CHURCH
... her primary purpose!
|
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"!
|
|
 |
|
| THE GRAND FINALE IS CLOSE! |
This year is rapidly moving towards an end, with a new year approaching! What have you done to prepare for the new year? Sign up for CampfireTALK to get a weekly encouragement and maybe a "heads up" on keeping on-track with your faith walk. Sign up today. |
CampfireTALK is our weekly e-newsletter, speaking life into your heart, with stories, a word from our affiliate ministries, and a devotion from pastor Rich. It's a source for you to feed your spirit, to challenge your faith and to build you up!
Learn from pastors Rich & Jane and the many ministries that are rapidly becoming ministry partners with Word Church!
Sign up today.
*Don't forget to share ... forward your copy to others!
|
 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 |
GETTING STARTED (part 4 of Starting Over)
|
 Have you ever wanted to do something so bad, and failed, no matter how hard you tried, and found yourself left feeling like a big fat failure in it all!? Well, I have! And I'm sure many of you have as well. It's when you have a dream that is so big you simply cannot extinguish it! You can't shut it down. You can't quiet it, or make it stop! It just keeps talking, and talking, and talking to you. It's a dream, and a vision, that God placed inside of you, and until you begin to walk in it you are not going to get any real peace about it. It's supposed to be that way! So, pastor Rich, what do I do? What did you do? Here's my suggestion: First, find the things that are taking of your attention. These are the things you do, a LOT, that maybe are taking your attention and time from the focus and attention that you need to be spending on the dream, the vision ... the "calling". I find I will spend my time and energies on what is important to me. However, if those same interests are taking up my time from the real purpose for my life, then I need to lower their priority in my life and begin to focus on God's calling and dream for me! Second, whatever time I have spent in the word before, I need to improve that! If I really want to work on a project with my Father, then WE need to be spending time together. Just being in HIS presence fills you with strength and a power that will give you the boldness and grace to move forward with the dream and the vision! Third, if you've never taken the time then "now" is the time to make a new friend. I want you to meet Holy Spirit. He is GOD. God is the Father, Jesus is the Son, and Holy Spirit ... well, nothing happens without Him. He was there when the Earth was created. He was there when Jesus was baptised by John. When Jesus reclaimed the keys to death, Hell and the grave, and delegated that authority to man, and then returned to the righthand of the Father, He sent Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is now "the authority" in the Earth. He is the "Project Manager of Assignment Earth"! If there is a plan in your life, "HE" is The One Who will help you make it happen! Without Him, you will continue in your efforts, and struggle, and will be lucky if you reach any part of that dream at all. Holy Spirit was sent here ... for YOU! Fourth, I want you to list to the words of Jerry Savelle, a really great preacher I like to listen to, "If it's meant to be, it is up to me!" In other words, YOU are going to have to take some form of action towards this dream, this vision, if you ever want to see it come to pass! A pastor friend of mine, Mike Brown, always says, "If you'll just give me some 'try' ... I can work with 'try'!" He emphasizes that we need to be making effort, action, motivation, in the direction of the calling if we want to see it come to pass. Fifth, and finally, I want you to begin to study "words"! Your words are like the rudder of a ship. When you turn it, the ship slowly begins to turn in the direction of the turn. It is not immediate. Not at all like a sports car with rack and pinion steering, the ship responds over time, when the rudder is turned. When you turn the wheel, the rudder turns. As water passes over the rudder, it's new position insists "change" take place in relatio to the path of the vessel. As the vessel (ship) continues forward, the path begins to slowly change. In that same way, your words "turn" your path. Notice, though, that the ship has to be in "forward motion" for anything to happen. You cannot steer a parked car! And a ship, listing and sitting dead in the water, will not turn, no matter how much you may play with the rudder. You have 1st begin 'forward motion' and then 'turn the rudder to direct change'. Once these are in effect, the path of your ship ... will change. So, a recap ... 1. Find the things that occupy your time, and make the necessary changes in their priority 2. Increase your Word Time 3. Develop your relationship with Father God 4. This is NOT going to happen with you! YOU have to take action, do stuff and give it some "try" ... 5. Watch your words! Speak what you WANT TO HAPPEN, as though it already has. And STOP speaking things that are - good or bad. Your words "establish" that which is, and that which will be. Remember this! 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-
|
|
|
