms people. When people release their grip on the things of this world, they are liberated. If you could just get people to give their hearts to Jesus, their treasures would follow. Generosity will result in an overflow of spiritual, emotional, and relational blessings in your life-and God promises to take care of your physical needs too.

 

Money is often necessary to advance the gospel. Almost every program, almost every plan for communicating the gospel costs money. How many times have good ideas been turned down and our vision limited because we’re worried about how much it costs. Generous giving is a positive testimony. Sincere efforts to help people overcome their addiction to the stuff of this world will result in attracting people to Jesus Christ, and a congregation of sacrificial givers is a powerful testimony to the community.

 

People need stewardship advice because money can be such a trap. Focus on regular stewardship, not crisis giving. People may give in response to a crisis, but the goal is to teach them to give out of love for God and a sense of duty to give back to him some of what he has so generously given to them. Conduct stewardship seminars and financial counseling.

 

Be sure to handle the money wisely. Poor money management will have a devastating effect on your church’s giving. Be sure to have proper accountability measures in place. Prayerfully spend money on the priorities. Financial decisions should always be made with the advancement of the gospel as the top priority. Financial decisions should be made on what is the best for the kingdom of God, not on what will receive the least criticism. A greater part of the church’s offerings should be given to trustworthy missions. The more we give, the more God blesses.

 

Special campaigns should be for a cause that will generate its own momentum and support. Pray for God’s guidance before a capital campaign. Hire consultants. The leaders need to set the pace. The leaders need to give a personal testimony of what they are giving. Share testimonies of sacrificing along the way. Ask the congregation to pray. Hold prayer vigils. Celebrate the victories.

Please take time to visit www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org . We pray for the ministry of their web site. Send me your thoughts at bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Be sure to watch for tomorrow's podcast! Until then, thanks, and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

Today is the 3d of July, the day before Independence Day in the United States. We give thanks to all of the men and women who have given their lives to keep our country free. Of even greater significance is the fact that Jesus gave His life that all who believe in Him might be freed from sin and Hell.

Thanks for joining us today. We will continue to talk about when God builds a church.

Encourage your workers. Volunteers and staff members are motivated by genuine encouragement. Talk about them positively. Mention them frequently in sermons. To be effective and genuine, your encouragement needs to be specific, not general; honest, not flattering; occasional, not incessant; and balanced with occasional correction. If people know that you will tell them the true when they need to be corrected, your encouragement means a lot more to them.

 

Prepare people properly by making sure that they get proper training. Give them the tools that they need to do their jobs effectively. Volunteers get frustrated if they feel that they have not been properly prepared. On the other hand, they are encouraged when they feel like they have been properly prepared. Reward your volunteers generously with creative thank-you notes and appreciation banquets.

 

For your church to grow, your members must grow spiritually so they can do the work of the ministry. If your church is going to reach its maximum potential, then all members must begin to see themselves as ministers and priests, doing their part to see that the work of the ministry is done.

 

If you want your church to grow, then learn how to love one another. You need the fellowship of other believers to grow and to be held accountable and other Christians need you. You can’t have life away from the body. How can you do that unless you regularly fellowship with one another and build relationships with each other? It’s a boost to your spirit if every week you see people who share your values and are trying to walk in the light.

 

The research of Thom Rainer has shown that the most effective way of closing the back door and assimilating people was the old-fashioned Sunday-school method. That’s where people get to know each other the best. The Sunday-school class is a natural first step for people who want to move from the congregation to deeper relationships. In the classroom setting, you can still maintain a certain amount of privacy and anonymity when you first attend, and you can take the time to develop natural friendships. The Sunday-school is the only environment where a certain type of objective study of God’s Word can be accomplished.

 

People will join in recreational events like softball leagues and volleyball leagues more quickly then they’ll join a Sunday-school class. If it brings people into the church, then a sports program is beneficial. Recreation also provides wonderful opportunities for relationship building within the church. Have a devotional and prayer before every practice and ask for prayer requests. Recreational ministry is especially beneficial to men.

 

The church should be a place of healing. Too often the pastor tries to be the only one ministering to the hurting when it should be the duty of the entire church. Those who are battling against sinful habits or who are dealing with deep emotional hurts deal best with those hurts if they can surround themselves with others who are fighting and winning similar battles. Regularly scheduled support groups.

 

We are being hypocritical if we attempt to minister to someone’s spiritual needs but are unwilling to minister to their physical needs. The benevolence committee prays with all who interview and gives them a Bible, tracts about how to become a Christian, information about the church, and notices about upcoming financial seminars. You can write checks directly to their creditors, have a food pantry, give gas vouchers, and gift certificates.

Remember to visit www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org our wonderful sponsors.  Until tomorrow, thanks, and God bless.Pastor Bob Emery

Thanks for joining us for the church growth, mission, and evangelism podcast, a companion to our blog by the same name sponsored by www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org. Please take a moment to visit them.

Today I will continue to talk about when God builds a church. As always we will close with some good news from Joel Osteen. I appologize for missing the podcast on Wednesday. My summer schedule is so crazy that I just can't keep up. I'll cover the material today.

Please send your comments to me: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org 

Until Monday's blog, thanks and God bless

Pastor Bob Emery 

Welcome to the Friday edition of our blog. We're glad that you could join us. Please visit our sponsor www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org.

Let's build a church with God:

One of the keys to advancing the gospel is for the church to be made up of individuals who consider it their task to do the work of the ministry, rather than having a congregation who expect the paid staff to minister to them. It’s the task of the leaders to train God’s people for ministry.

 

In a small church, the preacher and a handful of volunteers usually do most of the work themselves, and they directly oversee the rest of it. The leaders are often exhausted and near the point of burnout. If you don’t learn to motivate others and hand the responsibility to them, you might be able to oversee two hundred people. That’s why many churches never grow beyond 150 or so members.

 

The church should be a circle where members minister to each other. Inside the circle is a series of smaller circles, each one representing another ministry. You grow the church by adding circles of ministry inside the encompassing circle of the church. When the church becomes a circle instead of a pyramid, Christ gets the glory instead of the guy at the top of the pyramid.

 

As a church begins to grow there is a temptation to hire more staff to do the work of ministry, but this practice runs the risk of reducing the congregation to an audience. If the members of the congregation begin to sense that they are not needed, then growth will be stifled. Healthy churches that are gaining new members expect more out of their members, not less.

 

Involvement enhances each person’s spiritual growth. Nothing helps you grow as a Christian like service. If your church is not providing opportunities for your members to serve, you are stifling their spiritual growth. If the staff are working too hard, its because they have not recruited enough help. One of the best ways to see members grow in Christ is to get them exercising their spiritual gifts and serving Christ.

 

Offer a spiritual gifts class. You can talk about the spiritual gifts listed in the New Testament; have participants take personality tests, write about their spiritual journey, and their spiritual passions. If you involve people in their area of giftedness their ministries will be more effective and the chance of burnout is greatly reduced.

 

Have an annual volunteer recruitment day. It helps congregation members realize the need when every ministry is recruiting at the same time. Volunteers can choose the ministry that best utilizes their gifts. Volunteers are more likely to commit to a one year task. An annual recruitment drive unites the congregation in an effort to accomplish something.

 

Some positions take a certain skill level and personality that will be a little tougher to find. Some tasks are too important to leave to the first person who volunteers. Once a qualified person is in place, the key to successfully delegating the task is to delegate the responsibility. A qualified volunteer will often do a better job than you would if you give him complete responsibility.

 

When reliable volunteers oversee a ministry, the volunteers are often more forceful as leaders that the staff people are. They take ownership of that ministry A leader who wants to increase his effectiveness must learn how to work himself out of certain tasks. The senior minister sets the tone for successful delegation in the way he delegates to his staff.

You must trust your leaders and not interfere with their decisions.

Be sure to look for our podcast today! We'll wrap up the week with some good news along with our tips. Until then, thanks and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org  

Hello. Welcome to our church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. Thanks again to www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org for sponsoring us. Thanks again to you for joining us. Today we continue with our discussion of when God builds a church.

Jesus prayed for his followers to live harmoniously as one. It is ridiculous for the church to tell the world that we have the answer to strife when we are fighting among ourselves. A popular false teaching that is threatening church unity today is a liberal theology that disregards biblical principles. If false teachers aren’t confronted early, they will distort the truth and divide the flock.

 

The legalist often has a difficult time discerning between the method and the message. Any proposed change of method is perceived as liberalizing the message. The legalist imagines that he is standing for truth, when he usually is guarding his precious traditions. Paul asked his readers not to make too big a deal out of minor matters. Don’t insist that everyone see things just like you do.

 

Understand people’s natural resistance to change. Determine if the issue is scriptural or traditional. Change slowly but consistently. Implementing change takes time. Adopt a long range plan and be patient. Realistically count the cost of change.

 

One of the easiest ways to divide the body of Christ is to constantly be critical of the church’s leaders. Constant, vicious criticism is lethal. It dampens enthusiasm, stifles creativity, discourages the leadership, and quenches the spirit of the church. Conflict often develops because leaders pay too much attention to the criticisms. To keep the peace, a good leader must know when to confront criticism and when to ignore it.

 

In many churches, you have to endure a lot of hurdles to accomplish anything, so much so that by the time you implement a new program, it’s already obsolete. Often those red tape hurdles are put there to protect someone’s turf. Many country churches are stagnant because there are one or two families that have controlled the church for generations. Their influence in the church is a matter of pride and power for them. They resist any new idea or leader because it threatens their little empire.

 

Steps to harmony. Keep your ego under control. Be flexible. The older members need to be flexible and look to the next generation, passing the baton of faith to the younger people. Maintain a sense of humor. Growing, healthy churches are more likely to be churches that laugh together.

 

Respect the leaders. The church is supposed to be a Christocracy in which Jesus Christ is the Chief Shepherd. The elders lead the church according to what they believe to be the will of Christ. The elders must trust the staff’s leadership. Although the ministers should submit to the authority of the elders, a wise body of elders will trust the ministerial staff and give them as much room as possible to lead the congregation.

 

Avoid controversy if possible. Prevention is the best cure. Some issues are critical and have to be discussed, but stupid arguments and useless quarrels need to be avoided. Some controversies have no solution and only take up endless hours of unproductive time. Paul says that we need to avoid such controversies because the accomplish nothing and are potentially divisive. Confront divisive people when necessary.

 

Practice servanthood when ever possible. People who devote themselves to doing good don’t have time for criticism. One of the reasons that the elders don’t complain is that they are too busy serving. When people are busy serving, your chances of maintaining harmony are greatly increased. And be quick to forgive.

That's all for today. We'll be back tomorrow with more exciting thoughts on church growth. Please send me your thoughts at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Thanks and God bless.

 

Pastor Bob Emery 

Hello. Welcome back to our church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. We're glad you joined us. Please take time to visit our sponsor www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org . They have served 25,000 pages since the beginning of the year. We give God the glory. We continue with our discussion of when God builds a church.

Without faith it is impossible to please God. Anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. God always blesses those who trust him enough to follow his guidance even when it appears risky.

 

You need to pray. James said it simply: You do not have, because you do not ask God! Dwight Moody said that the world is yet to see what God can do through a few people who are totally sold out to Him. Ask God to grant your leaders a vision for what can be done through a few faithful people, and the courage to accomplish it.

 

Attend conferences that lift your vision. Visit churches where people walk by faith. Seeing what other churches are doing can help you believe that it can be done. Have regular brainstorming sessions. Such sessions create energy and get the creative juices flowing in the minds of the visionaries around you.

 

Create a mission statement. Just having a vision isn’t enough though. You need a bias toward action.  For an organization to perform with excellence there must be a preference for doing something-anything-rather than sending a question through cycles and cycles of analysis and committee reports. So many people are afraid to act. When the opportunity presents itself, there comes a time for decision and action.

 

Visionaries versus administrators. The administrator is practical, organized, and thorough. The visionary is idealistic, upbeat, positive, with a strong faith in God. The visionary and the administrator get on each other’s nerves. The visionary makes the administrator nervous because he’s seldom concerned with the cost. But there are always a lot of loose ends and the administrator knows who always has to clean up the mess.

 

Likewise, the administrator exasperates the visionary. He’s always concerned about money. In the eyes of the visionary, the administrator appears to lack faith, is always negative, and is holding the church back. Without the administrator, the church wouldn’t say NO to anything. Although it may be unwise to let the visionary run the church by himself, the strong tendency in most churches is to let the administrator have the most influence.

 

He strives to maintain the status quo. The visionary can eventually become smothered and discouraged. Even the natural visionary has to work at maintaining enthusiasm because its human nature to become discouraged. Visionaries can easily become discouraged and fade into the shadows as the administrator confidently leads the church into mediocrity.

 

If your church is going to step out in faith, you must have visionaries among your leaders, and the visionaries must be encouraged to keep dreaming. Death comes when memories of the past supersede the vision for the future. Walking by faith generates enthusiasm. Let’s try something so big that if God isn’t in it, we will fail.

 

Walking by faith stimulates prayer. Mountainous goals will motivate you to pray for an outpouring of God’s grace. A bold faith produces big challenges; big challenges stimulate prayer; and prayer results in miracles. Walking by faith motivates sacrifice. Walking by faith produces harmony. A church arguing over its traditions has forgotten its vision to advance Christ’s kingdom.

Be sure to join us tomorrow when I publish our podcast: church growth, mission, and evangelism on the go for your education. I have a rehearsal tonight so it will most likely be morning before I get it uploaded. Until then, thanks for visiting our blog, and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

Welcome to our church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. I hope you all had a great weekend and you are rested up for another week of God building a church:

Develop espirit de corps. Church members will be great affected by the way their ministers treat each other. Uphold the biblical qualifications for elders. An elder must be gifted to lead. He must manage his family well. Be able to teach. Be able to discern false doctrine. He should have biblical knowledge and wisdom and well as character.

 

An elder is to be an overseer-someone who can teach, shepherd, manage, and pray. Select your elders wisely. Elders can be selected from deacons who are in charge of service ministries-greeters, parking lot attenders, ushers, servers, facility volunteers, kitchen help, etc. Experience in these servant ministries helps develop the necessary qualities for eldership.

 

Encourage elders to get to know each other. Your elders need to get to know and love one another. It happens much more naturally if they are spending time together on a casual basis: golf, dinner, or a retreat. Find tangible ways for the elders to support the staff. Being with the elders should be uplifting for the staff members.

 

Develop your own leadership style. Live an authentic life style. People are constantly watching how you live. Your life and the lives of the leaders of your congregation preach much louder than anything you say from the pulpit. People want to know if who you are is consistent with what you say.

 

Take time off for spiritual development and rest. Revitalize yourself physically and mentally. Find someone you can trust and invite them to keep you accountable. Find a mentor who can ask-how’s your marriage, are you growing spiritually, is the ministry going well, is there anything that you need to confess? Love your closest neighbors-your family.

 

Stretch yourself. People reach the pinnacle of success and then become bored because the challenge is over. If you are stagnating spiritually, perhaps God is preparing your heart for a new challenge. If you can’t find a leader, be a leader.

 

Excellence-since Jesus gave his all for us, doesn’t he merit our best in return? Services where people are giving less than their best, don’t give honor to Jesus Christ. And it’s certainly not a good way to evangelize. Imagine how much easier evangelism would be if your church services were done with so much excellence that they inspired people to the extent that they couldn’t help but tell their friends about the experience.

 

Excellence takes hard work. Great sermons can take 15-20 hours to prepare. You must do the ongoing maintenance to keep your excellence. You can loose the edge really fast! You can start a program of excellence, but it takes daily diligence to maintain that standard of excellence. Excellence is about doing everything you can to win people to Jesus Christ. Be prepared for criticism and disappointment.

 

Set the standard for excellence early. Often your first effort becomes the standard for later expectations. When you decide to do something new, make the first time the best it can be done. If you have a new idea, be sure it is something that you can do with excellence, or don’t do it. You can’t do everything that needs to be done!

 

Some ideas have died and need to be buried! Sometimes if you give an idea a decent burial, someone more capable may resurrect it later and do well. The church needs to have people with the right gifts doing things so that they can be done with excellence. People without the talent need to be tactfully told so.

 

When you aim for perfection, you’re often disturbed when you fail to meet your goal. You need to develop a good sense of humor and be able to laugh at your occasional failures.

That's all for today. Congratulations to our sponsor, www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org , for serving 25,000 web pages since New Year's day. Please take time to visit their web page. Our podcast will be coming up again tomorrow, be sure to join us. Send your thoughts to me at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org .

