A Word about the Church as a Giving Creation

Today I want to share a word about the church as a giving creation and I comment on 1 Corinthinans 16:1-4.

We are coming to the end of a series about “Kingdom Qualities for God’s Church.” We have seen many qualities of the church that God has instilled in us, and that we must continue to reinforce.  

First, we saw that the church was a creation of God, and that our highest purpose is to worship Him in spirit and in truth, and that we relate to Him on an ongoing basis through prayer. 

We saw that the church is an innately missionary creation, which witnesses for God through our words and deeds. We also minister to the needs of others, both human and spiritual, and we know that the greatest need of all is salvation through Jesus.

We have seen that the church is supposed to mature, to grow-up in Christ, and that as we do, our fellowship grows closer with each other and with God as we are filled with the Spirit, and as He produces His fruit in us.

Most recently we remembered that because of God’s intervention on our behalf that we can be optimistic about our future, and that we should be truly grateful to God for transforming our lives.

Today, as we conclude this series, I want to share a word about the church as a giving creation. Money is a subject full of trouble. It is a major cause of trouble in marriages, in businesses and in churches. Paul's instructions about a missions offering in 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 gives us a lesson on how to think about this potentially troublesome subject:

Now about the collection for the saints: Do the same as I instructed the Galatian churches. On the first day of the week, each of you is to set something aside and save in keeping with how he is prospering, so that no collections will need to be made when I come. When I arrive, I will send with letters those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem. If it is suitable for me to go as well, they will travel with me.

Paul had called upon the churches on the mission field to give sacrificially to support and bless the church in Jerusalem, which was undergoing severe persecution at this time. These instructions were given so that the church at Corinth would know how to collect this offering “decently and in order.”

Our Giving Is Done to Obey God:

First, I think it is instructive that Paul used a term translated as “directed” in this passage. While this may mean he is directing the process by which the offering is to be collected, and he certainly was, we also need to remember the source of all that we have and ever will have on this earth. In Psalm 50:10-11, God reminds us that:

. . . For every animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.

God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the hills, the gold under the hills, and the oil under the gold under the hills. Everything we will ever have comes from Him!

God owns everything, but He has given people stewardship over His creation from the very beginning of time. In Genesis 1:28, God made humans the stewards over the world:

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”

As the stewards of God’s world, we are to be fruitful and return to Him a profit, just as Jesus taught in the Parable of the Talents. 

To begin understanding healthy giving, we need to know that God simply expects us to give. It is understood that as the owner of everything He expects and deserves our offerings to Him. The main offering that He wants is our hearts, and when He has our hearts, all the other issues of life will follow, including money.

Our Giving is Done to Bless Others:

Next, it is important to note that our giving is done to bless others.

As we just saw, when we give, we bless God, and honor Him, but we also bless other people as well. This particular offering was designed to go to Jerusalem to help the saints there. The believers were under severe persecution and those who could help were asked to do so. This kind of offering goes to people who are already saved, or to people who simply have unmet human needs.

Other offerings, such as offerings for missions in the modern world, go to help the lost come to know the Lord. These offerings are used to send missionaries, or to do evangelistic outreach from local churches. People are blessed through these offerings because they come to know the Lord as their Savior, and they receive the blessing of being in His flock and eventually in His presence in heaven.

Either way, offerings bless God's people: those who are already saved and who are in the church, as well as those who will be saved and brought into the church. The money given to churches goes to touch lives! 

When we give to God’s church it blesses Him and it blesses His people!

Our Giving is Done at Church:

One thing Paul leaves no doubt about is how the giving should be done. Each week everyone should set aside an offering and it should be given regularly at church. And, again, this offering should be based on how God blessed each individual person.

The Bible clearly teaches that the church is the center of religious giving. Malachi 3:10 instructs, “Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse,” and Jesus Himself paid the temple tax by way of a miracle. In Acts we see believers selling their property and bringing the proceeds to the apostles for use in the ministry of the church.

Besides being the Biblical pattern, this practice has much to commend itself to us as well in practical terms also. The burden is shared amongst everyone, and there is good accountability for what is given. This is a better opportunity for good stewardship than giving to other organizations.

One might assert that in the 1st Century there were no other options for giving except through the church. Charities and nondenominational, independent ministries did not exist then. This may be true, but with the Roman roads and the Roman postal system, if someone wanted to send money to the Jerusalem church it certainly was possible. Paul however insisted that giving be done through the local church. By this he has set the Biblical example for us today as well.

A popular quotation about giving is, “Do your giving while you're living so you're knowing where it's going.”  When we do our giving at church it's easy for us to know where it is going and what God is doing with it!

Our Giving is Done by Everyone:

Next, it is important to note that Paul is very specific that everyone in the church was expected to participate in this offering. Like Jesus referring to the Widow’s Mite, it did not matter if one was rich, or poor, or in between, but everyone was expected to participate.

Paul clearly recognized the differences in financial circumstances among people. Few people in our churches are rich, but most have more than they need. Paul wanted people to give as God had prospered them, not as they thought God prospered them. Likewise, they should not give as others thought that God had prospered them. They should simply give as God has given to them.

In truth, people in the United States are blessed! Even our poorest people would be well off in some countries around the world. Few people are so destitute that they can give nothing to the ministry of the Gospel.

Sadly, it is a commonly held belief that 20% of the people in the church do 80% of the ministry. Likewise, it is also commonly believed that 20% of the people give 80% of the offerings. Frankly, both of these figures are in opposition to the concept of Biblical stewardship. We need to offer our lives as well as our money to the service of the Lord.

Everyone needs to support the Gospel ministry, in word and deed, and in serving and giving!

Our Giving is Done Wisely:

Finally, the idea that we should give our offerings through the local church is a good segue to the next principle we need to discuss, and that is our giving needs to be done wisely. As we deal with money, we need to heed Christ’s advice; we should “be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves.” God has given us the ability to think, and we should use it, especially in the area of stewardship and accountability. 

There is no question that money should be handled carefully. I remember being told a story of a church which was located across the street from the city firehouse.  On quiet Sunday mornings, the firefighters made a habit of sitting out front of the firehouse. Every Sunday an unaccompanied man would walk out of the front door of the church with the offering plates and carry them around to the church office where they would be counted later. As soon as he exited the church, he would reach into the offering plate and take several bills and put them in his pocket on the way to the church office. This was done in full view of the firefighters, and it went on for years. Needless to say, none of the firefighters ever became members of that church.

Money must be handled wisely to protect those who gave it, to protect those who handle it, and to protect those who would be blessed by it. Notice that a delegation was going to be sent from the mission field to Jerusalem with the offering. Even in the church, or maybe especially in the church, checks and balances must be in place for the protection of all.

How a church handles money will greatly affect its reputation and its ability to bless others.

Our Giving is a Testimony:

One aspect of being involved in ministry for more than three decades is that I have many memories. Some are pleasant, others are unpleasant, and others are just . . . well, let’s say that they are unique. In that regard I remember the time I was given a gift of a dozen pairs of white athletic socks.

I had travelled to a small town to advise a church about how to expand and improve their buildings to support their church’s ministry. It was quite a long drive to get to this town, but our meeting went well, and I felt like the church’s leadership was well on its way to making some good decisions for the future. As I was about to take my leave, one of the lay leaders of the church asked me to walk with him out to the parking lot. 

When we arrived at his car, he reached inside and pulled out a plastic bag which he then thrust into my hands. “We know you had a long drive up here,” he said. “Here’s something to show our appreciation.” In that bag were the aforementioned white athletic socks.

The missing element to this story was that the town in question was known for being the location of one of the largest, and last, garment factories in our state, which, as a matter of fact, produced socks. Socks were, therefore, a common and imminently practical, gift to visitors.

Beaming with pride, my host said, “I hope you enjoy these!” And I did. Those socks were an unusual gift, but I used them for many months. I was glad to have them, and I was glad to allow my host to enjoy the blessing of generosity.

