What If?

What if you gave an invitation to someone and they came to church Sunday?
What if that person heard the message and gave his/her life to Jesus?
What if that person left Sunday’s service with a sense of hope?
What if that decision delivered a person from an addiction?
What if that decision removed the option of suicide?
What if that decision rescued a family in need?
What if that decision kept touching lives?
What if we TRULY believed this? 
FRIENDS SUNDAY, 2/21/10.
INVITE SOMEONE!

A Marker

Throughout the process of Yahweh taking His people into the ‘promised land’ we see God continually instructing them to set up markers to remind them of their journey & His provisions. One such account is given in Joshua 4:8—10; 19—24 where Joshua was commanded to build a stone monument to mark God’s faithfulness in leading them. God was building a people, a history, a trust, and a force/movement.

From this pattern we gain a pattern for our own lives as a church—we should set up markers to let us know how we’re doing on the course of fulfilling the great commission we’ve received. As we approach another Friends Sunday I’d like for us to keep a marker in mind. This year we will put all of our energy in setting a new marker—having 350 or more people attend our service.
This would clearly be the largest number of people we have ever had attend a Friends Sunday at Grace!

Are you up for the challenge? To achieve this goal we will need everyone of us inviting someone who is either committed to the Lord or to a church.

P.T.A

Have you invited someone(s) for next Sunday (‘A Taste of Grace’ Sunday)? Here is a simple way to approach this endeavor. Remember P.T.A.—No, not Parent Teacher Association. Rather:

Pray—  Pray that the Lord would strengthen you to speak. Pray that He will prepare the person for your coming and that He
will open the door for you to speak with the person about spiritual things.

Target—Make a list of individuals you have relationships with, or have on-going contact with that you would like to extend an
        invite or tell about Jesus.

Ask—  The final step is to intentionally seek to speak with these individuals about their relationship with Jesus. Ask them to
        join you at your church this Sunday. 

Have a blessed end of the week and remember to trust God by stepping out in faith in this area. You will be amazed what He will do through your obedience.

        Remember, “He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but He that believeth not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Hugged Your Angel Lately?

There are a lot of days dedicated to those who assist us. There is Secretary’s Day, National Fire Fighter Appreciation Day, Teacher Appreciation Day, etc. Yet, there is one group of servants we overlook—Angels. Yes, angels.

The Bible tells us that they are ministering spirits assigned to serve God’s people and to carry out God’s task on earth. These are servants who are always working on our behalf. Some of us have probably caused a few to take early retirement because we’ve worked them so hard. Yet, have you ever done something to say ‘Thank You’ to the angels who serve you? Ever seen a bumper sticker that read ‘Thank You Angels For All You Do,’ or ‘Hug Your Angel Today’? Have you ever given them a reason to celebrate and to have a little joy during their hard days’ work?

On Sunday, February 21st Grace has a great way for us to bless those who bless us. On that day invite your friends, coworkers, neighbors, and family members who do not know Jesus to come and get introduced to Him and to Grace. How will that bless the angels? Well, the Bible tells us that heaven rejoices when one sinner comes to know Jesus as Savior. So if our invitations result in many coming to know Jesus as Savior on that day we will give the angels in heaven an opportunity to stop their hard work for a moment to celebrate and party because of these decisions. So, remember the date—Sunday, February 21st and start prayerfully considering who you might invite to church that Sunday.

Why December 25th?

In accordance with my responsibility to not only feed but to also equip our church for ministering to others I am including this brief write up and article. It addresses the issue of why December 25th is celebrated as the birth date of Jesus (For those of you who don’t know it is probably not the day on which He was born). There are many who are aware of this fact and would love to pounce on an unsuspecting Christian to “educate” him/her with one more item of truth to diminish that person’s boldness in the faith. But it does not have to diminish your boldness in light of the reasons behind the selection of this date by the early church.