Until tomorrow, thanks, and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

Well we made it to Friday. I hope that you all have a great weekend. Thanks again for joining the church growth, mission, and evangelism podcast. Take time to visit our sponsor www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org where there is always something special going on! Send your comments to me at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org

Today we will continue discussing when God builds a church. Take time to read the book by Bob Russell. It is invaluable! As always we will end with some good news for today.

Remember to join us on Monday for our next blog. Until then, thanks, and God bless you and keep you.

Pastor Bob Emery

Hello Friday. The sun is shining, the weekend is coming, what a beautiful day to praise God for all of His blessings. Today we are going to continue our discussion of when God builds a church:

There is a desperate need for good leadership in most churches. There is a hunger for dedicated, charismatic personalities who can inspire others to follow. Two essential components of leadership are personal character and leadership capability. Paul said that the leader must be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, not greedy, and so forth. Leadership begins with who we are, not what we do. A lack of integrity among the leaders quenches the flow of the Holy Spirit and removes God’s hand of blessing from the church.

 

Leaders must demonstrate for the people how to live like Jesus Christ. Leaders must demonstrate purity, sincerity, and humility. A good leader is decisive, organized, visionary, and inspiring. Distinctive leaders confront malignant problems scripturally, lovingly, and openly. Superior leaders are primarily concerned with what God has instructed us to do in His Word. The one essential for stability in any organization is the assurance that someone is in charge in a time of crisis.

 

In Bible believing churches, certain truths are absolute. Good leaders do not waver where the Bible speaks. Doctrines like the inspiration of Scripture, the deity of Christ, the plan of salvation, the resurrection, and the second coming are not debatable. Distinctive leaders are flexible. Leaders maintain that nonessential matters are open for discussion without emotional reactions.

 

Cooperation among leaders is essential for a growing church. The preacher and other staff members have a responsibility to be submissive to the elders’ oversight and to communicate openly with them. Positive support from the elders can motivate staff members to reach their full potential. The early church was a Christocracy. Christ was the head of His body. The elders were appointed to govern the body. The preacher was a paid elder whose task was preaching and teaching.

 

Elders need to be supportive and encouraging. The ministry can at times be a very insecure and intimidating position. Since they are constantly plagued by a sense of inadequacy, good elders and deacons look for opportunities to boost the preacher.

 

Suggestions for leadership: Develop a quality ministry staff. Hire the right person. Hire capable leaders, then let them lead. Demand purity. In almost every instance where there is a serious purity problem, it would be best for the staff member to get out of ministry for a while and attend another church.

 

Deal with a poor worker wisely. If the problem is a moral issue, it must be dealt with immediately. But if a staff member simply has a lack of ability or a poor work ethic, be wise. Many a good young minister has been hardened against ministry altogether because a church decided he was the wrong guy and fired him without any thought for his future. Maybe he’s not the right fit for you, but would make some other congregation a wonderful minister.

 

Have an annual staff retreat. You can worship together with a leader who is not from your own staff. Encourage family commitment. People in ministry tend to neglect their families. Encourage staff to take proper breaks for family time-one day a week in addition to Sunday and be generous with vacation time. Encourage the ministry staff to go on a yearly marriage retreat.

That's it for today. Be sure to watch for our podcast tonight or tomorrow morning. 

www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org looks forward to your visit. We thank them for their continued support. Thanks also to libsyn.com for hosting our blog/podcast. Their service has been excellent.

I'm always available for your comments at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org 

For now, thanks for tuning in. God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery 

Welcome back to our church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. I'm ecstatic that our podcast successfully uploaded yesterday even though my computer decided to hybernate. God works in mysterious ways..... Today we continue with thoughts about building a church through music:

The worship of God can be done through any kind of music. After you have chosen a worship leader who understands this point, and you’re ready to lead your congregation in worship, then consider musical styles. Find the musical style that will reach the greatest number of people in your culture. If you are focused solely on using a style of music that reaches your congregation, you may be severely limiting opportunities for evangelism because your congregation may not be a good reflection of your surrounding culture.

 

If no one in your congregation is inspired to worship because the music you are using doesn’t relate to them, you’re probably not leading them in worship. If you have a sixty something congregation in the middle of a thirty something neighborhood, you could sing a few new songs to reach the younger people, as well as the old hymns that reach the average member of the congregation.

 

You can use a blended style of music in your worship services. You can use several old, familiar hymns and several new, contemporary choruses. You can take time to explain the meaning of an old hymn that may contain words that we don’t use today. Every church would do well to consider some level of combination in their style of service-singing some old songs and some new songs on a regular basis. There are good reasons for us all to learn new songs as well as to teach the old hymns.

 

We should sing contemporary songs because God is honored by variety and freshness. God commanded us to sing a new song. Many people, especially young people and new Christians, relate better to the new songs. Older members may not like the music, but appreciate that it is bringing in new young people to hear about Christ. Eventually the old songs just don’t inspire us to worship anymore. They become too familiar.

 

We should teach our young people the best of the old hymns, because many of the ancient hymns are full of doctrine. The hymns keep us tied to other Christians past and present. Young Christians need to learn some of the older songs so they can understand and identify with the older generation of Christians around them.

 

The older hymns will be familiar to our church guests. They may not have heard any of the new choruses that are sung, but the chances are good that they will have heard the hymns. Visitors who have been away from church for a while will be pleasantly surprised by hearing some more contemporary music, but will probably sing along with some of the older songs that they recognize.

Thanks again for joining us. Thanks to www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org our sponsor. Be sure to tune in for our blog tomorrow and the podcast tomorrow night. So far the number of visitors for this blog and the podcast have been small, but as long as there is someone out there visiting, I intend to keep teaching what I can.

I would welcome anyone who would be interested in writing an entry or two for the blog or even joining on the podcast.

Please send your suggestions to me at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Until next time, thanks, and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

Hello. Thanks for joining us at the church growth, mission, and evangelism podcast. Take time to visit our sponsor at their website:

www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org .

Our program for today is:

Greeting

Introduction

When God Builds A Church

Some good news for today

Wrap up

 

For those of you thinking about online evangelism, I recommend that you visit the folks at www.ArkWebs.com or www.ForMinistry.com for website hosting.

Please send your comments to me at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org. Until next time, by when I hope to be rid of this stomach flu, thank-you and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

Hello. Welcome back to our church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. Today we continue talking about when God builds a church:

When outsiders see Christians genuinely worshiping, they are attracted. The Holy Spirit works through worship to draw the seeker to Christ. When Christ is exalted, people are attracted. People are looking for a very personal God in a safe, honest, environment. The world wants the church to be the church and to own up to who we really are. Everything else they can get anywhere.

 

Every part of the worship service should be planned, rehearsed, and intentional. Every song should PASS the song selection test. Personal. Attractive. Straightforward. Substantive. Songs should in some way relate to people’s everyday lives and involve their who being. They should hold their attention. The seeker and the saint should both be able to latch on to the song. And the song should have a thoroughly biblical message. Every worship service should have moments of joy and moments of quiet reverence.

 

You need to practice and pray before you begin your service. Make sure that all of the music is well rehearsed. If special music, drama, or other special presentations are not up to snuff-cut them from the service.  Begin and end on time. To gain the respect of newcomers, you must begin exactly when you say you will. You must also end on time. Your service can be sixty five to seventy minutes long with a thirty minute sermon. When people know that they don’t have to watch their watches, they can  better concentrate on worship.

 

Introduce the service by inviting people to worship. Introduce the hymns if possible. Be creative, but predictable. Everyone likes predictability and nobody likes change because change creates insecurity and anxiety. Change needs to be implemented slowly so people can digest it without too much unrest. But change needs to be implemented. Don’t do the same old thing every week. Find ways to introduce fresh and creative ideas into your worship service.

 

Make sure testimonies are authentic and reverent. The things that we say from the pulpit should be authentic, dignified, and reverent. Don’t us King James when you pray. Don’t become so informal that you become flippant. Maintain a sense of reverence. Don’t manipulate people into doing something that will be uncomfortable. Don’t forget that there are people in our midst every week that don’t have any idea what we are talking about.

 

Don’t drag out the end of the service invitation. At the close of the service, the person making announcements says, “The invitation to come to Christ is never over. It you thought about coming forward today but didn’t, and you want to talk to someone about your relationship with God, you can come to the side of the platform and a decision counselor with meet with you there.�

Be sure to watch for our podcast tonight or tomorrow morning. I have a city band rehearsal tonight so it depends when I can get it done. Please visit our sponsor: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org.

Until next time, thanks, and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery 

Hello. Welcome back to our blog on church growth, mission, and evangelism. For those of us in the central United States it was an incredible weekend for Father's Day activities. We give God the glory for the beautiful weather for the air show, boaters, fishermen, and those just enjoying the outdoors.

Thanks again to our sponsor www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org. We encourage you to visit their fine website.

Today we want to continue our discussion of When God Builds A Church by Bob Russell:

The primary reason for attending a church service should be to worship God. We come to experience the presence of God, to acknowledge his authority in our lives, and to worship him as our Creator. Worship is taking our affection off of our idols and putting it on God.

 

Worship is not something that we do for one hour a week, but a lifestyle that we offer to God. We should get recharged for the week ahead so we can return to being little lights for him. We should ask three questions about our corporate worship: does our worship honor God? does it inspire, uplift, and transform the worshiper? and is it powerful enough to draw visitors closer to an encounter with Jesus Christ?

 

The primary purpose of worship is not to entertain those sitting in the pews, but to glorify God. We worship to bring glory to God and express our gratitude for his goodness. Our goal is to please him. In biblical worship there always seems to be a sense of awe and a sense of joy. When we come into the presence of the King of kings, our appropriate response is one of wonderment and reverence.

 

Have you ever stood outside on a clear night and looked up at the heavens and thought-God is so big. Awe in the presence of God doesn’t rule out a sense of gladness. Biblical worship is characterized by an overwhelming sense of joy in the hearts of God’s people. They were worshiping a faithful, personal God of grace who loved them and had saved them through Jesus Christ. God cared enough for them that He died for them.

 

If you come from a formal, liturgical background, you are used to an emphasis on the reverence and awe side of worship. If you grew up in a more charismatic church, you’re accustomed to the emphasis on the joy of worship. The format and style of worship is the most divisive issue in American churches today. Authentic worship of God is characterized by both a spirit of awe and a spirit of joy. Sometimes we should be able to hear a pin drop and sometimes we should shout for joy.

 

The primary purpose of worship is to honor God, but corporate worship should also lift up and encourage believers. When we genuinely worship God, the by product is inspiration and empowerment. God ordained worship not just because He deserves it, but because we have an instinctive need to worship. Although He is the focus of our worship, it is we who receive the most benefit from worship.

 

The most important benefit of a worship service is an awareness of the presence of God. People come to church because they expect to find God there. That’s why you ought to attend weekly worship even when you don’t feel like going. Your presence might be an encouragement to another believer who has come to be uplifted. And you will be lifted up by worshiping in the assembly of believers.

 

Worship should have a sense of God’s presence. Worship should be neither sheer boredom nor surface entertainment. It should convey a deep respect for the holiness, the majesty, the joy, and the power of the almighty God in our midst. When we gather for worship, we should experience a conviction of our own sinfulness. When we gather for worship, we should also receive a cleansing of sin and a release from guilt.

 

When we experience the presence of God in worship, we should leave rejoicing. Although we have been reminded of our sinful state, we have been reminded of God’s grace. When we gather for worship, we should also be inspired to serve. The worshipper should leave with an incentive to share the truth with the lost and minister to the hurting in the world.

Join us again tomorrow. Send your comments to me at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org Remember that we are now producing our podcasts on Tuesday and Friday. Let me know how you like the shorter format!

Until next time, thanks, and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

Podcast notes for June 17, 2006

Thanks so much for joining us here for today's church growth, mission, and evangelism podcast. Thanks again to our sponsor

www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org for all of their hard work to make these blogs and podcasts happen. Be sure to visit their site!

Today we are going to talk about when God builds a church with some ideas from Rev. Russell.

Greetings

Introduction

When God Builds A Church

Some good news for today

Wrap up

 

Thanks again for joining us. Until Monday, thanks and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org

Welcome back. We're glad that you could join us for our end of the week blog. It's a great day to talk about when God builds a church:

Paul commanded Timothy to preach the Word, for the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine, instead they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

 

The gospel doesn’t change regardless of how far the values of our culture erode. Do your best to see that the members of your church are grounded in God’s Word. Teach Bible songs in your nursery, teach Bible stories that you want your preschoolers to remember, in your elementary programs teach your kid’s God’s Word. Teach your youth and adults the Word of God.

 

You need to shower people with God’s grace while taking a strong biblical stand on moral issues. Someone who has been convicted of God’s truth is ready to receive God’s grace. Grace can only be understood in the context of God’s truth. We need to be preaching a God of grace and truth. Jesus Christ can forgive the past and empower us to win the victory in the future. When we preach as sinners saved by grace, people are encouraged to trust in Christ’s love.

 

The Word of God has tremendous power when the preacher or teacher applies it in a way that builds a bridge to the daily lives of the listeners. Jesus was a master at applying biblical principles to the lives of his listeners. How does the lesson that you have prepared apply to the daily lives of your listeners? Pray that God will reveal to you specific ways the passage should make a difference in the people’s lives.

 

When people see how the scripture applies to Monday, not just Sunday, then the Word of God begins to come alive to them. Two or three one-line examples will make the application even better. Such one-line examples of application can really cultivate the soil of the heart to receive God’s truth. Sometimes your best illustrations will emerge from trying to find examples of application.

 

Its important that we come up with practical help for people trying to apply the scriptures. Coming up with creative applications is hard work, but this the point where preaching becomes a helpful ministry that transforms lives, and not just an interesting presentation. We desperately need churches with preachers and teachers who will believe God’s Word, teach God’s Word, and apply God’s Word to the everyday lives of those who are listening. God will be faithful in using the conviction of these people to grow their congregations.

What great thoughts! Be sure to watch for our podcast that will be out tonight or early tomorrow. As always there will be some great tips on church growth and some inspiration to get you through the weekend.

Please visit our sponsor at: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org  and send your comments to me: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org  . Until next time, thanks and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

Hello. Thanks for joining us for our church growth, mission, and evangelism blogwhich is a companion to our podcast by the same name. Please take time to visit the terriffic web site of our sponsor www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org. God has certainly blessed us with visitors to the web site, but we really would like you to see it!

 

As of yesterday, we have a new internet service provider. We are looking forward to much smoother and faster operations for our blog and our podcast.

 

Today we are going to start talking about how God builds a church, sharing some ideas from Rev. Robert Russel and his book When God Builds A Church:

 

God defines success differently than we do. He measures effectiveness in terms of faithfulness to His Word, conformity to Jesus Christ, and ministry to those in need.

God wants to bless churches greatly if they will invite Him in and allow Him to do so.

 

Many churches in America are dead. They aren't evangelizing. But, there are also many churches in America that are very much alive. They are worshipping God, loving one another, and winning people to Christ. Regardless of your size, God can bless your church more than you ever asked or imagined. May your congregation be instrumental in bringing in scores of souls to Jesus Christ. God has chosen to bless thousands of evangelical churches around the world who have been serious about upholding the absolute truth of God's Word.

 

There is a standard of right and wrong. Unless we repent and trust in Christ, we face the wrath of God. That's what's happening in our society, because there is no regard for the rules. The Ten Commandments are no longer obeyed, and the Bible is no longer respected as a source of authority in our culture, largely because it is not preached from our pulpits as the Word of God. There is no longer any fear of God's authority.

 

The challenge is to retain high biblical standards regardless of how far the world moves to Gomorrah. Certain transcendent truths are absolute-the inspiration of Scripture, the historical creation of man, the deity of Jesus Christ, the plan of salvation, the Ten Commandments. These have been given by God as unchanging truths, and they should not be compromised. The church must stand firm in the faith and preach the Word.

 

There are times in the church when the leaders are tempted to water down the truth and say what they know people want to hear. It is imperative that the church be a place where the truth is unashamedly proclaimed. If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for the battle?

 

Every year church staffs need to be reminded how important it is that they maintain their personal integrity in all they do, lest they become a hindrance to the great work God is doing in the church. They have to recommit themselves to biblical truth. Liberalism has destroyed too many churches. It is imperative that every leader in your church be committed to the Bible as God's Word, the source of absolute truth.

 

According to the postmodern mind, there are no absolutes. You can believe what you want to believe, the most popular thinking goes, but don't impose your values on me. The most important virtue to the postmodernist is tolerance. To be dogmatic about anything-no matter how true it might be-is considered to be the height of arrogance and intolerance.