Paul also knew the blessing of giving to others. In fact, generosity was important enough to him that he included it in his final words to the elders of the church at Ephesus before being taken to Rome for his audience with Caesar. Such an event is likely to focus one’s thoughts, so the fact that Paul reminded them of the teaching of Jesus about generosity is instructive. 

It is a well-known fact that Jesus spent more time talking about money than He did just about any other topic of daily life. He knew that if you want to know what an organization or a person cares about, all you have to do is see where they spend their money. 

Our giving must be healthy if we are to have a healthy church. In 1 Corinthians 16, Paul has given us a good lesson about healthy giving. We should heed him, and we should follow his instructions in our churchmanship today!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about the Church as a Grateful Creation

Today I want to share a word about the church as a grateful creation.  

This reminds me of the story of a man who fell from the roof of a 10-story building. As he passed an open window on the 5th floor, the occupants of the room heard him yelling, "So far so good! So far so good!"  That poor fellow was grateful for that which he could be grateful. We, of course, have a great deal more to be grateful for than that unfortunate fellow.  In 1 Corinthians 15:50-58, Paul reminded us of several of those things:

What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption. Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality. When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, death, is your victory?

Where, death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Let’s review a few of the things that God has bestowed upon our lives as we take time during the Thanksgiving season to be grateful.

We Should be Grateful for God’s Grace:

A former colleague of mine has a wife who loves Christmas. She loves everything about it, but she especially loves decorating their house. She has trees in every room, and outdoor lights and stockings on the fireplace and every imaginable decoration possible. They had to purchase a storage building to hold it all, off-season. My colleague and his wife begin decorating their home the weekend before Thanksgiving, and they work at it day and night until everything is just right. 

On the other hand, I know of a fellow who has more money than he does time. He and his wife enjoy Christmas, but they don’t want the bother of doing all the decorating themselves. So, they hire the job out. They bring in a special company that does theme-based decorating, and the result is beautiful. This man openly confesses, “I don’t like hassle, and I love turn-key arrangements. I just don’t like the bother.”

In truth God did not have to bother with us. He is perfect, and holy, and just, but we are 180 degrees out of phase with Him. We are limited, and sinful, and flawed.  Romans 3:10-18 tells us,

As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers’ venom is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Isaiah 64:4-6 says, 

From ancient times no one has heard, no one has listened to, no eye has seen any God except you who acts on behalf of the one who waits for him. You welcome the one who joyfully does what is right; they remember you in your ways. But we have sinned, and you were angry. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins? All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment; all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.

God could have decided we were too much trouble and thrown us away. He had every right to do so. We had problems unsolvable by human means. Fixing us was going to cost Him everything precious to Him. Like Pilate, He could have washed His hands of us. We were like a knot so tangled you cut it out of a rope.

Instead, He gave us His grace. Instead of punishment, He gave us love. Instead of what we deserved, He gave us blessings we didn't deserve. Instead of leaving us, he drew closer to us.

When we know how much trouble we were to God, then we are grateful for God’s grace in our lives.

We Should be Grateful for God’s Intervention:

We all know the saying, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” What that reminds us of is that good intentions are not enough to address the serious issues in human life. Only when action is taken can anything be accomplished. The bystanders taking pictures with their phones at an accident don’t help the victims. The person who is always “intending” to take care of a problem never does. As the motto of a transportation company reminds us, “Nothing happens until something moves.”

Thank God! He took decisive action on our behalf. When no half-measures would do, God put forth the full measure of devotion that we might have life. He intervened when we were helpless and He saved us from ourselves. This passage shows the kinds of interventions He made:

• Intervention which changes people and gives life.
• Intervention which changes corruption to incorruption.
• Intervention which changes mortality to immortality.
• Intervention which results in victory.

So, what should our response be? We will let the Scriptures teach us. Let’s read Luke 17:11-19.

While traveling to Jerusalem, he passed between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he told them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And while they were going, they were cleansed. But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned and, with a loud voice, gave glory to God. He fell facedown at his feet, thanking him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Didn’t any return to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And he told him, “Get up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.”

When we know how God acted to clean-up the mess of our lives, then we are grateful for God’s intervention in our lives.

We Should be Grateful for God’s Power:

When we are in trouble, and in our natural state we are in the deepest trouble of all, we need outside intervention. But, as needful of that intervention as we might be, action without ability can be fruitless and dangerous. 

First, plans without power will never be put into practice.

In the foyer of my home church hung an architectural rendering of a church sanctuary. We were a church plant that had existed for two decades when Geri and I left it after we got married and went into the Army. All that time we had been meeting in our “first unit building,” which was supposed to be replaced by the new sanctuary in due time. The whole time that we attended our home church, which was one of the best churches we were ever a part of, that painting hung in the foyer, but we never had the financial strength to make it a reality.

It is also true that plans which are unfinished frustrate and disappoint.

In my hometown, during my teen years, a new four-lane expressway was built extending east to west across the northern neighborhoods of the city. When it arrived at the Chattahoochee River, a tall, modern, and very impressive bridge was built across the steam into the neighboring state. And there, it stopped, because the plans had not been coordinated between the two states, and there was no ability to connect it to roads on the other side. You may remember the infamous and controversial “Bridge to Nowhere” project in Alaska. Well, my hometown had its own bridge to nowhere. The failure to complete this project left citizens on both sides of the river fuming and frustrated.

We also must see that plans without power can also be dangerous.

I recently mentioned the power of the M1 Abrams main battle tank. It is a beast of a weapon system, but it is outrageously heavy! When an M1 has experienced a failure of its engine or running gear, two tracked armored recovery vehicles are required to tow it in for repairs. One recovery vehicle pulls the M1, and another is attached to the rear of the tank to add braking power. Without the second set of brakes, the M1 would be uncontrollable, especially when going down a hill. The results would have disastrous consequences. Something similar happened once with a flat bed tractor trailer hauling a D-7 dozer. Somehow, the air brake lines had been reversed, and the trailer brakes were useless. The truck, the trailer, and the dozer went flying down a hill and wound up buried inside a house. Plans without power can be just as dangerous.

Blessedly for us, however, God did, and still does, have the power to intervene. He is omniscient and omnipotent and omnipresent as well as being omnibenevolent. He created the rules for this world, and He can suspend them whenever He desires. He can rescue us without endangering Himself.

We must see how we have benefitted from His exercise of power on our behalf!  Death is swallowed up in victory! Death does have a sting, but for us it is not long lasting because God has given us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord!

When we know how God’s power is applied to problems and limitations, then we are grateful for God’s work in our lives.

We Should be Grateful for God’s Demands:

One of the economic factors that revolutionized life in rural areas in the early 20th Century was an innovation that the U.S. Postal Service called COD, or Cash on Delivery. A person who lived far from town could make a mail order for a product out of a catalogue, and pay for it, in cash, when it was delivered to them by their mail carrier. Of course, if you didn’t pay, you didn’t get to keep the item.

In contrast, the salvation offered to us by God through Christ is free to us at the point of delivery. In fact, we were helpless to pay the cost of our salvation. Once we have been saved, however, our Lord does require our obedience. Jesus, Himself said,

If you love me, keep my commandments.

In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Paul put our situation this way:

Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.

Again, we don’t work for our salvation, but we work because we are grateful that He has saved us. He is our Lord and Master, and we should obey Him. And when we do obey Him, He is the one who makes our work successful. When we obey Him, our work produces wonderful fruit. We can have high morale, too, because our work makes a difference.

When we know how great a salvation we have received at the hands of Christ, then we will show our gratitude through our steadfast, consistent, and joyous service to Him!

Conclusion:

My wife and I recently travelled to Branson, MO, and there we saw a tremendous outpouring of appreciation for our veterans who physically protected our way of life. How much more should we be grateful to our God for all of His provisions for us, physical, spiritual, and emotional! 

A Word about the Church as an Optimistic Creation

 

Today I want to share a word about the church as an optimistic creation as I comment on Isaiah 25:1-9.