The text says nothing about the time of year in which Jesus was born. The traditional date for Jesus’ birth was set hundreds of years after the event to coincide with a pagan festival honoring the sun, thus demonstrating that the “Sol Invictus” (the pagan belief in the “Unconquerable Sun”) had indeed been conquered by Jesus, God’s Son. December 25 was widely celebrated as the date of Jesus’ birth by the end of the fourth century. January 6 was also an important date in the early church, held by many as the occasion of the arrival of the wise men, an event known as Epiphany.

So, you don’t have to shy away from celebrating the birth of Jesus on December 25th, for Christians have done it for centuries as a statement of Christ’s supremacy. Yet as the early church selected this date to confront the power of a secular and pagan holiday, so let us confront the unbelief of our society in this season by keeping Christ and His birth prominent in our celebration during this season.

You Need To Praise Him

Are you making Jesus more than an American Idol? There are those who know of Him but do not intimately know the greatness of who He is. In the account in Joshua 9 we learn an important lesson on how to introduce others to the greatness of our God.

Note in Joshua 9:1, 3, 9 that the surrounding nations and the Gibeonites knew of God’s great works and responded. Someone was telling others about the great acts of God. Note in Joshua 9:24 that the Gibeonites clearly knew of the command God gave to Moses & His people. Someone was telling others about the Word of God. You see, we are the ones responsible to spread the fame of God to those who do not know Him. This can be as simple as telling praise testimonies of God’s present actions in our daily lives. Attach the Word of God to those testimonies or to reasons for your outlook on life and God’s fame (Joshua 9:9), which is really the word for name in the Hebrew and denotes knowing a person, becomes real to others.

So get over your shyness about praising God before unbelievers. Your praise and testimonies may eventually move them from seeing Jesus as just another American idol to seeing Him as the true and living Savior they need to intimately know.

Who’s afraid of sharing?

I know that for many of us we can’t grasp the Bible’s perspective of what it means to share our faith with others. We see this as something artificial to who we are, a responsibility accompanied by great fear and trembling. But the Bible presents a different picture as it describes that which flows out of us as we go through our daily lives. It is the joy of taking Jesus with us as we interact with people and allow Him to invite them into a relationship.

It is only then that we see how joyous sharing our faith can be. If you don’t believe me note the criticism that was continually made of Jesus as He enjoyed life and shared His invitation to relationship with those He met—“The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” (Luke 7:34).

So, my prayer is that you will fully enjoy your day, share that joy with others, and allow Jesus to give them an invitation to experience life as it was meant to be.

INVEST (time, prayers, resources, etc.) in someone, then INVITE that person to church.

Only One Counts

So you want to be a missionary, day 2. Here is another way to place your life where God can use it to transform the lives of those around you who do not know Jesus.

1. Live out your love for Jesus no matter who’s watching or who’s listening.
o The woman is criticized by everyone but Jesus. She knew where her focus needed to be, and for that reason she achieved her goal.

o She is presented & remembered as the epitome of extravagant devotion—“And you can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she just did is going to be talked about admiringly” Mark 14:9 (The Message)

Father, help us to have a constant desire to please your eyes only.

INVEST (time, prayers, resources, etc.) in someone, then INVITE that person to church.

Going Missional

On Sunday we discussed the fact that we are all called to be missionaries or to be ‘missional’ (a contemporary rephrasing of this kind of approach to life). So, how can we have such an outlook & approach to life? Over the next few days we will look at 5 ways to have a missionary outlook to our everyday lives.
We must hold the glorification of Jesus above our own reputations.
• In Mark 14:3-9 we discover that the woman’s name is not even mentioned in this account although it encourages us to remember and emulate her actions.

• In a world that teaches “image is everything” a missionary mindset says “only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Have your values prioritized.
• You must esteem the value of serving Jesus above all else.
• “Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.” Matthew 6:33 (The Message).

Father, bless we your children this day as we seek to be in a place where you can use our lives to glorify yourself.

INVEST (time, prayers, resources, etc.) in someone, then INVITE that person to church.

God’s Instructions

One of the greatest errors we as Christians make is to believe that God’s instructions are just for those who are in the Church. Can I tell you that God’s instructions are absolute not only for those who are Christians but also for those who may not even believe in God. When we fail to see God as having the authority to instruct the everyday lives of His creation on how they should live and think we can fall into the trap of allowing others to view our Bible based convictions as our opinions rather than as God’s edicts. We owe it to those we are in contact with to know what God says about life and how they can enjoy it to its fullest.