 

What you need to do is to measure everything by the truth of God's word. Many people leave church feeling empty each week. They come hungry for the Word of God, but when they aren't fed, they go empty, hungry, and frustrated. Jesus was a preacher. He said I must preach the good news, that's why I was sent.

 

Paul said, When I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. We need to instill in people's minds the idea that God could use them someday to spread the gospel. Whenever you preach, use a lot of scripture, because that is the one thing that you know is true.

 

Please watch for our blog tomorrow and another short podcast either tomorrow or Saturday morning. Remember that we are now on a Tuesday/Friday evening or Wednesday/Saturday morning publishing schedule for our podcasts. Our blogs will continue to be on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Please send your comments to me at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org. If there are any copywrite concerns, please let me know, so I can change my format.

 

Until tomorrow, thanks, and God bless,

 

Pastor Bob Emery 

Welcome to the church growth, mission, and evangelism podcast. This will the be the second of our shorter version podcast. I hope the shorter format is working well for you. Please let me know what you think at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org .

Be sure to visit www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org our sponsor. What a terrific web site! There is always something for everyone to experience.

Our plan for today is:

Greeting

Introduction

Gaining peace with God

Some positive thoughts for the day

Wrap up

Thanks again for joining us today. We give God the glory for the success of this ministry. We will be here for our next blog page tomorrow. Until then, thanks and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

Welcome back to our church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. We are glad you can join us. Thanks again to our sponsor www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org for their tireless support. Check out the changes to their web site. As always, there are lots of things to do there.

We continue our discussion of achieving peace with God:

The coming again of Jesus Christ is mentioned in the Scripture more than 300 times in the New Testament alone. This shows that the Holy Spirit, who directed the writing of the Bible, puts tremendous stress on the fact that Christ is coming back to this earth again.

 

CS Lewis said that there are three things that keep people from believing in the coming of Christ. First, Jesus didn’t come when they expected Him to come in the first century. The second reason is the theory of evolution-the idea that we are making progress on our own and really don’t need Christ. The third reason is that the coming of Christ cuts across our materialism and our good times-all the things that we like the most in this world.

 

The day is fast approaching when Christ will come back to snatch away his followers from all the graveyards of the world, and those of us who are alive and remain will join them in the great escape. That is the hope of the future for the Christian.

 

There are five reasons why Christ has to come back to this earth. First, He must come back because of the promises of the Old Testament that have yet to be fulfilled. Some day men are going to make spears into pruning hooks; and some day nation will not lift up sword against nation, because the Prince of Peace is coming back.

 

Second, Christ has to return because of His own statements. Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. The Bible says that we are going to reign with Him!

 

The third reason is the present position of Satan. The most powerful being in all of the world today, outside of God himself, is the devil. And the Bible says that he has access to heaven to the throne of God. The devil didn’t want Christ to go to the cross, because he knew what Christ would do on the cross. He knew that when Christ died on the cross that He was bearing all the sins of the world. Satan suffered his greatest defeat at the cross and in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

But the devil is still loose, still in charge of the cosmos, the evil that is in the world. In his supernatural power, he has a supernatural plan, even to try to dethrone God. That’s why Christ has to come-He is the only one who can deal with the devil. Forth, Jesus must come because of the present chaos in the world. Christ is going to come to set up His kingdom of righteousness and glory and peace and justice.

 

The fifth reason Christ must come is the dead in Christ-those people who have died believing in God and trusting in Him. Believers are going to be raised from the dead. Jesus said that there would be intellectual and mental confusion and disturbances throughout the world. We as a human race are going to reach a point where there is no way out!

 

Jesus said that there would be a collapse of morals just before He comes back. The world is on an immoral binge such as it’s never known in history. Jesus said just before He returns that will be the condition of the human race. Jesus also said that there would be a falling away of believers and that there would be many false prophets. Some may still believe, but they have fallen away in the way they live. Your life justifies what you believe.

 

Jesus indicated that there would be an increase in lawlessness. Terrorist activities are increasing in almost every country. There is rebellion against all authority. More than ever, people are searching for peace.

 

Jesus said there would be a world-wide emphasis on evangelism and the proclamation of the gospel before He came back. For the first time in history the gospel is being heard all over the world. One day we shall see Jesus face to face, and total sanctification is when we are as perfect as He is.

 

We are to wait with patience. He has appointed a day and God knows the day. We are to watch, to constantly think about His coming. We are constantly to be working to reach our fellow man for Christ. The last point is that we are to be prepared. For those who do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, it means judgment, it means hell.

 

We know the price that was paid to get this thing called peace and happiness, but at the moment the world is heading toward anything but peace. We are to try for peace, but that does not mean pacifism. “Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.�

 

If by faith we accept Christ, we are justified by God and can realize the inner serenity that can come to man through no other means. Jesus told us that there are going to be wars until the end of the age. He knew that the vast majority of the human race was never going to be converted to Him.

 

We have peace with God through Jesus Christ. If you don’t repent of your sins and receive Christ as your Savior, you are going to be lost. If we turn our backs on Him and don’t commit our lives to Him, we will have no hope in the future. The war that exists between you and God can be over quickly, and the peace treaty is signed in the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.

 

The second peace spoken of in the Bible is the peace of God. Everyone who knows the Lord Jesus Christ can go through any problem, and face death, and still have the peace of God in his heart. The sense of guilt and sin that natural man carries within himself renders him unfit for the performance of his duties, renders him sick in both mind and body.

 

There are special privileges that only the true Christian can enjoy. The privilege of having divine wisdom and guidance continually, true optimism, and a world view. The third peace that the Scriptures mention is future peace. I want to make sure that I have peace with God. I want to be sure that I’m ready for death. It’s all yours, and it’s free.

 

The time is getting far shorter. Few of us know for certain when death will come for us. Make your peace with God today:

 

“O God, I am a sinner, I am sorry for my sin, I am willing to turn from my sin. I receive Christ as Savior, I confess Him as Lord, I want to follow Him and serve Him and others in the fellowship of His holy church. In Christ’s name. Amen.  

The plan for today is to produce our second short podcast. Be sure to check back this evening for that post. Same exciting content as before, just a shorter program that I hope will be more usable for the listener and simpler to produce.

Please send your comments to: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org

Thanks and God bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

Hello. Welcome to a new week of our church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. Be sure to check out our sponsor's newly redesigned web page at: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org. We thank them for their support.

We have changed the production schedule for our companion church growth, mission, and evangelism podcast. I will now be producing two podcasts a week on Tuesday and Friday evenings. The podcasts will continue to be in the same format, just shorter. I am hoping that a shorter podcast will be easier to listen to and will be easier to redo if I run into production problems.

Let's continue our search for peace with God:

The Christian looks through the eyes of Christ at the race question. We have let the sports world; the entertainment field, politics, the armed forces, education, and industry outstrip us. The church should have been the pace-setter. The only real solution will be when we come together at the foot of the cross where we come together in brotherly love. The ground is level at the foot of the cross.

 

The Christian attitude should prevail in the matter of economics. We can possess nothing-no property and no person-along the way. It is God who owns everything, and we are but stewards of His property during the brief time we are on earth. No matter what we get, we can’t take it with us. The Bible makes it clear that God expects us to do the best we can with the talents, the abilities, and the situations with which life endows us. And remember the tithe.

 

A Christian will be concerned about suffering humanity around him or her. The great slum areas of your country will become a burden to you. The poverty and suffering of thousands of people in your own neighborhood will become a concern to you. Many people spend so much time in lofty enterprises that they make no contribution to suffering immediately at hand.

 

The Christian will be interested in helping build and develop hospitals, orphanages, old people’s homes, and other charitable institutions that are trying to help the less fortunate. The  Christian will be interested in doing his part to help share the great wealth of this country with the needy in other parts of the world.

 

Nowhere in the Bible does it teach us to withdraw from society. It teaches quite the contrary. We are to join with others who are working to good purpose to help lift the unfortunate. The Christian has a special obligation to fellow Christians. We are to love our enemies, but the greatest of our human love is for those other believers. We are told to serve one another.

 

Our obligation to each other as Christians is such that we should be examples to each other. We are to forgive one another. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, and forgiving one another. We are not to judge one another, but be subject to one another. As Christians we are to bear one another’s burdens. But we are not to worry about our burdens, as we are to roll them onto God’s shoulders.

 

We are to be generous with each other. Christians ought to be gracious. Our commendable intolerance of sin too often develops into a deplorable intolerance of sinners. Jesus was willing to talk to and exchange ideas with anyone. Even his followers decried some of the people that he was seen with in public, but this did not lessen the compassion that Jesus felt for all the members of poor, blinded, and struggling humanity.

 

His own inner conviction was so strong, so firm, so unswerving that He could afford to mingle with any group secure in the knowledge that He would net be contaminated. It is fear that makes us unwilling to listen to another’s point of view, fear that our own ideas may be attacked. Jesus knew the difference between graciousness and compromise.

 

The Christian cannot withdraw himself as a hermit and live a solitary life. He is a member of society. The teachings of Jesus deal frequently with our attitudes toward our fellow men. Study the Bible and then live by it. Only then can you demonstrate to a confused world the transforming power of Christ!

That does it for today. Please send me your comments and suggestions at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org. We exist to bring the word of God and Christ to others, but we  need your help to produce the finest product.

 

Until tomorrow, thanks and God bless.

 

Pastor Bob Emery 

We will try this again. Thanks for your patience. Bob.

Today we are going to try a new format for our podcast. Instead of producing a 40 minute podcast once a week, I am going to start producing two 20 minute podcasts a week, probably on Friday and Tuesday.

I'm hoping that I can get more proficient by producing the podcasts more frequently. Also, if there are technical problems with uploading the podcast, it won't be such a major chore to redo it. For those of you who are like me and have a short memory, the shorter podcasts may be more enjoyable to listen to. If this works, I may go to a daily podcast of 10 minutes. You could get the same information each week, but you wouldn't have to listen for so long.

Again, your feedback is vital to sculpting this program. Send you comments to me at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Be sure to visit our sponsor at: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org , there's always something great to see there.

Our podcast for today goes like this:

Greeting

Introduction

Gaining peace with God

Good news for today

Wrap up

 

We will continue to do our blog daily as we juggle our podcast schedules. See you on Monday when we start another great week with church growth, mission, and evangelism.

Thanks and God Bless

Pastor Bob Emery

Hello. We made it to Friday again. Thanks be to God. A little rain and thunderstorms today, but that's good for the flowers. Thank-you for joining us as we talk about gaining peace with God:

The Bible was not written to encourage people to take an interest in the affairs of this life. It assumes that they already have more than their share of interest in that. Those who claim to be Christians are taught not only to labor but labor to the best of their ability. God inspires us in our gifts, helps us in our work, and blesses us in our pleasure. It is in our daily tasks and in the way that we face the social problems around us that the world will see Christ in us.

 

The business of making a living, the responsibilities of a home, the daily routine all combine to test the reality of our Christian experience and faith. One of the real tests of our Christian character is to be found in the lives we live from day to day. While Christianity is not primarily a matter of externals, nevertheless it does find expression in the conversation, habits, recreation, emphasis, and ambitions noted in our daily lives. In such things men judge whether we are Christians or not.

 

The Christian should be a good citizen, law abiding and loyal to his country. We ought to seek and work for the good of our country. Sometimes we may be called upon to die for it. We should be generous and give to those who are in need and to those organizations that are faithfully and honestly ministering to those in need. As responsible stewards we are to check our various organizations for trustworthiness and honesty and be sure that the relief given to certain governments is going where designated.

 

Christians should be given to hospitality. Our homes should be hospitable and those who come in and out of our homes should sense the presence of Christ. That which God has given to us should be shared with others.

 

We should have the Christian attitude toward sex. Sex should be a wonderful, meaningful, and satisfying human experience. Sex, stripped of total commitment, of mutual love, respect, and the sincere desire to give joy and fulfillment to the other person, becomes simply an animal act.

 

Those who take a Christian view of sex will take a Christian view of marriage. Before you enter into a marriage, consider the real spiritual implications that make an earthly marriage binding in heaven. Many have the terrible misfortune of selecting their mates while they are still in the toils of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and while the man and woman they select is also still in the same condition.

 

Marriage is a holy bond because it permits two people to help each other work out their spiritual destinies. God declared marriage to be good because He knew that man needed a helpmate and woman needed protector. It is the woman’s role to love and help and reassure her husband in every way she can, and it is man’s role to love and protect and provide for his wife and the children she bears. They are to submit to each other and love each other.

 

Marriage entered into with a clear understanding of God’s purpose and God’s laws have no need for divorce court. Marriages that fall short of this ideal should first seek to learn what God expects of the husband and wife and then pray for God’s help and guidance in carrying out his commands.

 

We are to take a Christian attitude in labor-management relationships. Whatever you do, put your whole heart and soul into it for you are actually employed by Christ, and not just by your earthly master. Employers need to remember that it is their responsibility to be fair and just towards those whom they employ, never forgetting that they themselves have a heavenly employer.

 

The Christian should be the most faithful, the most willing and efficient worker of all. He should stand out in a factory or shop as one who wants justice. The Christian employer should treat his employees with a respect and generosity that will be come an example for other employees. A man of real Christian concepts cannot help but be concerned about safety precautions, good working conditions, and the well being of his employees.

Thanks again to our sponsor www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org for their ongoing support. I'm going to try a little change in our podcast schedule to see how it works. Be sure to let me know what you think at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org.

 

Until next time, thanks, and God Bless.

 

Pastor Bob Emery

 

Hello

Thanks for joining us at the church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. We are always glad you are here! Today we continue with gaining peace with God:

Man is a social animal, gregarious by nature, and finds his greatest sense of security and satisfaction in the company of others who share his interests and attitudes. Man needs to find comfort and reassurance in the company of others who approve of his way of life, because their way of life is similar. No where has man found this comfort, this reassurance, this peace to the extent that he has found it in the church.

 

The word church is an English translation of the Greek word ecclesia which means an assembly of people. In the first century, the word church would suggest to the Greek a self-governing, democratic society; to the Jew, a theocratic society whose members were the subjects of God.

 

Jesus Christ himself founded the church. He proclaimed himself to be the founder of the church, the builder of the church, and the church belongs to Him and to Him alone. The church is God himself living with, and in, ordinary men and women who are members of His church.

 

You are called upon to obey Christ, and if you obey Christ, you will follow his example of joining with others in the worship of God. Perfection does not exist among human beings, and the institutions they create to the greater glory of God are filled with these same flaws.

 

A stable church is built up when the members of the congregation recognize that it is their own mutual love of Jesus Christ and the sincere desire to follow in His steps that hold them together. The church should be the means of channeling your funds for Christian work and the needs of fellow Christians. Generosity should motivate us in all things. As far as possible, one should give inconspicuously and quietly.

 

It is impossible for you to become a soul winner unless you are prepared to give something of yourself. Not only your money, but your time, your talents, your very self-everything is to be given to the service of Christ. We give back to Him in return for the great love He has bestowed on us, and in that way we spread His love abroad.

 

The Christian should also share in community responsibilities as time and money allow. As Christians, we believe the Lord would have us assist our community as we are able. Be careful that you don’t become guilty of the sin of robbing God. The Gospel is free, but it costs money to buy the pails in which to carry the water of salvation. Ten percent of our income belongs to God.

 

The church is for the spreading of the gospel. The basic and primary mission of the church is to proclaim Christ to the lost. The world is sending forth its SOS, asking the church to come to its help. The world is being overcome by social, moral, and economic problems. Its people are going down, swept under the waves of crime and shame. The world needs Christ. The mission of the church is to throw the lifeline to perishing sinners everywhere.

 

Sixty five percent of this world has yet to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. In this generation we have failed miserably to fulfill our mission to evangelize the world. The early church had no Bibles, no seminaries, no printing presses, no literature, no educational institutions, no radio, no television, no automobiles, no airplanes, and yet within one generation the gospel had been spread to most of the known world. The secret of this spread was the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Today in the face of vastly improved methods of communication the power of the Holy Spirit is still the same. This is the mission of the church. We may use visitation evangelism, educational evangelism, preaching missions, industrial evangelism, cell evangelism, radio or television evangelism, movie evangelism, or so-called mass evangelism.

Today starts a new cycle of material for our podcast. I am toying with the idea of changing from one fourty minute podcast each week to two twenty minute podcasts on say Wednesday and Friday. It would make it so that I wouldn't have to spend so much time on one podcast and if I run into technical problems, it wouldn't take me so long to redo the program. Also doing the podcasts more frequently would hopefully make things run more smoothly. Once a week is too infrequent for those of us with poor memories!

Please let me know what you think! I can be reached at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org. Until tomorrow, thanks and God Bless.