We have been looking at “Kingdom Qualities for God’s Church”.  The last time we were together, we saw that as God’s people, we must be in fellowship one with another.  In this episode we want to explore our attitude towards life. Are we optimistic or pessimistic? Is our glass half-full or half-empty? I once heard a story about a father who tried to look on the sunny side of life:

One thing that parents guard jealously for their children are their prospects for the future. This is particularly true in the case of their future spouse; classically a father would quiz a suitor for his daughter to make sure that the boyfriend had good prospects for the future. A favorite humorous story centers on this type of concern for a daughter's prospects. 

A father invited his future son-in-law to dinner to quiz him about how he was going to care for his daughter and future grandchildren. He asked the young man how he was going to provide financially for his daughter, and he replied, “God will provide.” The man asked the groom how he was going to pay for a house, and he replied, “God will provide.” Finally, the man inquired about plans for paying for his grandchildren's education and the man replied, yet again, “God will provide.” 

Later, the man’s wife asked about how things went with the future son-in-law and he replied, “Well, he doesn’t have a clue about how the world works, but at least he thinks that I’m god!”

Let’s see what the Bible says our attitude toward serving Him should be. Let’s read Isaiah 25:1-9:

Yahweh, You are my God; I will exalt You. I will praise Your name, for You have accomplished wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness. For You have turned the city into a pile of rocks, a fortified city, into ruins; the fortress of barbarians is no longer a city; it will never be rebuilt. Therefore, a strong people will honor You. The cities of violent nations will fear You. For You have been a stronghold for the poor, a stronghold for the needy person in his distress, a refuge from the rain, a shade from the heat. When the breath of the violent is like rain against a wall, like heat in a dry land, You subdue the uproar of barbarians. As the shade of a cloud cools the heat of the day, so He silences the song of the violent. The Lord of Hosts will prepare a feast for all the peoples on this mountain—a feast of aged wine, choice meat, finely aged wine. On this mountain He will destroy the burial shroud, the shroud over all the peoples, the sheet covering all the nations; He will destroy death forever. The Lord God will wipe away the tears from every face and remove His people’s disgrace from the whole earth, for the Lord has spoken. On that day it will be said, “Look, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”

We can be optimistic because this passage shows us that in God, our prospects are great!

First, We See a Vision of Praise:

One fact that we cannot forget is that people were made to praise God. Verse 1 reminds us that we were made to fellowship with Him and love Him. We were made to worship Him and exalt Him. He should be the true object of all of our bragging. After all, this is what we will be doing in Heaven! Those who don’t enjoy worship here on Earth might find themselves in an unfamiliar situation when they get there!  

To be real, and to be honest, we know that sometimes our circumstances don’t favor worship. As we can see simply by reading, all through the Bible God’s people have had hard times. One thing that is common to all people is trouble. Sometimes it is our fault, sometimes it is not. Some Biblical examples of this might include:

• Abraham and Sarah were not able to have a child.
• Job lost all his family, and all his property, and all his health.
• David mourned the death of his baby son.
• Isaiah proclaimed judgment on Israel. 
• Jesus was crucified on a Roman cross as a criminal.
• Paul and Silas were cast into prison in Philippi.
• Paul was imprisoned in Rome.

The truth is that our circumstances should not hinder our worship, because God is the object of worship and He deserves it! Their circumstances did not prevent any of these above from worshipping God. Each of these and others, too, were justly proud of God and they loved Him.

Even though Isaiah was troubled by Israel’s sin, and he was sent to warn Israel because of it, Isaiah found he was able to worship God. Why?  Why can we worship God despite trouble? How?  How can we worship God despite loss and grief? Isaiah tells us as we continue to investigate our prospects.

Next, We See a Vision of Power:

Verses 2-5 tell us that the first reason we can worship God is His power.  God is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and ever present. These factors mean that His power is active in our lives.

Isaiah reminds us that His power is greater than any stronghold. Fortified cities were virtually impervious to attack in ancient Israel. Israel had no artillery, siege engines, or airplanes but this was no problem for God, however as He demonstrated by the fall of Jericho.

The city referred to in this passage probably wasn’t Jericho because the city that Isaiah referred to would be so destroyed it would never be rebuilt. The power Isaiah was speaking of was more in the line of the conversion of the pagan Roman Empire. Christ overcame a culture that had defeated all who had challenged it in the past. In the same way there is no stronghold in our lives that God can’t defeat.

It is also vital to see that God’s power is not only for battle, but also for building. Armored vehicles and tanks are great for battle, but not for reconstruction. Likewise, aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines can control the sea, but they can’t carry the goods that build an economy and a way of life. God, however, can do more than defeat our enemies. 

God can bring to us peace and refuge. Modern Israel has never lost a war, but it also has never been at peace, either. God, in contrast, completes His tasks in a way that brings everlasting peace. As John 14:27 says, 

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

War is hideously expensive, and it destroys prosperity, but peace is fertile soil for it.

We also See a Vision of Prosperity:

We live in the richest country on earth, and, in truth, we are getting richer by the day! But as hard as we try, we can’t take our wealth with us when we die. The one who dies with the most toys is still dead, and regardless of how many toys we have, they will not last! That’s why we have yard sales and flea markets!

God, however, wants to give us good things that last! In His spiritual economy we will live on the mountain top, not in the “Valley of the Shadow of Death”. We will feast at His table burdened with food. We will drink of His cup, not of punishment like Jesus, but of blessing! As we used to say in the south, “We’ll be living in high cotton!” Jesus put it this way in John 10:10,

A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

God can also take away the threats to our prosperity that possessions cannot. Possessions can’t comfort us in our loss. They can’t remove the grief or depression that settles on us like a blanket after we lose a loved one. Possessions can’t remove the sting of defeat, neither can they remove the regret over our sin and mistakes either. God can remove that pall, however. When He does, He will dry our eyes and give us the peace we need. 

This is how Psalm 23 expresses this hope that we have:

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He renews my life; He leads me along the right paths for His name’s sake. Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.

To me, Verse 5 is especially powerful. Troops expecting to go into the attack or expecting to repel an attack, have no time and no appetite for food. But God’s Army can, because God is the one who does the fighting for us! Therefore, instead of having dry mouths and lumps in our throats, we can enjoy His abundance1

Finally, We See a Vision of Peace:

Power and prosperity are good, but what we really want is peace!

• We want to have peace with God.
• We want to have peace with people.
• We want to have peace with creation.
• We want to have peace with ourselves.

We are just not able to achieve any of this in our own power. We can’t please God on our own because of our sin. If we appease others, we hurt ourselves. If we appease ourselves, we irritate our neighbors. Finding peace is so hard that we often just adopt the philosophy of the song lyrics that say: “You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”

However, nothing is impossible with God.  He has given us the power to be at peace. He has given us the prosperity to be at peace. And, because we are at peace, we can focus on God instead of these other things and we can praise and worship Him!

Conclusion:

 As one who was alive during the social upheaval that took place in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s I certainly have never encountered any period of time like 2020, and I pray that I never do again. That being said, I would like to put current events into a different perspective.

What we must realize is that the church has lived through turbulent times before, and indeed it was born both during a turbulent time and during a violent situation. Just hours after Jesus had celebrated Passover and instituted the Lord’s Supper, something He and no doubt the Disciples had looked forward to with great anticipation, Jesus was arrested, beaten, scourged, and hung on a cross between two common thieves. The crowd in Jerusalem had chosen to free a radical terrorist murderer over the One whom the Disciples considered their Lord and Teacher. Less than a day after their intimate and richly meaningful celebration, Jesus had died on that cross and had been buried in a borrowed tomb. Besides all of this, they had personally abandoned and betrayed their Lord. With all the pain, suffering, and turmoil of current events, nothing we have yet seen could be as soul-shattering and disillusioning as what the Disciples experienced that first Easter weekend. Their entire world and everything they had believed in was turned upside-down.

Had that been the end of the story it would have been overwhelmingly sad, but, as we know, it wasn’t the end of the story. Not by a long shot! Jesus rose from the dead, sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, and God has used His church since that time to minister hope in His Name. We who are alive today and who are members of His Kingdom are living proof of the power of God to overcome all obstacles and all the efforts of evil to defeat Him and His ministry of grace, mercy, peace, and reconciliation.

