Tue, 6 June 2006 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 Category: Religion -- posted at: 3:29 PM Comments[0] |