Pastor Bob

I've figured out the problem here. Let's try this again.

June 7, 2006

Welcome to today's podcast of church growth, mission, and evangelism. We are always glad to have you join us. Thanks again to our sponsor"

www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org for all of their support.

 

The unofficial program for today is:

Greetings

Introduction

Liberty University http://www.liberty.edu featuring their distance learning programs

Gaining peace with God

Words of encouragement for today

Wrap up

 

We give God the glory for the success of our online ministry. the great commission church.org has had 5609 visitors and served 22,584 web pages since the year began. I think that counts as a miracle since I have no idea what I am doing!

Please send me your suggestions for what I could be doing for this ministry at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org. See you tomorrow for our blog.

Thanks and God Bless

Pastor Bob Emery 

Hello. Thanks again for joining us for the church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. Tuesday means that tomorrow is podcast day. I'm excited that our new internet service seems to be working well. Be sure to visit our sponsor at: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org.

There's new stuff every day! We have been read in 31 countries! God is surely blessing us. Today we continue talking about gaining peace with God:

Fifth, be a witnessing Christian. We are responsible to God for the way in which we live, but it is His Word that He has promised to bless and this explains why a musician in a communist country can pick up a page torn from the Bible and be converted. If we are not willing to let our flags fly in the home, in the office, in the shop, and on the campus-then we are not worthy to be ambassadors for Christ! We are to take our stand and let all those around us know that we are Christians. We are to bear witness for Christ.

 

We witness in two ways: by life and by word-and the two, where possible should go hand in hand. God’s purpose for you and me after we have been converted is that we be witnesses to His saving grace and power. We Christians have the Word of God. Our great commander has said to go and take this message to a dying world. The apostle Paul exhorted the Christians centuries ago to teach only the Word. We are not to stop sowing because some of the soil looks unpromising.

 

We are kindling a fire. In this cold world full of hatred and selfishness our little blaze may seem unavailing, but we must keep our fire burning. We have bread for a hungry world. The people may seem to be so busy feeding on other things that they will not accept the Bread of Life, but we must keep on giving it, offering it to the souls of men. We must persevere. We must never give up. Keep using the Word! The most thrilling experience known to man is winning another to Jesus Christ.

 

Sixth, let love be the ruling principle of your life. Let us love one another, for love is of God. He that loveth not knoweth not God. Love does not necessarily imply approval of the one loved. If God had waited until He could approve of us before He sent His Son to redeem us, where would we be?

 

The Bible declares that we who follow Christ should love one another as God loved us when He sent His Son to die on the cross. The moment we come to Christ He gives us supernatural love and that His love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The greatest demonstration of the fact that we are Christians is that we love one another.

 

Seventh, be an obedient Christian. Let Christ have first place in all the choices of your life. Eighth, learn how to meet temptation. Temptation is not sin. It is yielding that is sin. God never brings temptation to us. He allows it to test us. Be like the little girl to said, “Every time I hear the devil knock. I send Jesus to the door.� In order to be obedient you must know His commands. That’s another reason for the necessity of studying and reading the Bible.

 

Ninth, be a wholesome Christian. Some Christians are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. No where in the Bible does it say that we should be weird or peculiar. We should be courteous, clean of body, pure of mind, and gracious. Our lives and appearance should commend the gospel and make it attractive to others.

 

Tenth, live above your circumstances. God made you as you are. He placed you where you are. So you can best serve him and glorify Him just as you are, where you are. People spend so much time looking on the other side of the fence, wishing things were different, that they overlook all the advantages and opportunities open to them right where they are.

 

Don’t let your circumstances get you down. Learn to live graciously within them realizing that the Lord is with you. These principles, properly and faithfully kept, will give you peace of soul, happiness, peace of mind, and pleasure, and you will have learned the secret of living life with satisfaction.

The schedule for tomorrow's podcast will be:

Music

Greetings

Introduction to the show

Gaining peace with God

The good news for the week

Closing remarks

Music

Again, I am asking for your feedback to help improve/tailor our podcast. Send me a note at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org. I am going to continue to experiment with the music/format for the podcast to try to get a more interesting/relevant program. Let me know what you think!

 

Until tomorrow, thanks and God Bless

 

Pastor Bob Emery 

Wow, what an incredible Monday! It's a beautiful day and I have a new faster internet hook-up for doing my online church work. I'm republishing my Friday blog, because every time I tried to up load it, it told me that the server was not available, so I'm resending it now. If there are any glitches, please let me know at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org.

Friday's stuff:

Now that you have been born again-what’s next? It’s nearly impossible to live the Christian life alone. Most of us need help and fellowship. Everything is exciting and thrilling just after you have made your decision for Christ, but it is also natural to have doubts, problems, and temptations.

 

The first enemy is the devil. Even though he was beaten by Christ at the cross, he still has power to influence men for evil. The moment that you made your decision for Christ, Satan suffered a tremendous defeat. From now on he is going to tempt you and try to lead you into sin. He will do everything in his power to sow seeds of doubt in your mind. You cannot argue with him for he is the greatest debater of all time.

 

The moment of test has come with the first temptation. Remember to refuse any reliance on your feelings for they will change like the wind. He will try to make you feel proud and important. He will tempt you to say unkind and ungenerous things about other people. He will put hatred into your heart. He will put envy, discontent, and malice into your heart. He will do his best to make a liar out of you. If you are not careful, you may actually find yourself in the employ of the devil!

 

Remember that temptation is actually a sign that you are right with God. Satan’s power is made inoperative in the life of a Christian who fully trusts and yields to God. There are times when we simply must hide behind the person of Christ and ask Him to handle our problems.

 

Your second enemy is the world. The world has a tendency to lead us into sin. Many non-Christians accuse the Christian life as being a bunch of rules, but that is not true. You become so busy doing the work of Christ and become so satisfied doing the work of Christ that you do not have time for things of the world. Worldliness is probably one of the greatest difficulties for a young and inexperienced Christian.

 

The third enemy is the lust of the flesh. The Bible teaches us that the old nature with all its corruption is still there and that’s where these evil temptations come from. Neither the devil nor the world nor even our own heart can cause us to sin. It must come with our consent and will and it is at this point that our evil nature comes in with its awful power and possibility of evil.

 

The good news is that we don’t have to fight these battles alone. Remember that Jesus said that he would never leave us or forsake us. The Holy Spirit is the most powerful Being in the world today. The moment you accepted Christ as Savior the Holy Spirit took up residence in your heart. Accept the Spirit by faith as a fact. Disregard your feelings. He lives within you right now to help you live the Christian life.

 

When you give all that you know of yourself to all that you know of Christ, then you can accept by faith that you are filled with the Spirit of God. Commitment is actually surrender-total, absolute, unconditional, irreversible surrender.

 

It is only the consecrated, Spirit filled Christian who can have victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is the Holy Spirit who will do the fighting for you. This is spiritual warfare. Don’t hold anything back from Christ. Let Him be completely the Lord and Master of your life. After you have given yourself completely to Christ in consecration, remember that God has accepted what you have presented.

 

One fruit of the Spirit is unself-consciousness. Another fruit is joy. The victory is yours. Claim it! The Savior goes with you no matter what the problem. The peace comes in the midst of problems and in spite of them.

 

Monday's stuff:

 

It takes steady development, constant enlargement, and increasing wisdom to become mature in Christ. First, you should read your Bible daily. It is one of your greatest privileges! Read it, study it, meditate on it, and memorize it. Ninety five percent of the difficulties that you will experience as a Christian can be traced to a lack of Bible study and reading.

 

A little portion well digested is of greater spiritual value to your soul than a lengthy portion scanned hurriedly. Do not become discouraged because you cannot understand it all. Start by reading the gospel of John. Even though you cannot remember all you have read, or understand it all, go on reading. The very practice of reading in itself will have a purifying effect upon your mind and heart. Let nothing take the place of this daily exercise. Memorized scripture can come to mind when you do not have your Bible with you. Memorize as much as you can.

 

Second, learn the secret of prayer. The Holy Spirit who lives within you will help your and teach you. Try to have a systematic method of prayer. If you have special prayer periods that you set aside during the day, your unconscious life will be saturated with prayer between the prayer periods. Pray as you work. Pray everywhere. Pray without ceasing.

Third, rely constantly on the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to take over in your life. Tell Him how weak, helpless, unstable, and unreliable you are. Stand aside and let Him take over in all the choices and decisions of your life, knowing that the Holy Spirit prays for us. Rest in the Lord. A true victorious Christian is one who, in spite of worries, inner conflicts, and tensions, is confident that God is in control.

 

Fourth, attend church regularly. Christianity is a religion of fellowship. Christians need the fellowship of fellow believers. Nothing can take the place of church attendance. The person who fails to attend church fails to give God the complete worship to which He has a right.

There, I think that I'm caught up. I'm planning on God's continuing blessing on our internet church, blog, and podcast, so things will go smoothly now! Be sure to visit our church website at: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org.

Until tomorrow, thanks, and God Bless.

 

Pastor Bob Emery 

Hi

 

Thanks for joining us at the church growth, mission, and evangelism blog sponsored by www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org . It has been an incredible day with puffy clouds, and light breeze, and temps in the 80s. A great day for whatever you would like to do and a great day to gain peace with God.

Now that you have been born again-what’s next? It’s nearly impossible to live the Christian life alone. Most of us need help and fellowship. Everything is exciting and thrilling just after you have made your decision for Christ, but it is also natural to have doubts, problems, and temptations.

 

The first enemy is the devil. Even though he was beaten by Christ at the cross, he still has power to influence men for evil. The moment that you made your decision for Christ, Satan suffered a tremendous defeat. From now on he is going to tempt you and try to lead you into sin. He will do everything in his power to sow seeds of doubt in your mind. You cannot argue with him for he is the greatest debater of all time.

 

The moment of test has come with the first temptation. Remember to refuse any reliance on your feelings for they will change like the wind. He will try to make you feel proud and important. He will tempt you to say unkind and ungenerous things about other people. He will put hatred into your heart. He will put envy, discontent, and malice into your heart. He will do his best to make a liar out of you. If you are not careful, you may actually find yourself in the employ of the devil!

 

Remember that temptation is actually a sign that you are right with God. Satan’s power is made inoperative in the life of a Christian who fully trusts and yields to God. There are times when we simply must hide behind the person of Christ and ask Him to handle our problems.

 

Your second enemy is the world. The world has a tendency to lead us into sin. Many non-Christians accuse the Christian life as being a bunch of rules, but that is not true. You become so busy doing the work of Christ and become so satisfied doing the work of Christ that you do not have time for things of the world. Worldliness is probably one of the greatest difficulties for a young and inexperienced Christian.

 

The third enemy is the lust of the flesh. The Bible teaches us that the old nature with all its corruption is still there and that’s where these evil temptations come from. Neither the devil nor the world nor even our own heart can cause us to sin. It must come with our consent and will and it is at this point that our evil nature comes in with its awful power and possibility of evil.

 

The good news is that we don’t have to fight these battles alone. Remember that Jesus said that he would never leave us or forsake us. The Holy Spirit is the most powerful Being in the world today. The moment you accepted Christ as Savior the Holy Spirit took up residence in your heart. Accept the Spirit by faith as a fact. Disregard your feelings. He lives within you right now to help you live the Christian life.

 

When you give all that you know of yourself to all that you know of Christ, then you can accept by faith that you are filled with the Spirit of God. Commitment is actually surrender-total, absolute, unconditional, irreversible surrender.

 

It is only the consecrated, Spirit filled Christian who can have victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is the Holy Spirit who will do the fighting for you. This is spiritual warfare. Don’t hold anything back from Christ. Let Him be completely the Lord and Master of your life. After you have given yourself completely to Christ in consecration, remember that God has accepted what you have presented.

 

One fruit of the Spirit is unself-consciousness. Another fruit is joy. The victory is yours. Claim it! The Savior goes with you no matter what the problem. The peace comes in the midst of problems and in spite of them.

See you again on Monday. Have a great, safe weekend. Please send your comments to me at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Until then, thanks and God Bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

Welcome to the May 31, 2006 church growth, mission, and evangelism podcast. I am obviously two days late, but I decided that I needed the production practice, so chose not to skip a week.

We are glad you could join us and I hope that you will enjoy the new music that I have included this time.

Links to know:

www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org

bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org

the program:

greetings

introduction

gaining peace with god

good thoughts for the week

closing remarks

 

Time to get working on next weeks podcast. Until then, thanks and God Bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

Hello

Thanks for joining us for the church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. I ended last month roughly because of the scheduling difficulties caused by getting my son back and forth to Europe. He and his fellow university students in the orchestra and chorus had a wonderful trip and got to perform some great concerts in some historic locations. Another reminder of the joy of a life close to God. I should be back on track with our programing from now on. Let's continue our discussion of peace with God:

Our society suffers greatly from loneliness, but we can have a friend in Jesus. Jesus Christ can make life joyful, satisfying, and glorious to you. All over the world are millions of men and women who love and serve Christ. The moment that you accept Him, you are closer to them than you are to your own blood relatives.

 

First, you must repent, surrender, and commit your heart and life to Christ. Let Him forgive your past sins, and He will take you into His family. If you are lonely today, I beg you, come to Christ and know the fellowship that He brings. With Christ as your savior and constant companion, although alone, you need never be lonely.

 

There is no loneliness quite as bitter as the loneliness of a backslidden Christian. Yet there is forgiveness for you. As you confess and forsake your sins, your fellowship with Christ will be restored. The loneliest soul of all is the man whose life is steeped in sin. Christ can give you power to overcome every sin and habit in your life; but you must repent, confess, commit, and surrender yourself to Him first.

 

Jesus was alone. He had come to His own, and His own received Him not. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. The crowds who had so recently shouted, Hosanna, now shouted, Crucify Him. Jesus was enduring the suffering and judgment of hell for you and me. Hell is the loneliest place in the universe and Jesus suffered its agony for you, in your place.

 

We have sought to change the world and the laws which govern it, but however we try, the end is always the same. The only thing certain about life is death. None of us can be sure when that exact moment will be, but we are well aware that it may come at any time. The lifespan of the average person does not far exceed the biblical three score years and ten.

 

The Bible tells us that we have two deaths. The first is the death of the physical body. The second death is the eternal death, hell, the conscious everlasting banishment of a soul from God. The Bible teaches that our soul will live forever in one of two places-heaven or heal. If you are not a Christian, and you have never been born again, then the Bible teaches that your soul goes immediately to a place Jesus called Hades, where you will await the judgment of God.

 

Life or death is equally welcome when we live in the will and presence of the Lord. If the Lord has chosen me to go to him soon, I go gladly. Please do not give a moment’s grief for me. Don’t say good by, but see you soon, when I will wait for you in heaven.

 

The teachings of Hell are the hardest of Christianity to receive. Some don’t believe that eternal or everlasting mean forever. The Bible teaches that whether we are saved or lost, there is a conscious and everlasting existence of the soul and personality. There is absolutely no evidence that God intends to give us a second chance! There is hell for every man who willingly and knowingly rejects Christ as Lord and Savior.

 

We have distinct teachings of Jesus on the subject of hell. Jesus told stories and gave illustrations on the subject and warned men time after time about the folly of living a sinful and hypocritical life here on earth. Will a loving God send a man to hell? The answer is yes, because he is just. Man condemns himself by his refusal of God’s way of salvation. The remedy is personal faith and commitment to Jesus Christ. The man who refuses to believe what God says in His word about heaven and hell awakes in the next life to find that he has been wrong.

 

Hell is a separation from God. It is a second death, which is described as the eternal conscious banishment from the presence of all that is light, joyous, good, righteous, and happy. If physical death were the only consequence of a life lived apart from God, we would not have so much to fear, but the Bible warns that there is the second death, which is the eternal banishment from God.

 

A saint has been described as a sinner who has been forgiven. The subject of heaven is much easier to accept than the subject of hell. And yet the Bible teaches both. And since we know that are souls are going to spend eternity someplace, we ought to know something about it.

 

Our sorrows and problems here seem so much less when we have keen anticipation of the future. In a certain sense the Christian has heaven here on earth. He has peace of soul, peace of conscience, and peace with God. In the midst of troubles and difficulties he has an inner peace and joy, not dependent on circumstances.

 

Jesus said I go to prepare a place for you. The Bible teaches that Elijah and Enoch ascended in a literal body to a literal place that is just as real as Hawaii. The Bible indicates in a number of places that it will be a time of grand reunion with those who have gone on before. The Bible indicates that in heaven we will serve God. There will be work to do for God.

