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Pastor's Points June 2018

Dear Church Family,
This month I want to encourage you all to persevere!!  Do not give up.  We are tempted to quit in so many areas of our lives.  We are tempted to quit diets, work out routines, bible    reading plans, and we are even tempted to quit on relationships that we are in.  But as believers we must be marked by perseverance.

Newt Gingrich says that…  Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of   doing the hard work you already did.  We must hang in there.  We cannot become weary in  doing well.  Our goal in this life should be to finish well and live a life that honors God.

Ravi Zacharias says that…"Beginning well is a momentary thing; finishing well is a lifelong thing."

But it is often hard to continue on in life because we often feel as if we are not making any progress.  Consider this excerpt out of the diary of John Wesley…
Sunday, A.M., May 5:    Preached in St. Anne's. Was asked not to come back anymore.
Sunday, P.M., May 5:    Preached in St. John's. Deacons said "Get out and stay out."
Sunday, A.M., May 12:  Preached in St. Jude's. Can't go back there, either.
Sunday, A.M., May 19:  Preached in St. Somebody Else's. Deacons called special meeting and said I couldn’t return.
Sunday, P.M., May 19:  Preached on street. Kicked off street.
Sunday, A.M., May 26:  Preached in meadow. Chased out of meadow as a bull was turned loose during service.
Sunday, A.M., June 2:    Preached out at the edge of town. Kicked off the highway.
Sunday, P.M., June 2:    Afternoon, preached in a pasture. Ten thousand people came out to hear me.

Life is hard for us all.  Often we feel as if we are making no progress, but we have got to hang in there and keep living for the Lord.  But the reality of life is that it is hard.  Consider Romans 5:2-5
² Through him we have also obtained access by faith^[a] into this grace in which we stand, and we^[b] rejoice^[c] in hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

WE have got to have the right attitude when hard times come our way.  If we have placed our faith in Jesus as our Savior and Lord we need to remember that we now have access to the unmerited favor of God on our lives. We have been forgiven.  We have been made new, and we have all hope for eternity.  No matter what comes our way in this life.

So we can rejoice in our sufferings.  We can endure our sufferings knowing that God will use them ultimately for our good!!  But we must keep our focus on the Lord in life and not the hardships that come our way.  You cannot quit!!  You must endure to the end!!  Quitting is not an option!!

On March 6, 1987, Eamon Coughlan, the Irish world record holder at 1500 meters, was running in a qualifying heat at the World Indoor Track Championships in Indianapolis. With two and a half laps left, he was tripped. He fell, but he got up and with great effort managed to catch the leaders. With only 20 yards left in the race, he was in third place, good enough to qualify for the finals. He looked over his shoulder to the inside, and, seeing no one, he let up. But another runner, charging hard on the outside, passed Coughlan a yard before the finish, thus eliminating him from the finals.

Coughlan's great comeback effort was rendered worthless by taking his eyes off the finish line. It's tempting to let up when the sights around us look favorable. But we finish well in the Christian race only when we fix our eyes on the goal: Jesus Christ

I love you and I love being your pastor!

Spare Change June 2018

Prepared for Everyday Ministry

Everyone has been called to minister to those in their sphere of influence.  Maybe for you it's your co-workers, your family, your neighborhood or all of the above; however, people often feel inadequate to minister to others.  They don’t know how to serve them, how to share their faith, or even how to pray for others. This unintentionally leads us to be closed off and ineffective as believers.  This is not from a lack of want-to but from a lack of preparation. Recently I finished reading 1 Kings in which David is told he will not be the one to build the temple because he was a man of war.  That privilege would be passed on to his son, Solomon; but that did not discourage David, instead of sitting idling by he started making preparations for the temple. He gathered all the supplies that Solomon would need such as wood, stone, gold, and silver.  He had it all ready for when Solomon started building. Solomon’s ministry to the people of Israel was easier because of the work that his father had done for him.

This reminded me that I also have a great calling in my life-- to minister to those around me.  This is only made possible because of the preparations that Christ has made for me. Like David, who gathered the supplies for the temple, Christ became the cornerstone for the new temple of God.  Only this temple was not built with stone, as Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:19-22, rather it is built with God’s people joined together by the Holy Spirit. This is only possible because Christ prepared us for this work.  We join in the work of building up this  holy temple of saints by ministering to others, by pleading with them to believe in Christ, and by encouraging saints to persevere in the faith. Christ has laid the foundation, or rather become the foundation, all we have to do is be willing ministers.

So, with all the preparations made possible by Christ what is holding us back?  Lack of knowledge, fear, what is it that holds you back from investing your life in those around you?  Ultimately there is nothing really holding us back, however we do have perceived barriers that cause us to shrink back from our calling as believers.  I want to share three very practical things that have helped to prepare my heart to minister to others.

Spiritual Disciplines – You were probably hoping for some amazing truth that would rock your world, however the reality is that spiritual disciplines are foundational for believers.  You will NEVER grow in your faith unless you invest your life in spiritual disciplines. There are several, but the main ones are Bible intake, prayer and fasting.  If we are not doing these things on a regular basis we will not grow and we will never reach out and minister to others like we need to. Spiritual disciplines help us to commune with God’s spirit in a personal way that changes and challenges us.  Don’t neglect spiritual disciplines.

Listen and Read – Find spiritually encouraging things to listen to and read.  Find encouraging sermons and podcasts to listen to. There are too many to mention here, but they will help fill your time gaps with things that will encourage your affections for Christ.  The same is true for reading. When choosing something to read, don’t always pick up the newest book. Find something old. We have 2000 years of amazing books that will challenge you in your faith.  If you don’t know where to start, find a biography of a missionary or reformer. The main thing is to fill your down time with God honoring things.

Face Your Fears – As David is passing the torch to Solomon he tells him to be brave and stand firm.  This is    echoed as a challenge throughout the Bible, from God to Joshua, from Paul to the Church; this is a common directive to God’s people.  What scares you when it comes to God’s calling? Stand firm and do that thing which fills you with fear, by the power of God’s spirit be brave.  If talking about the gospel fills you with dread, work to stand up to that fear. If serving others is uncomfortable for you, face that fear and get your hands dirty.  It’s not easy and takes a lot of courage, but that is our calling as believers. Minister in your sphere of influence, do the good works that you have been called to do.