Church growth, mission, and evangelism

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