 

The Bible teaches that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The moment a Christian dies, he goes immediately into the presence of Christ. There his soul awaits the resurrection when the soul and the body will be rejoined. But the new body that we will have will be a glorious body like that of Christ. It will be an eternal body. We have seen that man’s future is hopeless without God.

Thank-you so much for joining us. We value your participation in our church family.

Until tomorrow,

Pastor Bob Emery

PS: don't forget to leave your comments at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org

and don't forget to visit the website of our sponsor: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org

Ladies and Gentlemen

This has been a great week and a horrid week. My son and his class mates arrived back safely from their university orchestra and chorus tour of France and Germany. They got in at 1:30 am in the midst of severe thunderstorms. They were no worse for wear and had an incredible trip. We thank God for His blessings.

 

The bad news is that my sleep schedule is so badly jumbled that I am having a difficult time getting this blog and my podcast accomplished. The fact that this blog is a day late is probably a clue. And I have not even thought about recording the podcast for today. I am going to try to work ahead on these projects so that hopefully this will not happen again in the future.

 

It is in times like this that we really can use some peace with God: 

We are now ready to take up the next step in finding peace with God. You are ready to forsake your past sinful life. Moses was forty years old when he fled Egypt for fear of his life. Forty years later he came back to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. He concluded that faith and truth in company with agony and hardship were better than wealth and fame and the absence of God’s love.

 

Moses was a man of education and culture, a man of wealth and prominence. As the son of Pharaoh’s daughter he had been accustomed to every honor, every luxury, and every privilege. The throne of Egypt was within his grasp, but by faith he chose to suffer affliction with the people of God. This is the next step-faith.

 

Moses did not run from the flesh and the devil. He chose to do so. Moses had more than the dreams to which most men would aspire; and yet out of his mature judgment in the prime of his life he turned his back on wealth and power and chose faith in God. Whenever people say that religion is only for the hopeless and helpless, think of Moses!

 

When men and women reject Christ as their Lord and Master, they do it because they seek to avoid the responsibilities and obligations that Christian life demands. They are not willing to submit themselves and surrender everything to Christ. It is interesting to note that the two men most used of God in the Bible (Moses and Paul) were also the most educated.

 

Moses realized that if he was to embrace God that he would have to do so at the sacrifice of the things that men usually hold most dear. He knew how much was at stake and arrived at his decision with the full use of his superior mental faculties. He burned his bridges and committed himself for all time to God and His commands. When you come to Christ, every bridge has to be burned with no thought of ever turning back!

 

The Bible teaches that faith is the only approach to God. God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. The greatest thing that we can do to please God is to believe His word. Are we actually saved by faith? No, we are saved by grace through faith. Faith is simply the channel through which God’s grace to us is received.

 

Three things are involved in faith. First, there must be knowledge of what God has said. There must be knowledge that you are a sinner. You must have the knowledge that Christ died for your sins and that He rose again for your justification. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the very heart of the Gospel. That must be believed and accepted as a minimum for conversion.

 

Second, emotions are involved. When you fall in love with Jesus Christ, your emotions are bound to be stirred. And Third is the will. It is actually the will that makes the final and lasting decision. Faith will manifest itself in doctrine, worship, and morality. Faith continues and grows. When you have saving faith in Jesus Christ, you have taken an additional step toward having peace with God.   

 

Jesus said that you can be born anew. No matter how snarled your past, no matter how hopeless your future seems to be-there is a way out. You can decide right now to wipe out your sinful past and make a new start. The Bible teaches that you were born the first time into the physical world, but your spiritual nature was born into sin. Unless we have experienced a new birth we cannot get into the kingdom of heaven.

 

The life that comes from the new birth cannot be obtained by natural development or self-effort. Man does not by nature have this holiness that God requires for heaven. Being born again is altogether a work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told us that we must be born again. It is something that has to be done for us. The new birth is a divine work.

 

Even though the new birth seems mysterious, that does not make it untrue. We do not understand many mysteries, but we accept by faith the fact that at the moment we repent of sin and turn by faith to Jesus Christ we are born again. If you are born again, you will live as long as God lives, because you are now sharing His very life. The long lost fellowship man had with God in the Garden of Eden has been restored. 

That's it for right now. I will get done what I can. I promise that if nothing else gets done, I will start the next blog cycle again tomorrow!

Until next time, thanks and God Bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

 

 

 

For those in the United States, this is Memorial Day, a day to honor all of the men and women who have given their lives in defense of their country. It is very difficult to accept what politicians define as defending their country. Men and women dying alone in far off lands for flimsy causes. All we can do is support the men and women of our respective countries who are putting their lives on the line for us and remember that God put His Son on the line to die for us that we would be saved!

Human wars and killing are probably one more reason why, more than ever, we need to gain peace with God:

Where do we begin? Where shall we start? Jesus said that there is only one way back to God. It has nothing to do with keeping the law. There is no life in the law. The only way is to be “born again� back into the family of God. Jesus said unless you are converted you won’t enter the kingdom of heaven. You must believe with your heart and not your head. There must be a change in your thinking and an intellectual acceptance of Jesus Christ. Christ demands a change in the way you live. There must be a conversion of the will. There must be that determination to follow Christ. Your will must be bent to the will of God.

 

The Holy Spirit makes you realize that you are a sinner. Jesus Christ through the Spirit of God takes up residence in your heart. Conversion is so simple that the smallest child can be converted, but it is also so profound that theologians throughout history have pondered the depth of its meaning. God has made the way of salvation so plain. No person will ever be barred from the kingdom of God because he couldn’t understand it.

 

The believer will now find himself in a state of complete reverence, confidence, obedience, and devotion. There will be a reverential fear of God, a constant gratitude to God, a dependence on God, and a new loyalty to Him. Now, righteousness and holiness of heart, and living the Christian life will be placed above all other concerns, for pleasing Christ will be the only thing of real importance. 

 

The three elements of conversion are repentance, faith, and regeneration. Repentance is the turning around from sin. Sin is the rejection of authority and the denial of all obligations to God. We are to renounce the evil influence of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

 

When you fall in love completely and absolutely with Jesus Christ you will not want to do the things the He hates. You will automatically renounce all the sins of your life when you surrender by faith to Him. You cannot have faith without genuine repentance. The word repentance is sadly missing today. Jesus called on men to acknowledge their guilt and to turn from their ungodliness. He said that repentance must come before He could pour out His love, grace, and mercy on men. Until this is done, faith is absolutely    impossible.

 

Salvation, forgiveness, and justification are based entirely upon the atoning work of Christ. An individual must repent of sin and accept Christ by faith. Knowledge of sin is the first aspect of repentance. It is the Holy Spirit who brings about this conviction. Repentance cannot take place until there is first a movement of the Holy Spirit in the heart and mind. It is possible to be convicted of your sin and know that you are a sinner and even shed tears over your sins and yet not repent.

 

The second aspect of repentance is emotion. The third aspect involves the will. There must be a determination to forsake sin. The Bible teaches that when a person comes to Christ a change takes place that is reflected in everything he does. There is not one verse of scripture that says that you can be a Christian and live any kind of life you want. God expects that nothing less than all of your work will be performed in His name. Christ will not receive us into His kingdom until we turn from all the sin in our lives. When you have determined that you are renouncing sin and yielding all to Christ, you have taken another step toward peace with God.

Thanks again for joining us on this Memorial Day. We ask God's blessing on your family members serving in the military and pray that He might see that they need never go in harm's way.

Until tomorrow, thanks and God Bless. 

Pastor Bob Emery

bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org

   

I can't believe that it is Friday. I'm getting posted late as usual. The really good news for today is that I figured out why my podcast didn't come out with all the music and the words. I redid the podcast in another file and was able to listen to an mp3 of the podcast with voice and music. If all goes well, I will have a podcast with music and voice for next Wednesday.

I am also putting things together to start doing a video podcast. I don't know how glamorous it will be, but I hope it will be one more way to reach out to others. So maybe a video podcast  with voice and music for next week. To be continued!

Still lots of time to talk about gaining peace with God:

Why did Jesus come? God began to teach His people that man could only be saved by substitution. Someone else would have to pay the penalty for man’s redemption. Adam was the federal head of the human race. When Adam sinned, we all sinned.

 

The word justify means the clearance of the soul from guilt. Justification is far more that forgiveness of sin. Sin must be put away and made as though it had never been. Man must be restored so that there shall be no spot or blemish or stain. Man must be taken back to the position he had before he fell from grace.

 

The only solution was for an innocent party to volunteer to die physically and spiritually as a substitution before God. This innocent party would have to take man’s judgment, penalty, and death. God’s own Son was the only personality in the universe who had the capacity to bear in His own body the sins of the whole world. Only God’s Son was infinite and thus able to dies for all.

 

The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ had no beginning. He was never created. The Bible teaches that the heavens were created by Him. All the myriads of stars and flaming suns were created by Him. The birth of Jesus Christ that we celebrate at Christmas was not His beginning. His origin is shrouded in that same mystery that baffles us when we inquire into the beginning of God.

 

Only Jesus had the power and capacity to bring man back to God. He would have to die in the place of sinful man. Voluntarily. Jesus came to reveal God to man. It is He who told us that God loves us and is interested in our lives. It is He who told us of the mercy and long-suffering and grace of God. It is He who promised life everlasting.

 

God demands death, either for the sinner or a substitute. Christ was the substitute. The awful suffering of Jesus Christ was his spiritual death. He who knew no sin was made to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Because He knew no sin there is a value beyond comprehension in the penalty He bore, a penalty He did not need for himself. Now that the ground of redemption has been laid, all the guilty sinner has to do is believe on the Son and he can have peace with God.

 

In the cross we see the depth of man’s sin, the overwhelming love of God, and the only way of salvation. There is no possible way of being saved from sin and hell except by identifying yourself with the Christ of the cross. Two thousand years ago God held your sins and mine to the flames until every last vestige of our guilt was consumed.

 

The blood sacrifice runs throughout the Old Testament-a foreshadowing of Christ’s perfect sacrifice. The Bible teaches that blood redeems. Blood brings us nigh. The redeemed sinner will never have to face the judgment of God. Christ has already taken his judgment. Blood makes peace. Blood justifies. The repentant sinner, pardoned through the blood of Christ, regains his full citizenship. Blood cleanses. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all of our sin. 

 

Without the resurrection there could be no salvation. There are certain laws of evidence which hold in the establishment of any historic event. There must be documentation of the event in question made by reliable contemporary witnesses. There is more evidence that Jesus rose from the dead than there is that Julius Caesar ever lived or that Alexander the Great died at the age of thirty three. In the face of overwhelming evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ there is plenty of doubt.

 

The resurrection of Christ meant first that Christ was undeniably God. He was what he claimed to be. Second, it meant that God had accepted Christ’s atoning work on the cross, which was necessary for our salvation. Thirdly, it assures mankind of a righteous judgment. Forth, it guarantees that our bodies also will be raised in the end. The Scripture teaches that as Christians, our bodies may go to the grave but they are going to be raised on the great resurrection morning. And fifth, it means that death will ultimately be abolished. The power of death has been broken and death’s fear has been removed.

 

Paul looked forward to death with great anticipation as a result of the resurrection of Christ. “I love Him so much that I can hardly wait to see Him!� Without the resurrection of Christ, there could be no hope for the future. The Bible says that someday we are going to stand face to face with the risen Christ and have bodies like his.

Thanks again for joining me today. I would welcome a chance to have someone else write a guest blog. Send me a note at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org.

Please have a safe Memorial Day weekend for those of you in the United States. Keep all the men and women of your armed services in your prayers!

 

Yes, there will be a Monday blog! I wouldn't miss you for the world. Until then, thank-you and God Bless.

 

Pastor Bob Emery 

Thanks for joining us today. We finally got the podcast published, although without any music. Well, we'll try again next week. We continue our talk about gaining peace with God:

 

Our society suffers greatly from loneliness, but we can have a friend in Jesus. Jesus Christ can make life joyful, satisfying, and glorious to you. All over the world are millions of men and women who love and serve Christ. The moment that you accept Him, you are closer to them than you are to your own blood relatives.

 

First, you must repent, surrender, and commit your heart and life to Christ. Let Him forgive your past sins, and He will take you into His family. If you are lonely today, I beg you, come to Christ and know the fellowship that He brings. With Christ as your savior and constant companion, although alone, you need never be lonely.

 

There is no loneliness quite as bitter as the loneliness of a backslidden Christian. Yet there is forgiveness for you. As you confess and forsake your sins, your fellowship with Christ will be restored. The loneliest soul of all is the man whose life is steeped in sin. Christ can give you power to overcome every sin and habit in your life; but you must repent, confess, commit, and surrender yourself to Him first.

 

Jesus was alone. He had come to His own, and His own received Him not. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. The crowds who had so recently shouted, Hosanna, now shouted, Crucify Him. Jesus was enduring the suffering and judgment of hell for you and me. Hell is the loneliest place in the universe and Jesus suffered its agony for you, in your place.

 

We have sought to change the world and the laws which govern it, but however we try, the end is always the same. The only thing certain about life is death. None of us can be sure when that exact moment will be, but we are well aware that it may come at any time. The lifespan of the average person does not far exceed the biblical three score years and ten.

 

The Bible tells us that we have two deaths. The first is the death of the physical body. The second death is the eternal death, hell, the conscious everlasting banishment of a soul from God. The Bible teaches that our soul will live forever in one of two places-heaven or heal. If you are not a Christian, and you have never been born again, then the Bible teaches that your soul goes immediately to a place Jesus called Hades, where you will await the judgment of God.

 

Life or death is equally welcome when we live in the will and presence of the Lord. If the Lord has chosen me to go to him soon, I go gladly. Please do not give a momentâ??s grief for me. Donâ??t say good by, but see you soon, when I will wait for you in heaven.

 

The teachings of Hell are the hardest of Christianity to receive. Some donâ??t believe that eternal or everlasting mean forever. The Bible teaches that whether we are saved or lost, there is a conscious and everlasting existence of the soul and personality. There is absolutely no evidence that God intends to give us a second chance! There is hell for every man who willingly and knowingly rejects Christ as Lord and Savior.

 

We have distinct teachings of Jesus on the subject of hell. Jesus told stories and gave illustrations on the subject and warned men time after time about the folly of living a sinful and hypocritical life here on earth. Will a loving God send a man to hell? The answer is yes, because he is just. Man condemns himself by his refusal of Godâ??s way of salvation. The remedy is personal faith and commitment to Jesus Christ. The man who refuses to believe what God says in His word about heaven and hell awakes in the next life to find that he has been wrong.

 

Hell is a separation from God. It is a second death, which is described as the eternal conscious banishment from the presence of all that is light, joyous, good, righteous, and happy. If physical death were the only consequence of a life lived apart from God, we would not have so much to fear, but the Bible warns that there is the second death, which is the eternal banishment from God.

 

A saint has been described as a sinner who has been forgiven. The subject of heaven is much easier to accept than the subject of hell. And yet the Bible teaches both. And since we know that are souls are going to spend eternity someplace, we ought to know something about it.

 

Our sorrows and problems here seem so much less when we have keen anticipation of the future. In a certain sense the Christian has heaven here on earth. He has peace of soul, peace of conscience, and peace with God. In the midst of troubles and difficulties he has an inner peace and joy, not dependent on circumstances.

 

Jesus said I go to prepare a place for you. The Bible teaches that Elijah and Enoch ascended in a literal body to a literal place that is just as real as Hawaii. The Bible indicates in a number of places that it will be a time of grand reunion with those who have gone on before. The Bible indicates that in heaven we will serve God. There will be work to do for God.

 

The Bible teaches that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The moment a Christian dies, he goes immediately into the presence of Christ. There his soul awaits the resurrection when the soul and the body will be rejoined. But the new body that we will have will be a glorious body like that of Christ. It will be an eternal body. We have seen that manâ??s future is hopeless without God.

 

Please take time to visit our website: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org

Send your comments to me at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org

 

Until tomorrow,

 

Pastor Bob Emery

This is a second attempt to get the podcast for May 24th up and running. Hopefully all will go well today.

Thank-you.

Welcome to today's podcast. We're glad you joined us. Please take time to visit our sponsor: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org. As always, I look forward to your feedback at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org .

We managed to get a little music in today's podcast. I hope you like it. With the Adobe Audition software, I only have 5000 sound clips to work with. I look forward to your feedback.

Today's program is:

Music

Intro

A plug for Newburgh Seminary  www.newburghseminary.com

Gaining peace with God

Close with some inspiring thoughts from Joel Osteen

Wrap up

Music

 

I hope you have enjoyed our podcast. Please join us next week. I hope to give you a surprise.