The church not only began in a time of turmoil, but it has grown during all manner of difficulties, almost like these are the fertilizer which makes it grow and flourish. Not for nothing did Tertullian say, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” While the recent years have been a challenge to us, we certainly have not had the experience of martyrdom, and so we need to adjust our mindset some.

In truth, our disobedience is the only thing that can hold back the ministry of God’s church. I am more and more convinced that discipleship is far more a matter of commitment than it is knowledge. Peter and Paul had vastly different levels of education, but both were completely committed to the Lord and the Gospel ministry. So, let us dig a little deeper into our lives and find our first love again for Our Lord and Savior. The future is approaching, one with its own challenges and with its own blessings, but if the Lord tarries, it will provide us new opportunities to minister the Gospel in His Name. Let us not waste a minute more fretting over the past, or even the present, but instead, as Paul urged the Ephesians, 

Everything exposed by the light is made clear, for what makes everything clear is light. Therefore it is said: Get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead, and the Messiah will shine on you. Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise— making the most of the time,[e] because the days are evil. So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Our best ministry is yet to come!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about the Church as a Fellowshipping Creation

Today I want to share a word about the church as a fellowshipping creation as I comment on passages from Galatians 5 and 6.

We have been looking at “Kingdom Qualities for God’s Church”.  Today we will see how God has given us a task to be in fellowship one with another.  As I began thinking about this message, I was reminded of what a seminary professor once told me:

The biggest church of all in the Southern Baptist Convention must be the “Down Home Baptist Church,” because I meet so many people who tell me that their membership is “Down Home.”

Just being a member of a church does not make you a member of a fellowship. I heard another story about this as well.

A pastor went to visit an absentee member of church upon the death of a family member. When asked how they worshipped, they said, “We watch Dr. Schuler’s ‘Hour of Power’ every Sunday.  He’s so wonderful!” As the pastor left, he thought to himself, “Where is Dr. Schuler today?”

Fellowship is not just about “cookies and Kool-Aid,” nor is it about covered dish suppers, nor coffee and doughnuts.  Fellowship is about becoming a tight-knit family in Christ. We need to be true members of a fellowship in Christ. Let’s see what the Bible says that should be like. Let’s begin with Galatians 5:24-26:

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit. We must not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

True Fellowship Means Bearing with one Another:

One obvious fact of life is that people have different likes, different habits, and different priorities. Take for example, the food preferences of different Presidents of the United States:

• President Ford liked cottage cheese topped with Heinz 57 sauce.
• President Carter made peanuts the official snack on Air Force One.
• President Bush ‘41’ did not like broccoli and banned it from White House menus.
• President Trump has been photographed eating a Big Mac and fries from McDonald’s.

No doubt, other President’s and First Ladies had their own meal preferences as well. 

Our differences in taste and in other habits can cause us frustration. I personally despise yellow crook-neck squash, but my wife loves it. So, does she cook it for a meal knowing I don’t prefer it? Does she cook yellow crook-neck squash for herself and a different vegetable for me? Does she deny herself yellow crook-neck squash? I can’t confirm or deny any of those options, but I as a child I felt the same way about lima beans, and I can confirm that my mom cooked them for my dad who did like them, and I was expected to eat them or go hungry!

Humanly, we can, and we do, get cross-threaded with each other, often by accident, but sometimes intentionally. As one fellow missionary joked, sardonically,

Missionary service would be great, except for the locals and the other missionaries.

Therefore, we need to live in the Spirit of God as Galatians 5:16-18 instructs us to do:

I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

This means, bringing our passions under the Lordship of Christ. It also means fighting off the temptation to be conceited and arrogant, and learning not to provoke, nor envy one another.  In short, we need to learn to bear with one another in our human frailty.

Let’s continue by reading Galatians 6:1-2:

Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you also won’t be tempted. Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

True Fellowship Means Bearing Each Other Up:

Although some of us are stronger than others, none of us is strong enough to withstand the pressures of this world by ourselves. Even Biblical saints needed the help of others.

• Moses needed the help of Aaron and Hur to hold up his hands to defeat the Amalekites in Exodus 17:8-16.
• Elijah, who challenged the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel ran and hid when he was threatened by Queen Jezebel; He even asked God to kill him!
• Jesus sent out the Twelve to minister two-by-two, not one-by-one!
• The Apostle Paul did not minister alone, but he needed Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Titus, Luke, and, yes, even John Mark.

We Americans have inherited a spirit of rugged individualism, which today is exacerbated by modern technology and social media. The fact remains, however, as poet John Donne put it,

No man is an island, entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were;
As well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were;
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.

We are all probably familiar with the acronym people make out of the word team: together everyone achieves more. This is really a backronym, or a reverse acronym, and much as I cringe when I hear people say it, the idea it presents is true in its essence. We need each other!

We need to help each other by encouraging one another in times of difficulty. We need to help each other by supporting one another in times of grief and sorrow. We need to help each other by reproving and correcting one another when we stray. As one old Sergeant Major told me when I was a cadet,

Sometimes people need a pat on the back and sometimes they need a swift kick a little lower down!

We also need to be willing to accept the help of others who offer it in the Name of Jesus. We need to learn to bear up one another in our human frailty.

Next, let’s read Galatians 6:3-5,

For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each person should examine his own work, and then he will have a reason for boasting in himself alone, and not in respect to someone else. For each person will have to carry his own load.

True Fellowship Means Bearing Our Own Load:

Dead weight is the worst kind of weight. It isn’t helpful to a long-distance runner. It isn’t helpful to a long multi-engine coal train. It isn’t helpful to a jetliner. It isn’t helpful to a rosebush or a vine. That’s why gardeners prune their rose bushes. This is what Isaiah 5:6 tells us what happens when a garden isn’t pruned,

I will make it a wasteland. It will not be pruned or weeded; thorns and briers will grow up. I will also give orders to the clouds that rain should not fall on it.

And that is why Jesus said in John 15:6 that as He tends His garden, pruning is on the agenda,

Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.

We all need to ask the question, “Am I dead weight in my church?” We must examine ourselves. We must correct ourselves. We must make sure we are not dead weight, nor dead wood. We must ask “Are we pulling our own part of the load?”

One of the most dreaded physical training exercises in the military is Log PT. A team of five to six soldiers is assigned a log, usually a piece of a telephone pole, to lift over their heads. Then, in cadence, each team has to perform calisthenics with this log. What the troops find out very soon as that wood is heavy. They also find out that if everyone doesn’t carry their own part of the load that the wood gets heavier, and heavier, and heavier. 

The same is true in our service to the church. We cannot help another bear-up to life if we are not bearing-up ourselves. We need to learn to bear our own weight in our human frailty.

Finally, let’s consider Galatians 6:6-10:

The one who is taught the message must share all his good things with the teacher. Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So, we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, we must work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.

True Fellowship Means Bearing Fruit Together:

Why are we here? Why does God leave us on the earth after our salvation? That is a good question, and it bears some reflection.

In a “Peanuts” cartoon, Lucy asks Charlie Brown, “Why are we here in earth?” Charlie replied, “To make others happy.”  Lucy then asked, “Then why are the others here?”

The truth is, our task is not to make ourselves happy, or to make others happy, but to make God happy. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20,

Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.

So how do we make God happy? This reminds me of the Jeff Foxworthy skit that made him so popular, the one that helps you decide if you are a redneck or not? Statements like,

If you’ve ever made change in the offering plate, you might be a redneck.

Or like,

If you ever cut your grass and found a car, you might be a redneck.

Or like,

If your dog and your wallet are both on a chain, you might be a redneck.

Or like,

If you’ve ever financed a tattoo, you might be a redneck

As an aside, I come from a long line of rednecks, and I have known many in my life. If you are a redneck, you know who you are and you don’t care if anyone else cares about it!

