June 15, 2006

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: [e-mail]. 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