Regards,

Pastor Bob Emery

 

Welcome back! I'm so glad that you have joined us at church growth, mission, and evangelism; this blog is a ministry of www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org. Please take time to visit our site. Thank-you!

We continue with gaining peace with God:

Man’s only salvation from sin stands on a lonely, barren, skullshaped hill; a thief hangs on one cross, a murder on the other, and between them, a man with a crown of thorns. He is the Son of God. This is He, before whom angels fall down and veil their faces. And yet he hangs bleeding and forsaken on the cross!

Man’s hideous injustice that crucified Christ became the means that opened the way for man to become free. Sin’s masterpiece of shame and hate became God’s masterpiece of mercy and forgiveness. Through the death of Christ on the cross, sin itself was crucified for those who believe in Him. He proved the truth of all God’s promises to man, and if you will accept Christ by faith today, you, too, can be forgiven of your sins. You can stand secure and free in the knowledge that through the love of Christ your soul is cleansed of sin and saved from damnation.

 

Satan is determined that humanity shall continue on its tormented way until the end of time. There is no doubt that the devil exists. How and why did the devil come to be? We know from the story of Adam and Eve that the devil already existed. If the devil hadn’t already existed, then there would have been no reason for God to create the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

 

Long before Adam existed, it would appear that God’s universe was divided into spheres of influence, each of which was under the supervision and control of an angel or heavenly prince, all of whom were responsible directly to God. The devil must have been just such a powerful, heavenly prince, having the earth assigned to him, perhaps as his special province.

 

This heavenly prince, known as Lucifer, must have stood very close to God, so close that ambition entered his heart and he determined not to be God’s beloved prince, but to place himself on an equal footing with God. Lucifer was not a counterpart of God, but of Gabriel or Michael, he was not a fallen god, but a fallen angel. It was at this moment that the breech appeared, the universe split, and a portion set itself in opposition to God. Lucifer left his position in the government of God, descended to the lower heavens, and declared that he would be like the most high God.

 

 As a mighty prince, with hosts of angels at his command, Lucifer has set up his kingdom on earth. His power and position were the very reason that the Scriptures came to be written. There was no doubt in Jesus’ mind about the presence of the devil, nor the power that he wielded here on earth. The devil is a creature of vastly superior intelligence, a mighty and gifted spirit of infinite resourcefulness. We forget that the devil was probably the greatest and most exalted of all of God’s angels. He is not however, all-powerful, omniscient, or omnipresent.

 

We know that the anti-Christ will appear and try to ensnare the minds and hearts of men. The signs of the false prophet are everywhere at hand, and many may be the living witnesses of this awesome moment when the final act of this age-old drama begins. It will be a battle to the death that will continue until the end of time, until one or the other of these mighty forces triumphs and places a king on the throne.

 

Never for a second of your waking or sleeping life are you without the influence of these two powerful forces. Don’t doubt for a moment the existence of the devil! He is very personal and he is very real. He is extremely clever. Perhaps the cleverest thing that he has done is to convince people that he doesn’t exist.

Once asked how he overcomes the devil, Martin Luther replied, “Well, when he comes knocking upon the door of my heart and asks, “Who lives here?� the dear Lord Jesus goes to the door and says, Martin Luther used to live here, but he has moved out. Now I live here. The Devil takes flight immediately.�

 

How can you explain humanity’s eagerness to listen to the base and vulgar and vile, while it turns a deaf ear to the good and clean and pure? We constantly pass up the rich and beautiful and ennobling experiences and seek out the tawdry, the cheap, and the degrading.

 

There is a much greater struggle going on that we cannot see. One of the many prices that Adam paid for listening to the devil was to lose the vision of spiritual dimensions. He lost for himself and all humanity the capacity for seeing and hearing and understanding anything that was not basely material. It is the evil and distortion within ourselves that keeps us from seeing and experiencing God’s perfect world.

That's all for today. Remember to listen to our podcast tomorrow! The podcast gets bigger and bigger. There is so much material to cover. Our task here is so important and time is short.

Our podcast for tomorrow will include:

Greeting

Introduction

Continuation of gaining peace with God

More uplifting thoughts from Joel Osteen

Wrap up

and hopefully some short bits of music if all goes well

Until then. Thank-you and God Bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org - please let me know what you think

Hello.

A new week, a new chance to talk about God. That's as good as it gets. Thanks for joining us. Let's continue:

If God is a righteous and loving being, why then is there so much wickedness, suffering, and sorrow? God created this world as a perfect whole. In this perfect world He placed a perfect man. God gave Adam eternal life, freedom, and freedom of choice. Adam walked with God and had fellowship with Him. He was intended to be a king on earth, ruling by the will of God. Adam had total freedom to choose or to reject, freedom to obey God’s commands or go contrary to them.

 

When a man is given freedom he is faced with two paths. Freedom without choice is meaningless. God provided Adam with the perfect setting in which to prove whether or not he would serve God. Adam made his choice. God is not to blame. It is Adam who made the choice to serve the tempter rather than the truth of God.

 

Adam was the head of the human race. Just as we inherit characteristics from our parents, we have inherited our fallen, corrupt nature from Adam. The Bible states that the result of Adam’s sin shall be visited upon all his descendents. Even though Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, they gave birth to children after their own likeness. Cain and Abel were infected with the disease of sin and it was passed on to every generation.

 

We are still trying to make the same mistake that Adam made-we are still trying to be our own king. God sent his own Son to experience the same temptations that were set before Adam and to triumph over them. Satan tempted Jesus just as he tempted Adam. The great difference is that Jesus Christ resisted the temptation. We may deplore Adam’s choice, but we still copy him.

 

There is not a day that we don’t have a chance to choose between the devil’s clever promises and God’s sure word. From the beginning of time, man’s ungodly quest for power has brought him to the brink of doom. New rubble and new misery are being created daily, yet man plunges on his stubborn way. It is because of this sin that man has never been able to obtain the utopia of which he dreams.

 

Sin is what we are all suffering from today. People don’t like to be told that they are sinners. We popularize and glamorize sin. There are multitudes of people who are totally ignorant of sin’s real meaning. It is the lack of understanding of sin that keeps many Christians from living the true life of Christ. Man seeks to excuse himself of sin, but God seeks to convict him of it and to save him from it.

 

Sin is lawlessness, the transgression of the law of God. If you look at the Ten Commandments of God, you will see how mankind is not only deliberately breaking them, but glamorizing the breaking.

 

Sin is inequity. Inequity is the deviation from what is right. Inequity has to do with our inner motivations. They are the wrongs that spring from our own corrupt nature rather than the evil acts which force of circumstances sometimes cause us to commit.

 

Sin is missing the mark-Falling short of God’s goal of Christ. The object and end purpose of all of life is to live up to the life of Christ. When we fail to follow Christ’s example, we miss the mark and fall short of the divine standard.

 

Sin is a form of trespass. Sin is the intrusion of self-will into the sphere of divine authority. Sin is making the decision to prefer ourselves to God.

 

Sin is unbelief. Unbelief is a sin because it is an insult to the truthfulness of God. He that believeth not God makes Him a liar. It is unbelief that causes men to turn a deaf ear to the gospel and to deny the miracles of Christ. It is only in Christ that the remedy for sin can be found. It is only Christ who can save the sinner from the fate that surely awaits him.

That's all for today. Send your comments to me at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org.

Please stop by our website at: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org.

See you tomorrow!

Pastor Bob Emery

Hello. Welcome back to the church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. Please take time to visit our sponsor at: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Another week is coming to an end, but there is always time to talk about Peace With God:

Everyone should know beyond a shadow of a doubt exactly who God is and what He is capable of doing. It is in the lack of knowledge of God and man’s own refusal to obey Him that lie at the root of every problem which besets us. It is man’s unwillingness to learn and to obey God’s laws that has laid such a heavy burden on our souls.

 

The Bible declares God to be Spirit. After his resurrection, Christ said handle me and see, a spirit has not flesh and bones. The Spirit has no body, yet it has being and power. Jesus knew the borderless reaches of the Spirit and came to try to give us an understanding of its wonders, its comfort, and its peace.

 

God is a Spirit. He is not limited to shape; he has no boundaries or bonds; he is immeasurable and indiscernible. He can be every where at once. He can hear all, see all, and know all. When man knows in his hear that God is an infinite, eternal, and unchangeable Spirit, it helps to overcome the temptation to try to limit Him. Those who doubt that the Bible is the true word of God do so because they are unwilling to ascribe to God anything that they are unable to do themselves.

 

Secondly, God is a person. Everything that we attribute to a person can be attributed to God. We have a hard time accepting that at death our personalities will leave our physical bodies. Personalities don’t have to have physical bodies. God does not have a physical body, but He still is a person.

 

Third, the Bible says that God is a Holy and Righteous Being. God is utterly perfect and absolute in every detail. He is too holy to tolerate sinful man. We can scarce imagine the overwhelming holiness of God, but we must accept it if we are to benefit from the Bible.

It is because God is so holy and man so unholy that so wide a gap exists between God and the unrepentant sinner.

 

Before sin entered the human race, God and man had fellowship with each other; but now that fellowship is only possible through Jesus Christ. Man would have remained lost forever if it wasn’t for the infinite mercy of God who sent His son to earth to save us. It is in God’s holiness that we find the reason for Jesus’ death. Only Jesus was strong enough to bear the sins of the whole world.

 

Forth, God is love. God’s holiness demands that all sin be punished, but God’s love provides the plan and the way of redemption for sinful man. Were it not for the love of God, none of us would have a chance in the future life. Until you actually accept God’s love and experience it, until you actually possess true peace with God, no one can explain it to you. You have to receive God by faith in His son the Lord Jesus Christ.

Please send your comments to: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org . We need your input to help us grow. I would invite any of you to write an entry for our blog. See you on Monday. Remember a new expanded podcast coming up next week.

For now, God Bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

Hi. Welcome to our church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. On behalf of

www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org we are really glad you stopped by. Please take time to listen to the podcast posted today. It is full of really good stuff!

You really need to read Peace with God by Rev. Billy Graham. Here are a few of his thoughts.

 

Time is running out. Is there a path we can follow? Is there a codebook to show us where we are going? Yes, there is a codebook! It is an ancient and historic book we call the Bible. This book has come down to us through the ages. It has passed through many hands and appeared in many forms and survived attack of every kind. It is interesting to note that when Bible reading was outlawed in our American public schools, it was required reading in the Catholic schools of communist Poland.

 

The real theme of the Bible is the story of God’s redemption as it exists in Jesus Christ. God caused the Bible to be written for the express purpose of revealing to man God’s plan for redemption. God caused this book to be written that He might make His everlasting laws clear to His children and that they might have His great wisdom to guide them and His great love to comfort them.

 

The Bible is the only book that is God’s revelation. There are many bibles of different religions; there is the Muslim Koran, the Buddhist Canon of Sacred Scripture, the Zoroastrian Zend-Avesta, and the Brahman Vedas. All of these nonChristian bibles have parts of truth in them, but they are all developments ultimately in the wrong direction.  They all begin with flashes of true light and end in utter darkness. The Bible is the only book that offers man redemption and points that way out of his dilemmas.

 

During sixteen hundred years, the sixty-six books of the Bible were written by men of different languages, living in different times, and in different countries; but the message that they wrote was basically the same. As we read these ageless words today, we find that the rules of conduct set forth by the ancient scribes are as fresh and meaningful today as they were to the people of Jesus’ time.

 

People are discovering the Bible again. They are finding that the familiar but almost forgotten phrases ring with a current meaning that makes them seem to have been written only yesterday. This is because the Bible embodies all of the knowledge man needs to fill the longing of his soul and solve all his problems. The men who wrote our Constitution knew that they were writing the basic document for a government of free men; they recognized that men could live as free and independent beings only if each one knew and understood the law.

 

Men found out that if they knew the law and lived according to it, they could, in truth, be free. They had their Constitutional rights and they had their Constitutional responsibilities. Just as the Constitution was intended to apply equally to all men living under it, without special favor or interpretation, so the Bible stands as the supreme Constitution for all mankind.

 

Conscience tells us in our innermost being of the presence of God and of the moral difference between good and evil. Only in the pages of the Bible do we find the clear and unmistakable message upon which all true Christianity is based. All scripture is given by inspiration of God.

 

Biblical scribes never attempted to gloss over the realities of life. The startling thing is that the lives and motivations of these people who lived so long ago have such a modern flavor. The great all prevailing truth stands for time and eternity. The bold, clear message of the Bible for every living being is the message of Christ and His offer of peace with God.

 

If you have been away from the Bible for a while, start with the book of John. While it is considered one of the most profound books of the Bible, it is also the clearest and most readily understood. It was written for the very purpose of showing the how and the why of man’s salvation, so that the questions of the mind as well as the groping of the heart might be satisfied. When you have read through each of the Gospels individually, start in at the beginning of the New Testament and read straight through all the books in order.

 

Who is God? What is he like? How can we be sure he exists? The only possible answer is that there is a Supreme Creator. Just as a watch must have a designer, so our universe must have a great designer. We call him God. Benjamin Franklin said, “I have lived a long time and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see that God governs in the affairs of men.�

That's it for today. Be sure to stop by tomorrow. My son is playing a concert in Epinal, France tomorrow night and Saturday night they are playing in a 14th century cathedral that is heated by underground hot springs. Talk about being near to God.

Remember your comments are really important to us. Send them to:

bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org .

Until next time. God Bless.

Pastor Bob Emery

Thanks for joining us for our podcast this week! I'm sorry I'm late, but my son left for Germany and France yesterday and I just couldn't get ready.

 

The rough schedule is:

Introduction

Background

Continuation of discussion on evangelism

Billy Graham's thoughts on Peace With God

Some encouraging words from Joel Osteen

Wrap up

 

The links that you need:

www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org

bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org

http://top9eye4.libsyn.com

http://top9eye4.libsyn.com/rss

 

Thanks again for joining us today. I think that next week will be a little less hectic. I will have some new things for you to listen to.

 

Thanks and God Bless

Pastor Bob Emery

Just a quick note. Our podcast for today will be delayed until tomorrow.

My son left for Germany/France today with the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse orchestra and chamber choir and I just ran out of time. The raw audio is done. I just want to make sure that it is as good as I can get it before I upload it to the server.

Thanks for your patience.

Pastor Bob

Welcome to church growth, mission, and evangelism. We're glad you came back!

We are starting on a new topic today, a review of some material in Billy Graham's book called Peace With God.

All of humanity is seeking the answer to the confusion, the moral sickness, the spiritual emptiness that oppresses the world. All mankind is crying out for guidance, for comfort, for peace.  One of the first paths we chose was labeled “political freedomâ€?. Give everyone political freedom, and the world would become a happy place. Let us select our own government leaders and we will have the kind of government that makes life worth living. Political freedom is important, but it will not give us the kind of world we long for.

 

There was also education. We are the most educated people in the history of civilization, and the most confused. The most inviting path was the one called “a higher standard of living�.

 

We live in a country that has the greatest political freedom, the greatest and most far reaching education system, and the absolute highest standard of living in the world; and yet that empty feeling is still within us. Why does that hollow feeling still persist? Many are floundering in this time of crisis and finding that their efforts are leading them not up but only further down.

 

Thousands of teenagers take their own lives. Our families are riddled with all kinds of abuses and aberrations. We are a nation of empty people. We aren’t filled with the spirit that makes work a joy. We aren’t filled with the determination that makes pushing ahead a pleasure.

 

We have the greatest variety and number of artificial amusements of any country. People have become so empty that they can’t even entertain themselves. Boredom is a sure way to measure your inner emptiness. Why are we so empty? Our Creator made us for Himself; and we can never be happy and find completeness apart from fellowship with him.

 

We don’t have much time. The tools of annihilation have been placed within our reach. Our generation has accomplished what other generations have only tried to do, or dreamed of doing in their most insane moments of power and ruthlessness! We have achieved the ability to totally destroy ourselves.

 

With all of our progress in technology and in the management of deadly diseases, we have not solved the basic problem of the human race. We still cannot govern ourselves or live in equality and peace! We still face the same trials and temptations that were with us in the Garden of Eden.

 

Man is still plagued by his depraved and sinful nature that fills him with hate, envy, greed, and jealousy. The curse of sin is upon us and we are forever haunted by the fear of death. In spite of our progress, we still are unchanged.

 

Jesus came to give us the answers to the three enduring problems of sin, sorrow, and death. Christ is unchangeable. He stands steadfast and calm, ready to welcome all who will turn to Him and accept the blessings of safety and peace.

Thanks again for joining us. Here's the plan for this week's podcast that hopefully will be published tomorrow. Just a reminder that those great folks at Libsyn are upgrading their systems this week and tomorrow's programing may be affected.