So how do we know when we make God happy? The Bible says that,

• When we live in harmony with each other, we make God happy. 
• When we share our needs with each other, we make God happy. 
• When we help and support each other, we make God happy. 
• When we encourage faithful lives, we make God happy. 
• When we have true fellowship, we make God happy.
• When we evidence the fruit of the spirit, we make God happy. 

Paul gave us the secret to this in Galatians 5:22-25.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit.

What are we to do? We need to lean on God’s Spirit to bear God’s fruit in our human frailty.

Conclusion:

 Fellowship reminds me of a hand.  As a tight, clenched fist, it can be a powerful force.  As an open palm, it can be a beckoning invitation.  Let’s us resolve to be people of the fellowship of Christ’s love today! 

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about the Church as A Ministering Creation

 

Today I want to share a word about the church as a ministering creation.

We have been looking at “Kingdom Qualities for God’s Church”.  In doing so, we’ve seen how the church has a divine nature, and we also have seen several operational qualities of the church. The fact that the church is both a worshipping creation and a praying creation gives it a solid foundation for ministry. In our last episode, we also saw that God intends the church to be a maturing creation as it grows in numbers and in discipleship, so that it can be effective as a missionary creation and a witnessing creation. In our focal passage for today, we will see another powerful aspect of our ministry, as we realize that the church is a ministering creation as well.

Sometimes the people we expect to help us turn out to do just the opposite.   Paul Harvey has told the story of a man who traveled often, and just about every time he was gone, his house was burgled.  One day the thefts stopped, because his travel agent had been arrested!

Among the charges Jesus has given to the church, an important one is to meet human needs, to help people.  As we continue to study Kingdom Qualities for God’s Church, today we are going to look at our commission to minister. Let’s read Isaiah 49:1-13:

Coastlands, listen to me; distant peoples, pay attention. The Lord called me before I was born. He named me while I was in my mother’s womb. He made my words like a sharp sword. He hid me in the shadow of His hand. He made me like a sharpened arrow; He hid me in His quiver. He said to me, “You are My Servant, Israel; I will be glorified in him.” But I myself said: I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and futility; yet my vindication is with the Lord, and my reward is with my God. And now, says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him so that Israel might be gathered to Him; for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God is my strength—He says, “It is not enough for you to be My Servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be My salvation to the ends of the earth.” This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, says to one who is despised, to one abhorred by people, to a servant of rulers: “Kings will see and stand up, and princes will bow down, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel—and He has chosen you.” This is what the Lord says: I will answer you in a time of favor, and I will help you in the day of salvation. I will keep you, and I will appoint you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to make them possess the desolate inheritances, saying to the prisoners: Come out, and to those who are in darkness: Show yourselves. They will feed along the pathways, and their pastures will be on all the barren heights. They will not hunger or thirst, the scorching heat or sun will not strike them; for their compassionate One will guide them, and lead them to springs of water. I will make all My mountains into a road, and My highways will be raised up. See, these will come from far away, from the north and from the west, and from the land of Sinim. Shout for joy, you heavens! Earth, rejoice! Mountains break into joyful shouts! For the Lord has comforted His people, and will have compassion on His afflicted ones.

The Appointment to Servanthood:

Verses one through five tell us about an appointment from God to a role that may not be a natural one for us. My experience with people tells me that few folks seek out the role of servant. This is particularly true with Americans, because we have inherited a spirit of “rugged individualism” from our Revolutionary forefathers, but few people across the world would become servants voluntarily if other options were available to them.

Most servants in the Bible were captured in war or born into it as the children of bond servants. Others were sold into slavery to pay-off debts. Servanthood is not glamorous, nor is it sought after. Most people, when confronted with the idea of being appointed as a servant, would react like a child who had not done their homework, hiding from the teacher and afraid of being called.

In John 12:25-26, Jesus taught His disciples to have a different attitude towards service:

The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me. Where I am, there My servant also will be. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

He echoed this thought during the Last Supper, in Luke 22:24-27.

Then a dispute also arose among them about who should be considered the greatest. But He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles dominate them, and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ But it must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and whoever leads, like the one serving. For who is greater, the one at the table or the one serving? Isn’t it the one at the table? But I am among you as the One who serves.

Whatever we may think of service, the reality is that our God is the Sovereign God of the universe and God calls servants. Some servants of God are individuals, like, Abram, Isaac and Jacob, but also David, Nehemiah, Isaiah, John the Baptist, the twelve disciples, Paul, or Priscilla and Aquilla. Some servants of God are nations, such as Israel, and others are congregations of people like the church. Regardless of whom God calls, He expects to be answered!

What Isaiah knew, and what we must come to grips with ourselves, is that God’s call cannot be denied. Isaiah knew he was called from the womb and so are we. We can resist God’s call, but it is still there. Once, after U.S. forces had captured some international terrorists, President Ronald Reagan advised potential terrorists in the world that, “You can run, but you can’t hide.” That may not always be true for terrorists, but it is true with God, as the story of Jonah attests!

What are we to do? We need to answer the call to servanthood.

The Authority of the Servant:

Verses two, five, and six show us the authority of a servant of God. The idea that a servant might have authority could be surprising to us, because of the very nature of servanthood. Biblical servants were personally insignificant. Generally, they had no money, power, or authority. Many did not even exercise control over their own body, spouse, or children.

Paradoxically, servants, who have no personal authority, can often exercise great authority, just not their own. Servants can, and usually do, have authority delegated to them from their master in varying amounts. When they speak in that instance it’s as if the master himself spoke. I once saw a housekeeper in Africa excoriating a watchman for being late to work and sleeping on duty. The housekeeper was a woman, and in that society, women would never speak to a man publicly in the way that she did. In that case, however, she was representing the owner of the property, and so she gave the watchman a thorough verbal thrashing!

In our case, we represent God. We are stewards of His name and His ministry on earth and because we represent Him, we have a certain authority. Verse two also tells us that He provides us the tools and training to do our work for Him, and Verse five says that He has our back!

I remember the first time I led the Lord’s Supper as a pastor. I met with the church deacons before the worship service to rehearse how we would administer communion. One of them must have thought that I looked a little nervous and said, “Don’t worry, we’ve got your back.”  I am not quite sure how that would apply in a worship service, but I took comfort in it, regardless!

What are we to do? We need to exercise the authority given to us by God as His servants. We need to represent Him well, and like Jesus, be about our Father’s business.

The Assignment of the Servant:

One very important thing that servants need to know is their assignment. When people are misused, their efforts are wasted.

In the late 1990s, a marble bust was discovered being used as a doorstop in a shed in the town of Invergordon, Scotland. It had been purchased by the town council back in the 1930s for the dollar equivalent of $6, but its significance had been forgotten over the decades. The bust was casually holding open a door until someone finally recognized its true value.

As it turned out, it was a masterpiece by Edmé Bouchardon, a celebrated 18th-century French sculptor who worked in the court of King Louis XV. The bust depicted John Gordon, a Scottish landowner believed to be the founder of Invergordon. Bouchardon sculpted it in Rome in 1728, and it had originally been housed in the Gordon family’s castle before being sold at auction.

After its rediscovery, the bust was authenticated and valued at around $3.2 million. The Highland Council eventually agreed to sell it to a private buyer through Sotheby’s, with proceeds going back to the town that unknowingly safeguarded a treasure for nearly a century.

That story ended well, but what if the correct nature of that marble bust had never been discovered? What a waste!

As servants of God, we must clearly understand our assignment. We must understand what it is we are to do, and that is this: it is to do the Master’s work for Him. It is to take care of the master’s business. It is to be an extension of the master. The British have a saying that applies here, 

Why have a dog and bark yourself?

God has called out people to be His servants, and we should not expect Him to do what He has asked us to do. 

What did God expect Isaiah to do? Isaiah was told to edify God’s people, and to witness to the Gentiles, and to minister to those in need. What does God expect us to do? The same types of things. We are to edify believers, witness to the lost, and to minister to those in need. These assignments are congruent with other passages of Scripture as well. Micah 6:8 says,

Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.

Of course, servants must be humble, but we also must do good as well! In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was clear and to the point, saying, 

You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Paul taught about our service in Romans 12:1-4 & 9-13:

Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one . . . Love must be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. Show family affection to one another with brotherly love. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lack diligence; be fervent in spirit; serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality.