In Isaiah 45:1—7 God states that He is working in the life of His creation to put Cyrus in power and to magnificently use him for His purpose even “though you have not known Me” (Isaiah 45: 4, 5). God’s reason for doing this? He states that it is so that every living person will realize that Yahweh exists and that He is in charge:

That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is no one besides Me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other,
The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing well-being and creating calamity;
I am the LORD who does all these.

So, realize that when you take a position in a conversation that may not be popular but is clearly Bible-based that you are letting God have a say. Who knows how He may use your words in this world He created to change a life for eternity.

The Power of the Gospel

The amazing thing about dynamite is that it does so much with the user doing so little. All you have to do is to trust its ability to do what it does best (blow up), to transform an item, and to bring about the desired result.

No wonder Paul used dynamite as his descriptive of the confident trust he had in the gospel—“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).

The amazing thing about the gospel is that it does so much with the user doing so little. Look for opportunities to prove its power today. Hand someone a tract, take a few moments to share your testimony, give someone an invitation to the Health Fair/Yard Sale this Saturday or to Friends Sunday this Sunday so that they might encounter the gospel. All you have to do is to trust its ability to do what it does best—to transform a life and to bring about God’s desired result.

Are you investing wisely?  INVEST in someone and INVITE them to church.

This month’s memory verse (2 Timothy 2:21— NASB)

“Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.”

God’s Story

“History is the story of God giving away power.” —Philip Yancey

This is no where more clearly seen than in Jesus’ sharing power with His disciples to go and tell others that they can have their sins removed through a relationship with God the Father through His son Jesus.

So, take a moment and pray that the Lord will give you the opportunity to use His power this day to invest in someone around you and to invite them to Jesus or to church.

Are you investing wisely?
Friends Sunday—October 5th.  INVEST in someone and INVITE them to church.

Why Would A Successful Person Need Christ?

When you think of a successful person, who comes to mind? Is it a celebrity, a politician, a business person, an athlete, someone you presently/formerly worked for? Do you know that even this person of respect and possibly even envy is presented in Scripture as someone who is ‘messed up’?

Paul realized this as he examined his own heart without the touch of God’s grace—“So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not” (Romans 7:17—18).

Remember to pray as you start your day that the Lord will give you opportunities to highlight His grace by showing others their need of Him. One of the highlights of my day yesterday was to share with a fellow soccer dad that he was “messed up,” en route to then telling him how he could be “cleaned up” through trusting in Jesus. Although our conversation did not result in a prayer of acceptance of God’s grace, I know that the seed is planted for the Lord to water and grow in His perfect timing.

I pray that you will have the blessing this day of sharing the gospel, your testimony, a tract, or an invitation to church with someone so that God might use your obedience.

His,
Are you investing wisely?
Friends Sunday—October 5th.  INVEST in someone and INVITE them to church.

What Christianity is All About

On Sunday we noted that “Christianity is all about confidence.” It is a faith relationship with God that challenges every Christian to focus not on what they do to establish this relationship but on what God has done for them. Therefore, we are saved by faith in the finished work of Jesus on our behalf. This is highlighted in the contrast that the message of the gospel is not ‘try harder’ (man centered), but ‘give up’ (God centered).

Isn’t that great news for the Bible tells us that no matter how hard we try we can NEVER earn God’s favor! If you agree that this is great news share it with a friend or acquaintance today.

Our new memory verse for the month of September is 2 Timothy 2:20— “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor.”

Opportunities To Serve The Lord

Did you pray the prayer this morning?  It is not too late if you have not. Just ask the Lord to give you opportunities this day to share the gospel verbally or through a tract with someone. Then be ready to bless a life. I pray that you will be blessed today as you follow the Lord in obedience.
Our new memory verse for the month of September is 2 Timothy 2:20— “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels
of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor.”

Are you investing wisely?
Friends Sunday—October 5th.  INVEST in someone and INVITE them to church.