Greetings

Introduction

Wrap up of material on evangelism

New thoughts on God

Some good news for the day

Please take time to visit us at: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org

Send your comments to me at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org

Pastor Bob Emery

Hello

Welcome back to the church growth, mission, and evangelism blog sponsored by:

www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org . We are very glad to have you a part of our evangelism mission.

Today I would like to continue with thoughts on evangelism from The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert E. Coleman.

Evangelism is not done by something, but by someone. It is an expression of God’s love, and God is a person. Men are God’s method. Until we have such people imbued with his Spirit and committed to his plan, none of our methods will work. This is the new evangelism we need. It is not better methods, but better men and women who know their Redeemer from personal experience. Men and women who want only that Christ produce his life in and through them according to his good pleasure.

 

Equally agonizing may be the adjustment of the congregation to the Master’s view of the ministry. In all probability our whole concept of success will have to be reevaluated. Every one of us should be seeking some way to incorporate the wisdom of Jesus’ strategy into our own preferred method of evangelism.

 

New and bold approaches will need to be tried as situations change and not everything tried will work. A person unwilling to fail in the determination to find some way to get the job done will never get started, nor will the one afraid to try and try again make much progress.

 

Jesus’ life would teach us that finding and training people to reach people must have priority. The wandering masses of the world must have a demonstration of what to believe-they must have a mentor who will stand among them and say, “Follow me�.

 

It is better to give a year or so to one or two people who learn what it means to conquer for Christ than to spend a lifetime with a congregation just keeping the program going. Nor does it matter how small or inauspicious the beginning may be; what counts is that those to whom we give priority in our life learn to give it away.

 

Keep the focus on Jesus. The only realistic way to do this is by being together. If our followers are to see through us what they are to become, we must be with them. Let them see us in action so as to feel our vision and know how it relates to daily experience. Evangelism is then seen as a way of life. By being with us, their own involvement is inevitable.

 

If we are alert, most of the time our disciples could be with us while we are serving others. It may be necessary to arrange special times when the group can meet together with us. We can study the Bible, pray, and in general share with one another our deepest burdens and desires. Let the meeting grow out of a common need for fellowship.

 

We must keep our purpose clear. The times we spend together are not meant to be a break, but a strategic maneuver to gain more strength for the attack. It is our business to see that those who are with us are given something to do which will require the best in them. Everyone needs to be given some specific work by way of personal evangelism.

Probably no more essential contribution can be made to the ministry of the church than in the area of follow-up of new Christians.

 

We need to follow up with them to hear how things are going. This means seeking them out where they are or counseling with them while they are with us in another activity. It is essential that the new Christians keep growing in grace and in knowledge. We need to anticipate their problems and prepare them for what they will face. As their guardians, we are responsible for teaching them to live for the Master.

 

Everything should be leading these men and women to the day when they will assume by themselves a ministry in their own sphere of influence. The crucial thing is their own spiritual experience. We must make sure that they are well enough trained to keep them from being overwhelmed.

 

Christian service is demanding, and if people are going to be any use for God, they must first learn to seek the kingdom. We are not living for the present. Our satisfaction is knowing that in generations to come our witness for Christ will still be bearing fruit in an ever widening cycle of reproduction to the ends of the earth and unto the end of time.

Thank-you for visiting us today. Please give me your feedback. We want to get better and better for you. email me at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org .

PS

Libsyn has advised us that they will be making some wonderful system improvements this week. The bad news is that there may be some glitches in the process. So we will include Libsyn in our prayers and make whatever changes in our publishing schedule that are necessary. Thanks in advance for your patience.

Pastor Bob Emery

Hello. Friday is here at last, but still time to talk about evangelism. Thanks for joining us!

Be sure to visit: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org -our sponsor. Now evangelism.

Jesus expected his followers to reproduce. Jesus had built into his disciples the structure of a church that would challenge and triumph over all the powers of death and hell. He did for see the day when the gospel of salvation in his name would be proclaimed convincingly to ever creature. We must not fail to see the direct relation between bearing witness of Christ and the ultimate victory over the world.

 

It all came back to his disciples. They were the vanguard of his enveloping movement. His whole evangelistic strategy-indeed, the fulfillment of his very purpose in coming into the world, dying on the cross, and rising from the grave-depended on the faithfulness of his chosen disciples to this task. As simple as it may seem, this was the way the gospel would conquer. He had no other plan.

 

As surely as the disciples were participants in the life of Jesus, even so they would bear his fruit. Jesus called on men to evaluate the product of their lives.

 

The Great Commission of Christ given to his church summed it all up in the command to make disciples of every creature. The word indicates that the disciples were to go out into the world and win others who would come to be what they were-disciples of Christ.

 

Leadership was the emphasis. The masses were ripe for the harvest. The only hope for the world is for laborers to go to them with the gospel of salvation, and having won them to the Savior, not to leave them, but to work with them faithfully. Here finally is where we must all evaluate the contribution that our life and witness is making to the supreme purpose of his who is the Savior of the world.

 

What really counts in the ultimate perpetuation of our work is the faithfulness with which our converts go out and make leaders out of their converts, not simply more followers. Our work is never finished until it has assured its continuation in the lives of those redeemed by the Evangel.

 

The test of any work of evangelism is in the effectiveness with which the work continues in the next generation. Christians are actively winning souls and training them to win the multitudes. Values can only be measured by eternity. Consider what it would mean to the future of the church if we had only one true disciple now to show for our labors. Our ministry alone would soon reach multitudes with the gospel.

 

They gave the gospel to the multitudes, but all the while they were building up the fellowship of those who believed. As the Lord added daily to the church, the disciples were preparing men to reproduce their ministry to the ends of the earth. The Acts of the Apostles were really just the unfolding in the life of the church the principles of evangelism.

 

Times changed and gradually the simple way of Jesus’ evangelism was forced into a new mold. Some how or another the principles got confused. The costly principles of leadership development and reproduction seem to have been submerged beneath the easier strategy of mass recruitment. The nearsighted objective of popular recognition generally took precedence over the long range goal of reaching the world, and the methods of evangelism employed by the church collectively and individually have reflected this momentary outlook. Jesus’ plan has not been disavowed; it has just been ignored.

 

Well-intended ceremonies, programs, organizations, commissions, and crusades of human ingenuity are trying valiantly to do a job that only can be done by people in the power of the Holy Spirit. Unless the personal mission of the Master is vitally incorporated into the policy and fabric of these plans, the church cannot function as she should.

That's all for this week. Please join us next week. It will be great!

Pastor Bob Emery

Hello! Welcome to the church growth, mission, and evangelism blog sponsored by:

www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Please take time to visit their site. Hope that you got to listen to our podcast on the same subject yesterday! If you missed it, go to:

http://top9eye4.libsyn.com/rss .

We continue with our discussion on evangelism:

Jesus made it a point to meet with his disciples following their tours of service to hear their reports and to share with them the blessedness of his ministry in doing the same thing. The time he spent with them, he was helping them to understand the reason for some previous action or getting them ready for some new experience to fulfill his work, which was the evangelization of the world. The Twelve gathered with Jesus to tell what things they had done.

 

After the disciples were sent out to work, they were expected to share their experiences later with the group. Nothing could have given Jesus more joy than this. Visualizing the victory ultimately assures by their work. This was what Jesus had been working for all these long months and now he was beginning to see the fruit of his labors. He cautioned the disciples against pride in their accomplishments.

 

These follow up sessions following the disciples visitation merely brings into bold relief a strategy of Jesus throughout his ministry. As he reviewed some experience which the disciples had he would bring out some practical application of it to their lives. He never let an occasion pass without giving the frustrated disciples a much needed lesson on how they, through more prayer and fasting, should have laid hold upon God’s faithfulness.

Realizing that they had missed completely the spiritual lesson of his remarks intended to warn them against unbelief, Jesus said, “Do ye not yet perceive, neither understand?� Doubtless this brought clearly to mind that day when the disciples seated the multitudes for dinner, and then saw Jesus perform the miracle of the loaves. With this evidence of Jesus’ miraculous power there could be no doubt about his ability to feed them with their loaf of bread if it was necessary.

 

One of the most penetrating of the Lord’s correctional lectures following the disciples’ activity was in connection with their attitude toward others in the work who were not members of the apostolic company. He felt constrained to give them an extended discourse on the dangers of discouraging any sincere work on his behalf.

 

In Samaria, when the impulsive disciples wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy the people, Jesus said, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.� Then showing his disciples how they might solve this kind of problem, they went to another village.

 

Jesus would let his followers have some experience or make some observation of their own, and then he would use this as a starting point to teach a lesson of discipleship. The fact that they tried to do his work, even though they may have failed aat it, gave them greater awareness of their deficiencies, and hence they were more disposed to the Master’s correction.

 

Jesus kept his disciples moving toward the goal. His plan of teaching, by example, assignment, and constant checkup, was calculated to bring out the best that was in them.

 

Many experiences of grace which bring delight to the soul need to be clarified and deepened as their meaning is interpreted in the light of the total world mission of Christ. It is this crucial that those engaging in the work of evangelism have personal supervision and guidance until such time as they are matured enough to carry on alone.

 

We must always s remember, too, that the goal is world conquest. We dare not let a lesser concern capture our strategy of the moment. We fail, not because we do not try to do something, but because we let our little efforts become an excuse for not doing more. The result is that we lose by default the advantage of years of hard work and sacrifice.

 

Disciples must be brought to maturity. There can be no substitute for total victory, and our field is the world. We have not been called to hold the fort, but to storm the heights. It is in this light that the final step in Jesus’ strategy of evangelism can be understood.

Thanks for reading our blog. Please send your comments to: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Your feedback is vital for the growth of our ministry.

Until later,

Pastor Bob Emery

May 10, 2006

Welcome to our podcast! Thanks for joining us! Sorry that this is posting so late. I'm trying to learn our new software and the yard work needs to be done.

The rough program for today is:

Welcome

Introduction

Continued overview of evangelism

Some special thoughts on expectancy

Wrap up

Links:

www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org

bob@thegreatcommissionchurch

http://top9eye4.libsyn.com/rss

http://top9eye4.libsyn.com

Thanks again!

Pastor Bob Emery

Welcome

We're so glad that you could join us today. The spring yard work is making it hard to stay on my publishing schedule, so I appreciate your patience. Today we continue with thoughts on evangelism:

Jesus was always building his ministry for the time when his disciples would have to take over his work, and go out into the world with the redeeming gospel. He was never too early in his insistence on action. He got the disciples involved in a vital experience with God, to show them how he worked, before he ever told them that they had to do it. He never discouraged them in their spontaneous attempts to share their faith. He was delighted. In fact on several occasions Jesus asked those who were helped by his ministry to say something about it to others.

 

Jesus used his disciples to help along his work by having them arrange for food and housing for the group as they followed him. He also let them baptize people who were aroused by his message. But even after they were formally ordained to the ministry, they showed no evidence of doing any evangelism on their own. Maybe this would mean that we need to be more patient with our new converts.

 

Jesus gave his disciples briefing instructions before letting them go. He outlined for them exactly what he had been teaching all of the time. He told them to go and preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He emphasized the immediacy of the task with the phrase-the kingdom is at hand. He also spelled out the depth of their authority by telling them to heal, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils, and raise the dead.

 

Jesus told them to go to the lost sheep of Israel, not the Gentiles. They were to trust in God to supply their needs. They were told to render their services freely, remembering that they had received freely from the Lord. As they were faithful to God, he would see to it that their needs would be supplied.

 

His instructions were even more specific in his command to find a friendly person in each town they visited, and to live there as long as they continued their evangelistic work in the area. The disciples were told to concentrate their efforts on the most promising individuals in each town, someone who would be able to follow up on their work after they had gone.

 

The principle of establishing a beachhead in a new town by connecting with potentially key followers is exactly how Jesus had lived with his own disciples and he expected them to do the same. The places that refused the disciples the opportunity to do this actually brought down on themselves the judgment of utter darkness. The leaders had called Jesus Beelzebub. His disciples should not expect any less abuse. Jesus told them that the Holy Spirit would enable them to meet any emergencies.

 

Jesus never let his followers underestimate the strength of the enemy, nor the natural resistance of self-serving people to his redeeming gospel. He reminded them of the decisive nature of the gospel invitation. There could be no compromise with sin. They were not going forth to maintain the status quo. They were going forth with a revolutionary gospel, and when it was obeyed, it effected a revolutionary change in people and their society.

 

Jesus sent them out in pairs. This no doubt provided them with needed companionship along the way. Together they could help each other. The disciples were to go into every city and place where Christ himself was about to come. The disciples were forerunners for their Lord. They were all to practice what they had learned from the Master’s method of evangelism. Jesus assured them again of the promise and authority of the Holy Spirit to do the work.

 

On a mountain in Galilee Jesus gave his Great Commission to the whole church. “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you; and I will be with you always, even unto the end of the world. To his disciples it was a definite command. Christian disciples are sent men and women-sent out in the same work of world evangelism that the Lord was sent, and for which he gave his life.

 

Evangelism is not an option for our lives. It is the commission of the church which gives meaning to all else that is undertaken in the name of Christ. When the church gets down to business with evangelism, then those in the pews will start moving out for God.

The rough plan for tommorow's podcast is:

 

Welcome

Introduction

Continuing overview of evangelism

Some special thoughts on expectancy

Wrap up

Special links

 

We thank you for joining us today. A special thanks to our sponsor:

www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org  Be sure to send your comments and suggestions to me at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org .

 

That's all for today. Thanks and God Bless.

 

Pastor Bob Emery 

Hi

We're glad to have you join us again. Sorry we're so late today. I spent part of the evening on the phone to the tech support folks at Adobe getting their expert help to install the new Adobe Audition software that we are going to use for our podcasts.

Today we continue with some thoughts on evangelism.

Jesus saw to it that his disciples learned his way of living with God and man. His disciples needed to know how his experience was to be maintained and shared if it was to be perpetuated in evangelism. It was no accident that Jesus often let his disciples see him praying. They could see the strength that it gave to his life, and though they probably couldn’t understand fully what it was all about, they must have realized that this was part of his secret of life.

 

One might think that the idea of putting words into the disciples’ mouths to get them to pray was below the capabilities of these disciples, but Jesus would not take such an important matter as this for granted. He emphasized the importance of prayer again and again and continually enlarged upon its meaning as they were able to comprehend deeper realities of his Spirit. Unless they grasped the meaning of prayer and learned to practice it consistently, not much would come from their lives.

 

Jesus taught the importance and use of the Holy Scriptures. This was evident both in maintaining his own personal devotion and in winning others to the Way. He would take time to impress the special meaning of some passage in the Bible for his followers and never ceased to use the Scriptures in his conversation with them. All this was to show the disciples how they should know and use the Scriptures in their own life. The scriptures along with his teachings became the basis for their faith in Christ.

 

Jesus practiced everything that he wanted the disciples to learn. Evangelism was lived before them in spirit and technique. He led them to recognize the need inherent in all classes of people, and the best methods of approaching them. They observed how he drew people to himself; how he won their confidence and inspired their faith; how he opened the way of salvation to them and called them to a decision.

 

Jesus asked no one to do what he had not first demonstrated in his own life, thereby proving not only its workability, but also its relevance to his mission. Every thing he said and did was a personal lesson in reality and the disciples were there to learn every moment of their waking day. How else will his way ever be learned?  There is no avoiding our personal responsibility for showing the way to those we are training. This is the Master’s method, and nothing else will ever do to train others to do his work.

 

Jesus was training men to do a job, and when they knew enough to get started; he saw to it that they did so. The application of this principle is so pronounced that it needs to be considered as another part of his strategy of conquest.

Please come visit us at: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org .

Send your comments to: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org .

Thanks. See you tommorrow.

Pastor Bob Emery

Thanks again for joining our blog! We thank God for this opportunity to share our thoughts on evangelism. When you get a chance, please stop by:

www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org . We thank them for their continued support of this ministry.

Jesus wanted his followers to obey him. In receiving his Spirit they would know the love of God for a lost world. The disciples understood that they were not just keeping a law, but were responding to the One who loved them and was willing to give himself for them. He gave them his glory which was his, that they all might be one even as he was one with the Father. God gave all he had to those he loved, even his Son. For the Son, it meant doing the same. Just as man by his sin had to die, so God by his love had to send his Son to die in our place.

 

Jesus never lost an opportunity to impress upon his followers the love of God for a lost world. The life of Jesus was simply a revelation of God’s purpose to save a people for himself. The Master considered no service too small, nor sacrifices too great, when it was given for the glory of God. The constant renewing of his consecration of himself to God through his loving service constituted Jesus’ sanctification.