What are we to do? We are to carry out our assignments!

The Accountability of the Servant:

Like every good master, God will hold us accountable for our service. Jesus told many parables which refer to this, such as: 

• The Parable of the Wise Servant in Luke 12 
• The Parable of the Unjust Servant in Luke 16
• The Parable of the Double-Duty Servant in Luke 17
• The Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25

All of these demonstrate that as servants, we are accountable to our Lord and Master, but Jesus taught us directly about this, in Matthew 25:31-46,

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink?  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?’  “And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’ Then He will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels! For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you didn’t take Me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe Me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of Me.’ “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help You?’ “Then He will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me either.’ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

James, the half-brother of Jesus and the pastor of the church at Jerusalem told his congregation that having a servant’s heart was evidence of salvation. James 1:27 says,

Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

In James 2:14-22 he went on to teach,

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith from my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe—and they shudder. Foolish man! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?  You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was perfected.

Our God has saved us through the blood of Christ, and because we are bought with a price, we are not our own. We belong to God, and our God will discipline us as Proverbs 3:11-12 teaches,

Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son, and do not loathe His discipline; for the Lord disciplines the one He loves, just as a father, the son he delights in.

Hebrews 10:31 reminds us that,

It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

What are we to do? We are to serve our Lord with dedication and honor!

Conclusion:

It is a common practice for church pastors to give a vision of their church which proclaims, “Every member is a minister,” or that “Every member is a missionary.” This is a good concept, but some, or maybe many members might say, “Not me! I am not a preacher! I don’t even want to pray aloud in public.”

The key issue is not what we do, but the attitude of our heart. We must first become servants of the Almighty God, and then we can be used of Him in ministry. As 1 Peter 4:10-11 says,

Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God. If anyone speaks, it should be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, it should be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To Him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt 

A Word about the Church as a Maturing Creation

 Today I want to share a word about the church as a maturing creation.

We have been looking at “Kingdom Qualities for God’s Church”.  In doing so, we’ve seen how the church has a divine nature, and how it has a commission from God to witness for Him and to make disciples of all nations.  We’ve seen how the foundation of our ministry must be prayer, and how worship is our “Job 1”.  Today we will see how God expects the church to be a maturing creation.  A mature disciple is a follower of a teacher, a learner.  God is calling us to be life-long learners of His thoughts and ways.

We all have things we need to learn in life. “F Troop” was a 1960’s television comedy show about an inept cavalry troop set in the Old West of the mid-1800’s. Ken Berry played its clumsy commander, Captain Wilton Parmenter. One show opened with a scene in which he did not know how to fold a map.  He became frustrated and flustered until he just crumpled the map into a ball. After that, he sent for and received the instructions about how to fold a map, but then he discovered he could not fold the instructions! He became frustrated and flustered again until he just crumpled the instructions into a ball.

Our text for today gives us a clarion call to grow and mature in Christ and become His disciples.  Let’s look at Ephesians 4:11-24 as we investigate this Kingdom Quality for our church and our lives:

And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ. From Him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building up itself in love by the proper working of each individual part. Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their thoughts. They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the hardness of their hearts. They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more. But that is not how you learned about the Messiah, assuming you heard about Him and were taught by Him, because the truth is in Jesus. You took off your former way of life, the old self  that is corrupted by deceitful desires; you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds; you put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.

First, Let’s See the Absence of Maturity:

As much as we should be grateful to God for the world that He made for us, we must remember that the world is a broken and dying place. This is understood in the physical sciences as well as in human relationships.

Science has observed a universal tendency in the universe of decline towards dysfunction and disintegration. The term for this is “entropy.“

In one of the earliest scientific papers which discussed entropy, the French mathematician Lazare Carnot said that in any natural process there exists an inherent tendency towards the dissipation of useful energy. In other words, without intervention, things tend to fall apart. Unmaintained vehicles rust. Untended gardens become choked with weeds. Unattended homes crumble. Left to natural processes, things degrade and die and decay.

Entropy also occurs in human relationships as well. Passion cools unless it is rekindled. Discipline fails unless it is enforced. The way forward is lost unless guidance is provided. Unity disintegrates unless leadership unites. Unguided organizations become confused, dysfunctional, and they lose direction.

The story is told of an old and grizzled Army sergeant who was looking forward to retirement. After he received his discharge, he moved off-base and tried to integrate into civilian society. Within a week, he showed up at a recruiting office wanting to re-enlist. When he was asked why, he gestured towards the big window at the front of the office and sputtered, “There’s nobody in charge out there!”

In fact, the world doesn’t know how to think or act. As an example, we can consider what the world has told us about what our proper diet should be. In the 1970’s, Dr. Robert Atkins promoted eating proteins, but then in the 1980’s we were told to eat salads and avoid red meat. Now in the 21st Century, the Paleo diet says we should eat meat again. For every scientific study that promotes a certain diet, another is published that asserts the opposite is true.

In the same way, the world is a poor model for knowing how to act. In oriental cultures, people are rude to strangers, but they are polite to family and friends. Westerners are rude to family and friends, but they tend to be polite to strangers. In the Middle East we can find a long history of hospitality towards strangers, as well as a long history of murderous rage towards them also. In founding the United States, our leaders discovered a genius for political compromise that allowed us to establish a democratic republic, only for our leaders to abandon that genius for political compromise over the issues that led to the Civil War, the bloodiest and most destructive war we have ever fought. Americans managed to fight the last of the Napoleonic-style wars and the first of the modern wars at the same time against ourselves . . . and we laughed at the commander of F Troop because he couldn’t fold a map?

What are we to do? We need to answer the call to maturity.

Next, Let’s See the Call to Maturity:

What Paul was doing here was to issue a clear call for the Christians in Ephesus to grow-up in Christ.  

Paul was no stranger to new Christians. On his three missionary journeys he saw an untold number of converts, and he planted an untold number of churches. None of these were instantly mature in Christ and they all needed to grow and to become disciples.

Sometimes, Paul and his team helped people grow one-on-one. For example, one convert was a man named Apollos, who had a great talent for oration. The problem was that he was teaching some things that were not true. Apollos was not intentionally teaching false doctrine, he simply was ignorant of the truth. Two of Paul’s colleagues, Priscilla and Aquilla, took Apollos aside, and taught him more accurately about Jesus, and then he was used by God in a powerful way. Acts 18:27-28 tells us that,

Then he wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers wrote to the disciples urging them to welcome him. After he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating through the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.

In this way, a loose cannon was turned into a powerful weapon against the powers of darkness.

Paul also mentored his sons in the faith. He invested himself in Timothy and Titus, and Luke, and others. He wanted them to grow in Christ and to help others grow also. We often refer to 2 Timothy 2:2 in relation to this, which says,

And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

And, although Paul and John Mark went through a rough patch after Mark went home in the middle of the first missionary journey, in the end even that relationship bore the fruit of the call to maturity.

Likewise, Paul urged entire congregations to grow in the Lord. In fact, this is the purpose of most of his epistles. Often, the first half of one of his letters was devoted to teaching doctrine with the second half devoted to the practical application of doctrine in the lives of believers. His entire purpose, however, was to call those churches to maturity. We can see that call in the epistles to the Thesalonians, the Corinthians, the Colossians, and here, to the Ephesians. Even Romans, which many Christian writers believe to be a very theological work, is actually a call to the church at Rome to grow-up in the Lord and to work together to grow God’s Kingdom.

Paul’s message to the Ephesians and to us today is to remember we are in the world, but we are not of the world. Because of this, we must learn to live as if we are from God: We must learn His truth. We must learn His attitudes. We must learn His way of treating people. We must learn and apply His way of love. All of this requires that we become life-long-learners.

We have much to learn about God. I clearly remember the testimony of a young college student who had recently come to Christ. She said, “There is so much I don’t know!” This is true for more seasoned saints as well.

