CHURCH
... her primary purpose!
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Who can tell me the purpose of the church, and the ministry?
I have to ask this because recently I have become aware that in many denominations we have turned our churches away from "teaching and raising up the saints for ministry" and into more or less a "service center", or a "ministry of helps".
Our mission trips and our retreats have become "work farms" where we take our youth and go out and build, and clean up, and work in the community. While this is a worthy task, it is not at all the primary purpose of our churches! Have we so quickly forgotten the command of Jesus?
In Ephesians 4:11 Paul tells us of the 5-fold ministry offices and why they were put into place. He says they are "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." He goes on to tell us in verse 14 that we are to be "no more children" tossed to and fro by various teachings and doctrines, but we are to "grow up" into Him in all things!
He teaches here that the Body of Christ (the Church) is to become fitly joined together, working well together. He says we are to abandon the ways of the Gentiles (the non-Christians) and are to walk with a renewed spirit in the faith of God.
We often think that because Jesus fed the hungry, and healed the sick, that this was why He was sent. The fact is that healing the sick or feeding the hungry is a temporary fix, at best! Jesus used these to meet the needs of the people so that He could "get their attention"! If you heal a man, or feed him, or pay off his bills, YOU HAVE GOT HIS ATTENTION!
Somewhere in the process, we have become so focused on the feeding and the healing and the caring for others that we forgot the whole purpose of those was to "get their attention" so that we can "teach them"! In every event where you see Jesus healing the sick, He was also preaching and teaching to them! And I assure you "THAT" was His primary goal! For if you teach them and you get them saved, "they" can carry on the healing and the feeding and the caring for others ... so that they too can preach the word!
So, in your church plannings, and in your missions, don't get so focused on helping others that you forget your "primary purpose". We, the "Church", are here to prepare the saints for the work of the ministry! We are here to "preach the gospel ... to the World"!
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| THE GRAND FINALE IS CLOSE! |
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 WORD CHURCH is a church, a ministry, and a fellowship, even an outreach, where like in the days of the Apostles and Acts, the people joined together! Our vision and our goal, is to bring churches together in the unity of the faith, to help them to begin to bring together the gifts and talents of each separate church, and to share those gifts and talents with each other, that we may be better and more effective in teaching and training the Body of Christ, for the word of the ministry, to tell the World about Jesus! .... Learn More |
STARTING OVER? (Part I of 4)
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 Ever get the feeling like you're now starting all over in your faith walk? Does it seem like all of the work you've done to learn what you've learned and the work to get to, well "anywhere", seem to be of naught? Do you feel like you're starting all over again? in your life? or maybe in your ministry? Well, I've got "Good News" for you! GOD still has a plan, and of all of the people that He could choose, He chose "YOU" for this assignment! Not too long ago, I got to the point where changes in our finances, and changes in our church, where we go, who we spend time with, and my job ... all of these things seemed to be changing on me! And I felt like I was lost ... like I'd missed the whole boat ... like I was an utter and complete ... failure! I asked God for another job. In fact, I put it this way, after the looking and the market got so bad: "God get me a job, any job, just get me a job!" And He did! And though I was happy to be employed again, the salary was about what I made driving tractors in High School ... and I found myself in the middle of a training class of ... "kids"! Oh there were some near my age, but for the most part, I could have been the father of any one of these folks! And I began to lose hope. One day, as I came to the training class (a 6 weeks class), the pastoral anointing that God has placed upon me began to come alive and I began to see each and every one of these students as members of my congregation! I began to get to know each of them, talking, visiting, and cutting up with them like they were my own! I loved it! But through this all, we began to get really close ... the closest group to come from training that the company had ever seen! And when we hit the floors, training still, but ready to take customer calls, we hit the ball out of the park! We scored the highest of "all of the call center" in the 2 weeks we were there in the "training portion" of taking calls for the company's customers! We topped the best of them! I began to see the relationships between all of these classmates of mine, as some would leave to find other employment. Some would struggle with the day-to-day demands of the job, and they would come to me, for advice, for encouragement and just to have a listening ear! It was not that different from pastoring a church, I thought! And the light began to come on inside of me! I began to see that God's plan was to put me somewhere that would show me, and make me see, that my gift ... the plan for my life ... and His calling, would never be satisfied unless I was working with people, speaking into their lives, encouraging them and building them up, and standing with them in times of testing and trials! Our GOD is a "good" God, and an awesome FATHER! And HE knows what you need in your life ... what YOU are made for, and what He created you to be, and to do! I think it's high time you got with HIS program and began to blossom and flourish! Make God's Plan the primary focus of your life. And when others stand in the way, or try and put you down, discouraging you, maybe it's time to consider their value in your life here in the Earth. You have a calling, a mission ... and unless you fulfill it, you're always going to be wanting ... you'll never be happy. Give this some prayer ... we have more to talk about next week! God has a special calling on your life too! Don't get so busy with "life" that you miss out on his very best for you! Make me proud! -pastor rich-
Get ON-TRACK with HIS Plan ...
1. Be holy - the Bible calls us a "Holy Temple", where the Spirit of GOD lives. the Spirit of GOD lives in your heart! And to keep it holy, we must confess our sin when we sin (1 John 1:9). "
If we confess our sins, HE is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness." In order to remain holy and clean, before GOD, we must avoid sin, and when we do sin, we must confess those sins before GOD, so that we can be made clean again.2. Study the Word - Jesus said in John 8:31-32, "If you continue in My word, then are you truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." Folks, rare is the time you will ever see someone skip eating for the day, let alone days upon end. But we do that all the time spiritually. The Word of GOD is food for our spiritual bodies! We need that spiritual food, for spiritual energy, and for the faith that we need ... to live the life that GOD has called us to live, here in the Earth. When we study and meditate the Word of God, our spirit man grows strong, in much the same way as a battery is charged! (Romans 10:17) But when we do NOT study the Word, our spiritual battery begins to run down, and the natural man begins to surface. We act more like our "old self" than like the renewed man that GOD created us to be. In other words, the "flesh" wins out. 3. Pray in the Holy Spirit - Paul teaches us that we are to pray in the Holy Spirit. "But you, beloved, build yourselves up [founded] on your most holy faith [make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], praying in the spirit." [Jude 1:20 - AMP] Our supernatural energy, our faith, is charged and built up when we spend time in the presence of GOD, and when we "pray in the Holy Spirit". We are told in Ephesians 6 to "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of HIS might", putting on the whole armor of GOD. We cannot be strong if we do not spend time in GOD's presence, and in supernatural prayer! ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS:
"This is YOUR day ... YOU control it, how it goes, how you deal with the obstacles that come, and how you finish it! Master it! And don't let the day, or the little bumps that come with it determine how "YOUR DAY" is going to be. This is "YOUR" day!" Master it! Conquer it! MAKE IT ... what your Father wants it to be!-pastor rich-
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