 

The disciples were to give themselves in selfless devotion to those whom the Father loved and for whom their Master died. Such a demonstration of love through them was to be the way that the world would know that the Gospel was true. Love is the only way to win the free response of men, and it is possible only by the presence of Christ within the heart.

 

Jesus made it very clear that his life was mediated only through the Holy Spirit. That is why even to begin to live in Christ one must be born again. The corrupt human nature must be regenerated by the Holy Spirit before it can be conformed to its true created purpose in the divine image. It is the Spirit who sustains and nourishes the transformed life of a disciple in knowledge and grace. By the same Spirit one is set apart unto God for holy service. It is only the Spirit of God that enables one to carry on the mission of evangelism.

 

Evangelism was not interpreted as a human endeavor, but as a divine project which had been going on since the beginning and would continue until God’s purpose was fulfilled. It was the Spirit’s work. All the disciples had to do was to let the Spirit have complete charge of their lives.

 

The Spirit was to fill them with the very presence of the Master. The privileges which the disciples were to enjoy in this deeper relationship to the Spirit were greater than they had known as Jesus walked with them. Jesus was confined to his one body and one place. The Spirit would enable him to be with them always and every where. They needed an experience of Christ so real that their lives would be filled with his presence. Evangelism had to become a burning compulsion within them.

 

Only those who followed Jesus all the way came to know the glory of this experience. Jesus reserved for his few chosen disciples, particularly the Twelve, his most revealing things. Jesus was deliberately investing all he had in these few men so that they could be properly prepared to do his work.

 

We must die to ourselves to live in Christ, and we must give ourselves away in service and devotion to our Lord. It is necessary that one see in us a clear demonstration of the way to live his life.

That's all for today. Thanks again for joining with us. Please send your thoughts to:

bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Remember, your feedback helps us get better.

Pastor Bob Emery

Welcome back! We are so excited about the growth in thegreatcommissionchurch.org. In the month of April our site had 7990 pages read, which is really incredible for a four month old web page. We thank God for all of his favor.

Today we continue our discourse on evangelism.

Jesus expected the men he was with to obey him. They had to be loyal. All they were asked to do was to follow Jesus. No one will follow someone in which he or she has no trust, nor sincerely take the step of faith unless he or she is willing to obey what the leader says.

 

It soon became apparent that being a disciple of Christ involved more than joyful acceptance of the Messianic promise; it meant the surrender of one’s whole life to the Master. There had to be complete forsaking of sin. The old thought patterns, habits, and pleasures of the world had to be conformed to the new disciplines of the kingdom of God.

Perfection of love was the only standard of conduct.

 

Jesus didn’t go running after those who left the membership roles. He was training leaders for the Kingdom, and if they were going to be fit for service, they were going to have to pay the price. Those who couldn’t go all the way fell by the wayside. Jesus didn’t have time to scatter himself on those who wanted to dictate their own terms of discipleship. Jesus’ would-be disciples were made to count the cost!

 

Jesus began to talk with His disciples with greater frankness about His suffering and death. Again and again Jesus talked to His disciples about His death and its meaning to them, but they didn’t grasp the meaning until after Jesus was betrayed into the hands of His enemies.

 

It was hard for them to accept the teaching of servant hood for the sake of others. Jesus endured their failings, because they were willing to follow him. He knew that they would master their defects as they grew in grace and knowledge. Their ability to receive knowledge would grow if they continued to practice what truth they could understand.

 

Obedience to Christ was how they learned more. No one could follow Jesus without learning what the truth was. Jesus did not ask them to follow a doctrine, but a person.

He continually followed the will of His Father which made it possible for God to use His life fully according to his plan. The cross was the crowning obedience to God’s will. That obedience could not be compromised.

 

The only way that the disciples could learn Jesus word was by following him. There could be no development of character or purpose without it. The disciples could not possibly defeat the powers of this world without strict adherence to him who knew the strategy of victory. This required absolute obedience to the Master’s will.

 

We cannot be oblivious to the commands of Christ. We are engaged in issues of life and death. Every day that we are indifferent is another day lost to the cause of Christ. There is Sno room in the Kingdom for sloth, for such an attitude not only precludes any growth in grace and knowledge, but also makes you useless on the battlefield for evangelism.

 

There is a malaise among the clergy and the laity regarding the commands of God. The great tragedy is that even among those who realize what is happening little is being done. It is high time that the requirements for membership in the church be interpreted and enforced in terms of true Christian discipleship. Followers must have leaders, which means that not much can be done with the membership until something is done with the leadership.

 

If this task seems too large, then we will have to begin like Jesus did by getting with a few chosen ones and instilling into them the meaning of obedience.

Thanks again for visiting! Please visit us at: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Send your comments to: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org . We appreciate your help in making this a better website.

Until tomorrow,

Pastor Bob Emery

Thanks for listening to Church growth, Mission, and Evangelism.

Today we continued with our overview of evangelism, talking about some things mentioned in the book "The Master Plan of Evangelism" by Robert E. Coleman. We also included some special comments in a new section of our podcast with ideas from "Your Best Life Now" by Joel Osteen.

Links to remember:

www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org

bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org

 

Please let me know what you think. I'm still trying to figure all of the technology out, so I appreciate your help. Contact me at:

bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org

 

Thanks again for listening. Be sure to join us next Wednesday when we create our show using our exciting new production software. Don't miss our daily blog. And don't forget to visit: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org

Pastor Bob Emery

Hello again! Welcome back to the church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. I'm really excited today because the new Adobe Audition software came for producing our podcast. Our goal is to only be the best. Be sure to keep listening in!

We continue with these thoughts on evangelism.

Jesus did all that he could and this served to impress upon his disciples the need for immediate personal care for new converts, but he had to devote himself to the task of developing leaders who could give this kind of specialized care to others. The whole problem of giving personal care to every believer is only resolved in a thorough understanding of the nature and mission of the church. It was the church that was responsible for following up with all the followers of Christ.

 

Preaching to the masses will never suffice in the work of preparing leaders for evangelism. Building men and women for leadership requires constant personal attention. It can be done only by persons staying close to those whom they seek to lead. The church has obviously failed miserably in this case. There is a lot of talk in the church about evangelism, but little concern for personal association. When confirmands are confirmed, they are left entirely on their own to find the solutions to innumerable practical problems, any one of which can spell disaster for their new faith.

 

Half of those who make a profession of faith and join the church eventually fall out of membership and most of those who remain are insufficiently trained to be of any real service to the Kingdom. If Jesus found it necessary to stay almost constantly in contact with his disciples for three years, how does the church hope to accomplish the task in only a few days a year?

 

Every convert needs a Christian friend to follow until such time as he or she can lead another. The mentor should stay with the new believer as much as possible, studying the Bible and praying with him or her, all the while answering questions, clarifying the truth, and together seeking to help others. If the church doesn’t have such trained mentors, willing to do this, then it needs to be training some!

Be sure to visit our website at: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Send your feedback to me at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Remember that we need your feedback to keep improving!

A real rough outline of tomorrow's podcast:

Welcome

Introduction

Overview of evangelism

An all new special addition to the program!

Wrap up

Thanks again for checking in. It means a lot to us. Talk to you tomorrow!

Pastor Bob Emery

Hello! Welcome back to the church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. I'm really excited to start the second week of our combined blog and podcast-a how to on this topic.

I'm going to continue talking about the ideas in Robert E. Coleman's book, "The Master Plan of Evangelism." This is a classic text in the field of evangelism.

Our days are running out. The evangelistic programs of the church have bogged down on nearly every front. In an age where around the world communications are possible, it is hard to believe that there are fewer and fewer saved souls. People can be won if they are given leaders to follow! You don’t have to be special to be used in the Kingdom of God. Anyone who is willing to follow Christ can have a mighty influence on the world when properly trained.

 

Jesus taught his disciples by drawing them close to himself. He was a living example of what he taught. Knowledge of the Kingdom of God was learned by association. Jesus invited his disciples to “come and see�. Living with Jesus taught the disciples everything that they needed to learn. Jesus was their own private tutor. As Christ’s ministry got longer, he spent more and more private time with just his disciples.

 

Frequently Jesus would take his disciples with him on retreats to some mountainous area of the country where they could avoid publicity. Jesus needed to get alone with the disciples. When Jesus made the last trip to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples apart from the rest as he made his way to the city. It was not until Jesus was running out of time that the disciples were ready to grasp the meaning of his presence with them. Fully half of all that is recorded about Jesus’ life happened in the last months of his life, and most of this was in the last week.

 

All of the ten post resurrection appearances were to his followers, particularly the apostles. The disciples who had fled in despair following the crucifixion needed to be revived in their faith and confirmed in their mission to the world. Even when Jesus was ministering to others, the disciples were always there with him. Without neglecting his ministry to those in need, he maintained a constant ministry to his disciples. The disciples were seeing everything he said and did as well as having their own private explanation.

 

Nothing is more obvious, yet more neglected, than this principle. Jesus’ method of training was simply being with them. It was because they had continued with him in his temptation that they were appointed to be leaders in his eternal kingdom. Jesus spent time with Zacchaeus after his conversion. He spent several days in Sychar after the conversion of the woman at the well. Often when someone received help from the Master, they were expected to join in with the procession of His followers.

I want to be sure to thank our sponsor, www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Be sure to visit this superb website. I also look forward to your feedback at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Your feedback will help me build a better site!

Thanks for visiting. See you tomorrow.

Pastor Bob Emery

Welcome back! Thanks for joining us today. This has been an exciting week with the launch of our combined blog and podcast. Today I would like to continue talking about the disciples and evangelism:

The important thing was they were honest men willing to confess their need. They had a sincere yearning for God and they were teachable. They were fed up with the hypocrisy of the ruling aristocracy. They represented a cross section of the population and were proof that Jesus could use anyone who wanted to be used! Jesus concentrated on those that he was going to use. You can’t transform the world except as individuals in the world are transformed. The principle is to select a few helpers and at the same time keep the group small enough that you can work with them.

 

As the number of Jesus’ followers increased, there came a time when Jesus had to select the twelve in order to keep the group manageable. Jesus intended that these men would have special privileges and responsibilities in the Kingdom work. Within the twelve, Peter, James, and John seemed to enjoy even a more special relationship with the Master.

The more concentrated the size of the group being taught, the greater is the opportunity for effective instruction.

 

Jesus cared deeply for the masses, but he avoided playing to his popular sentiment. Whenever he would heal someone, he would request that that person say nothing about it to anyone. When applauded by the crowd, Jesus would slip away with his disciples and go somewhere else.

 

Jesus’ purpose was not to impress the crowd, but to usher in a kingdom. He needed people who could lead the masses. It would have done him no good to arouse the masses and then have no trained leaders to lead them. The masses were like sheep without a shepherd. They would have followed anyone. Unless Jesus’ converts were given competent men of God to lead them and protect them in the truth, they would very soon fall into confusion and despair.

 

Jesus was no dummy! He realized the fickleness of human nature. He knew that he would need leaders inspired by his life to lead them. He devoted himself to a few men so that in the end the masses could be saved. Strangely enough, this method is scarcely comprehended in practice today.

 

Most of the evangelism efforts of the church today begin with the masses. The result is our emphasis on numbers of converts, candidates for baptism, and more members in church. Little or no concern is manifest for establishing these people in the love and power of God say nothing of continuing the work of Jesus Christ.

 

If the pattern of the work of Jesus means anything, it teaches us that the responsibility of the church is to lay the foundation on which can be built a continuing evangelistic ministry to the masses. Time and effort spent on a few people does not neglect the rest of the world. In time, a few dedicated people will shake the world for God. Everything that is done for the few is for the salvation of the many.

Thanks again to our sponsor: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Please visit their web page. Please send any comments regarding this blog to: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Remember-your input is important to us!

Welcome back. Thank-you for joining us. Today I would like to talk about some ideas from Robert Coleman's book-The Master Plan of Evangelism.

Objective and relevance are the crucial issues of evangelism work. Is it worth doing?  Does it get the job done? This is the question that should be continually asked in relation to the evangelistic activity of the church. Are our efforts to keep things going fulfilling the great commission of Christ? Do we see an ever expanding company of dedicated people reaching the world with the gospel as a result of our ministry?

 

We have to go to the New Testament and the Gospels in particular, to really see the plan of Jesus. They are the only eyewitness account of the Master at work. The Gospels were written to show us Christ and show us that by faith we can have life in his name. The revelation of that life in Christ includes the way he lived and taught others so to live.

 

We can be sure that the things that were recorded were recorded so that they could teach us how to walk in the way of the Master. That is why the scriptures are our best inerrant textbooks on evangelism. The days of Jesus’ life were but the unfolding of God’s plan to save a people out of the world for himself and to build a church of the Spirit that would never perish.

 

God wanted all men to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. Jesus gave himself to provide a salvation from all sin for all men. There was never a distinction between local and foreign missions. Jesus’ life was ordered by his objective. This was the vision governing His behavior. Jesus never lost sight of His goal. He had confidence in the future precisely because he lived the present according to that plan. His plan is so different from the philosophy of the modern church, that it is nothing less than revolutionary.

 

It all started when Jesus chose a few men to follow him. His concern was not with  programs to reach the multitudes, but with the men whom the multitudes would follow. Jesus started gathering these men before he ever started preaching. Men were His method of winning the world to God. It was John, Andrew, Peter, Phillip, Nathanial, James, and Matthew.

 

The early efforts of soul winning had little or no immediate effect upon the religious life of Jesus’ day. That was no matter. These early converts of the Lord were to become the leaders of His church. None of these men would impress us as being leaders of men. They were common laboring men. None of them would have been considered well off. They came from the poor section around Galilee. They were impulsive, temperamental, easily offended, and had all of the prejudices of their environment.

That's enough for today. Remember to send your comments to:

bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org . See you tomorrow! 

Thanks for listening to "Church growth, mission, and evangelism".

Important links for today are:

www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org

bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org

www.newburghseminary.com

 

Recommended reading for church growth, mission, and evangelism

The Purpose Driven Life-Warren

The Purpose Driven Church-Warren

When God Builds A Church-Russel

Your Best Life Now-Osteen

Peace With God The Secret Happiness-Graham

Just As I Am-Graham

The Collected Works of Billy Graham

Death And The Life After-Graham

Eating The Elephant:Leading The Established Church To Growth-Rainer

Turn Around Churches-Barna

Suprising Insights From Unchurched-Rainer

Unchurched Next Door-Rainer

Book of Church Growth-Rainer

 

Thanks again for listening. See you next week. Remember your comments are valuable to us.

email me at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org

 

Pastor Bob Emery

Welcome back. Thank-you for joining us. We thank thegreatcommissionchurch.org for their sponsorship. Please visit them at: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Their website has a lot of material for everyone. I think that you will find it exciting.

 

My goal is to be your resource for the study of church growth, mission, and evangelism. We will be studying the writing of award winning authors such as Rick Warren, Billy Graham, Charles Stanley, Bill Hybels, Joel Osteen, Thom Rainer, and Robert Coleman.

 

I will bring you any breaking news in the fields of church growth, mission, and evangelism and from time to time will highlight schools that have degree programs in this area of study. I will investigate all of the different kinds of school programs that I can find whether they be resident studies or independent studies. Anything that I can do to help you in your faith walk.

 

Tomorrow I will be posting our first podcast. My first goal will be to get a quality ten minute podcast on each Wednesday. As I get the hang of producing the podcast, I will try to increase the length in five minute increments.

 

Show notes for Wednesday, April 26, 2006:

 

Welcome

Introduction

Overview

Recommended textbooks

Seminary recommendation

Wrap up

 

Thank-you for visiting our blog. I will check for your comments everyday at:

www.bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Your feedback is important in helping us create a program that meets your needs.

This is an exciting day for www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org . Today we begin, “Church growth, mission, and evangelismâ€?, a new weblog (blog)  that will feature a podcast on the same subject. The new link to our blog  is (www.top9eye4.libsyn.com) and it will contain an RSS link to our new podcast at (www.top9eye4.libsyn.com/rss). 

 

Please note the change in the blog address. We moved our blog because we needed a web server that could host both the blog and the audio file for our podcast. Google’s Blogger is a very fine blogging site, and can link to an audio file, but still requires an external host to store the audio file.  Libsyn gives us a server where we can store our blog and our podcast audio file and produce both programs on the same website. What ever I can do to be more efficient means the more evangelism I can do in a day.

 

Thank-you for visiting our blog. I am planning to create new posts daily and will check for your comments every day. Your feedback is important in helping us create a program that meets your needs