After being a Christian from the age of 8, after attending a strong Bible teaching church, after attending seminary, and after being a church pastor for several years, I discovered that there was more to Luke 2 than the Christmas story that Linus reads in “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” I discovered Simeon, a righteous man who was told by the Holy Spirit to look for the Messiah. I also discovered Anna, a widow who prayed daily in the Temple and who was probably a living connection between the Old Testament and the New Testament. I was amazed and saddened by my ignorance of these important figures in the story of the birth of Jesus!

In fact, all of us can say, “There is so much I don’t know!” It is possible that one thing we will do in eternity is to learn more and more about the majesty and love of God. Why don’t we start that process now?

We also Must See the Goal of Maturity:

The goal of maturity is not just to gain knowledge. The goal of maturity is to change our lives and our way of living. 

During one of Alexander the Great’s military campaigns, a soldier fled from battle out of fear. After the fighting ended, the man was brought before Alexander himself. The general asked why he had run, and the soldier admitted he was afraid. Then Alexander asked the soldier’s name. The man replied, “Alexander.” Upon hearing this, the general sternly declared: “Then either change your behavior or change your name.”

We learn the things of God to put them into practice. Knowledge in the abstract is a dead end. I once went to a conference and became certified to teach an illiterate adult to read. It was interesting information, but I have never gotten a chance to use it.  Likewise, I went to another event where we were trained and certified to operate in international disaster relief situations. Again, I never had the opportunity to use that information. It was interesting and challenging instruction, but knowledge that is not used is wasted.

So, what are things we need to learn about so that we can do them? First, we need to learn the Bible so that we can share its truth. One training that I attended that I have used was about how to teach. The most important thing I learned there was the truth that the best cure for nervousness is knowledge of the subject. If you know the subject, you only have to relate what you, yourself have learned. That’s not that hard.

Another thing that we must learn is how to become united. As Abraham Lincoln paraphrased Jesus, “A house divided cannot stand.” If we learn what truly matters, we will not be splintered by diverse interests and beliefs. A denominational leader I know was called to serve a fractured and fractious group of churches. He led them to become more involved in missions, and he found to his delight that their focus on missions unified them.

We need to learn how to become mature and reflect that maturity in our actions. When the church that my wife and I grew-up in lost our pastor, our worship leader stepped up and provided great leadership to the church in the interim time. We all knew that he was musically talented and that he was a good worship leader, but we didn’t see his depth of maturity until he had to step into the gap when we were without a pastor. Engineers test the strength of materials by stretching them and by putting them under pressure. Our worship leader was stretched and put under pressure, but he passed the test because he had matured.

We need to learn our spiritual gifts and how to use them for God’s kingdom. Paul told Timothy,

Therefore, I remind you to keep ablaze the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.

I clearly remember that same worship leader talking about a gifted musician and singer who had once been involved in leading worship, but who had stepped away from the church. Over a period of time, but not a long one, that person’s ability to sing deteriorated, and then it disappeared. The lesson that our worship leader took away from that was that gifts are like muscles. If we use them, they develop and mature, but if we don’t they atrophy and become weak. All of us in Christ have at least one gift, and like Paul taught Timothy, we must keep it lit up for service to God!

One other thing we need to learn is how to become Godly people and how to act as Godly people. The behavior of the soldier who had the same name as Alexander the Great reflected upon the emperor.  In the same way, we are Christians, and we bear the name of Christ. What we do reflects on Him, for better or worse. Also, the strain of living in a way that is not natural to you is great, even debilitating, but if we learn Christ, then it will become second nature to live like Him!

We have seen the absence of maturity, the call to maturity, and the goal of maturity, but how can we mature? What can help us grow-up in Christ?

Finally, Let’s See the Tools of Maturity:

We need tools to do the work of maturing. Every job requires the right tools to complete the work. I remember seeing a mechanic in Africa who arrived to do some work on a neighbor’s vehicle. His tool kit consisted of a blue plastic carrier bag from the local shop, which contained a kitchen knife, a screwdriver, a pair of pliers, and a few strips of rubber from an inner tube. I am not disparaging his efforts, and in fact he was able to repair the vehicle, but this was despite his tools, not because of them!

We have so many tools at our access for growth and maturity. First, we have the best manual of all, God’s Word. Next, we have prayer, which is our technical help line. Third, we have well-trained instructors to teach us, pastors, deacons, teachers, and elders. Finally, we have the Holy Spirit, who is our live-in, full-time mentor, the one Who teaches us from inside our very own hearts, and minds, and lives. 

Have you ever seen inside one of the car haulers that NASCAR teams use to transport their race cars? Inside of one of these 53-foot-long trailers is space to hold up to three cars, but along both sides are toolboxes. Those teams bring to each race an untold number of tools. These include hundreds of hand tools like wrenches, sockets, torque wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, etc. They also bring dozens of power tools, including impact guns, drills, grinders, and air tools for quick repairs. Finally, they also bring specialty equipment like alignment tools, suspension tuning gear, engine diagnostic scanners, and welding and fabrication gear and much, much, more. Those are great assets if they are used, but they weigh more than a ship’s anchor if they are neglected.

In the same way, we must use our tools as well. We must read the Bible, attend Bible study, and pray and reflect on God’s Word. Like our spiritual gifts, if we neglect our tools, they will not do us any good, and like the principle of entropy dictates, they will eventually deteriorate into uselessness for us.

Conclusion:

Jesus was not just a model for us, He is our Savior. That said, Jesus is our model to follow. At the wedding at Cana, Mary told the servants to do what Jesus told them to do. We know that the baby Jesus grew in wisdom and knowledge and in favor with God and man. We must do the same!

So, let’s not be a bunch of hapless people from “F Troop”!  Instead let us grow into disciples of our Lord, and confident and competent members of His Kingdom and His Family!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt

A Word about the Church as a Witnessing Creation

 

Today i want to share a word about the church as a witnessing creation.

In our last episode about the qualities of the church, we observed that the church is a missionary creation. From Genesis 12, we saw that God expects His people to be on mission for Him. From Matthew 28:18-20, we learned that God has given us the authority to be missionary, and in addition to that, in His authority He requires us to be missionary. We also learned that our goal is to make disciples of all peoples by teaching them all that we learned ourselves from walking with Christ. Finally, we learned that while this task is immense, we are not alone in pursuing it. We have each other, and even more importantly, we have the presence of God Himself as we work together with Him in pursuit of His mission.

Today we will look at a very important element of how we are to be on mission with God. God not only expects His people to be a missionary creation, but inherent to that quality, He also expects us to be a witnessing creation. We will see that clearly as we read Acts 1:4-11

While He was together with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “This,” He said, “is what you heard from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked Him, “Lord, are You restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After He had said this, He was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. While He was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven.”

As I began thinking about this message, I was reminded of a joke sent to me by a friend. One morning, a mom was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin age 5, and Ryan age 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw this as a chance to teach a moral lesson, and so she said, "If Jesus was sitting here, He would say, 'Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait.'" Kevin then turned to his baby brother and said, "Ryan, you be Jesus." 

So often, that is our attitude about witnessing, evangelism, missions, and outreach. Like our trash, we're glad that those things are taken care of by somebody else. But that's not the Biblical attitude though. So, let's consider Acts 1:4-11 and see what our attitude ought to be.

Who is Jesus Speaking To?

When asked to proclaim the Gospel, people often ask, “Who, me?” This reminds me of a bad old joke about the Lone Ranger and Tonto. 

The Lone Ranger and Tonto were surrounded by an Indian war party.  They were lying beside one another behind the body of Silver, sheltered temporarily from the bullets and arrows of the hostile Indians.  Realizing they were out of ammunition, the Lone Ranger turned to Tonto and said, “It looks as if this is it, Tonto.  I think we’ve had it this time.”  Tonto turned to the Lone Ranger with a tight smile and said, “What do you mean ‘we,’ white man?”

Another way to describe how some people respond to Acts 1:8 is the same way that General Tecumseh Sherman responded when he was approached to become a candidate for President in 1884. He said, “I will not accept if nominated and I will not serve if elected.”

Who was Jesus talking to here? Not pastors, they didn’t exist yet. Not deacons, they hadn’t been selected yet. Not missionaries, they hadn’t been called out yet.  Not to the world, they didn’t believe in Jesus. He was speaking to those He had called to follow Him, the church.

You are aware that I am from the south, and there, like in every localized culture we have our own vocabulary. For example, when I moved to Covington County, AL, I learned that there they call wheeled trash cans, “hobos.” I don’t know why, they just do. 

In the South the plural of you is “y'all,” and the plural of y'all is “all y'all.” The plural form of us is “us'ns,” and the plural form of we is “we'uns.” So, who was Jesus speaking to? Us’ns and we’uns.  He is speaking to His church and saying that all y’all are to be my witnesses. 

What is Jesus Asking us to Do?

So, what was Jesus asking us to do? Simply this: to be witnesses for Him. 

When asked to give a verbal witness, people often quote a saying that has been attributed to St. Francis of Assisi. He is reported to have said, “Preach the Gospel always; if necessary, use words.” St. Francis probably didn’t say this, and it isn’t a Biblical statement.

God wants to communicate His love to people. He invested all that He has in saving mankind, and this effort would be wasted if people did not hear about it. As the old riddle goes, “If a tree falls in the forest, but no one sees it, does it make a sound?” 

As the second half of 2 Peter 3:9 tells us, “God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” He wants everyone to come to Him, but to do that they must hear about His love. Romans 10:9-15 puts it this way,

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. Now the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes on Him will not be put to shame,” for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher?

We simply have been asked to tell what we know.  To witness is just to tell what we've experienced first-hand. Even physical evidence, forensic examinations, and documentary evidence must come into court by the way of a verbal witness. Thus, a verbal witness is extremely important, and our personal testimony is powerful because no one can deny what we have personally experienced. 

Many years ago, I deployed with my unit from Hawaii to an exercise in Korea that took place in the month of March. I and my fellow soldiers flew out of balmy Oahu into wintery Osan Airbase. We all suffered from the cold, but one of my colleagues had a particularly difficult time. 

On the day the exercise started it was 10 degrees Fahrenheit with a strong north wind. I was wearing every item of clothing I could fit onto my body, and so was my friend. The difference was that I was out in the field, and he was in the rear in a well-heated operations center in a building.

When my friend was seen wearing multiple layers of clothes in a steam-heated building, he was accosted by someone asking, “Why do you have on all those layers. You can’t be cold in here.” My colleague replied, “You can’t know how cold I feel. I am freezing, and that is why I am bundled up.” In the same way, no one can tell us that we have not experienced the love of God through Christ.

It's also portable because we can take it anywhere that we ourselves can go. Many countries of the world prohibit the importation of Bibles and Christian literature, and not just Muslim countries. Other countries censor television and radio broadcasts as well as the internet. The forces of darkness erect every type of barrier imaginable, but wherever we can go, our witness can go as well.

Finally, our witness is persuasive, because the best way of promoting something is by word of mouth. As missionaries to South Vietnam used to say, "What was whispered in Hue in the morning would be shouted in Saigon by the afternoon." 

The truth is we will be witnesses whether we like it or not. But what kind of witnesses will we be? As a hospital marketing director told the board of directors, "Everything our employees do is marketing. Some of it good and some of it bad.” 

As God’s people, we must give a good witness to Christ.

Where is Jesus Asking us to be Witnesses?

In short: all over.

We can view Christ's commandments symbolically. Jerusalem can become our neighborhood. Judea is our state. Samaria is our country. The ends of the earth can be the mission field. This is a very common way that evangelicals interpret Acts 1:8.

On the other hand, we can view Christ's commandments sociologically.  In this case, Jerusalem represents people who are like us, and Judea represents folks who are a little like us. Samaria would be those people that really despise us, and those whom we despise, humanly, while the ends of the earth would represent folks who aren't like us at all. 

I prefer simply to take Jesus literally. We are to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, which is where most of us live and work today. Regardless of how we view Christ's words, obedient followers of Christ obey His command to take the gospel to the entire world. 

As we witness to people from all over, we will face cultural differences, and we must do our best to be culturally appropriate whenever possible. At the same time our witness for Christ must be clear.  I once served with a missionary couple who admitted that their ministry had gotten out of balance, saying, “Sometimes we try so hard to be culturally appropriate that we forget to share the Gospel.”   In the 21st Century this can happen in our ministry as well.  Therefore, we must realize that the Gospel can be offensive to some people. In 1 Corinthians 1:18 Paul said, 

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved.

Paul also wrote in Romans 9:33 that,

As it is written: Look! I am putting a stone in Zion to stumble over and a rock to trip over, yet the one who believes on Him will not be put to shame.

We must not let our fear keep us from witnessing for Jesus, because the best gift we can give anyone is not our friendship, but to be saved by grace through the work of Christ. 

How can Jesus Ask us to be Witnesses?

Because we do this work by God's power, not ours. 

Doing a job without the right tools is both frustrating and dangerous. For example, many people have cut themselves badly while trying to use a knife as a can opener. I remember how eye-opening it was for me the first time I cut a loaf of bread with a real bread knife. It was so much better than using a butcher knife or a steak knife. 

God knows that witnessing for Him is difficult. Jesus witnessed and He was reviled by His enemies. Not only that, but Jesus also witnessed, and He was misunderstood by His friends. In the end, Jesus witnessed, and He was killed by a distant, unfeeling government. God has made provisions to help us, though. 

First, He sent the Holy Spirit to us, and through the Spirit, He gives us both power and also spiritual gifts. He has also given us pastors and teachers to train us and to lead us. Finally, He promised He would give us the words to say in our time of need. 

One of my favorite heroes in the Bible is found in Judges 3:31, which says,

After Ehud, Shamgar son of Anath became judge. He delivered Israel by striking down 600 Philistines with an oxgoad.

You may have heard it said, “Never bring a knife to a gunfight,” but all that Shamgar had was a sharp stick, yet he was used of God to protect His people. So, if we say that “We can't,” we are right. If we say that “God can't use us,” then we are wrong.

Why does Jesus Ask us to be Witnesses?

Because the need is great.  First, we live in a world of hurt. 

• COVID-19 killed untold numbers of people who died without Christ. 
• We have a continuing problem with substance abuse and the resulting addictions that come from that destructive practice. 
• Suicide is becoming a serious problem in Western society. 
• Political and social unrest are common.

Our society desperately needs the grace and peace of God through Jesus.

Next, we live in a world filled with lost people. 

• There is no county in the United States which has more Christians today than it did 10 years ago.
• Our birth rate is outstripping the rate of baptisms., so we are getting farther and farther behind.
• Overseas baptisms now top baptisms at home in the United States, but over a billion people in closed countries have never heard the gospel.
• People are dying and going to hell. 

Our world desperately needs to be redeemed by the love of Jesus.

In addition, we live in a world that will come to a terrifying end. In recent weeks we have been studying Revelation, and what we have learned is that after Jesus comes to rapture His church, all hell will break loose on this earth. The people without Christ who remain will suffer plagues and all types of disasters. All the world’s water will turn to blood, and huge hailstones will fall from the sky. People will cry out and wish that they were dead. The world which God made specifically for us will not be fit for man nor beast. We would not wish that fate on our worst enemies!

While all the facts above are true, it also remains true that we live in a world where God’s church is present and in a world in which God has chosen to work through His people.  So, what do we need to do? 

• As members of the Bride of Christ, we need to be good witnesses for God in our words and our deeds. 
• As followers of Jesus, we need to take every opportunity we are presented to be witnesses for the Lord. 
• As members of God’s church, we need to invite people to our fellowship.
• As workers in God’s field, we need to realize that God is calling us to visit prospects and to pray that the harvest will increase. 

Everything in nature that is healthy reproduces. That’s why God has made His church a witnessing creation, to grow His kingdom and His reign over the hearts of people.

Conclusion:

 So, based on our Scripture for today, what should our commitment to Christ be? To be good witnesses for God in our words and deed and take every opportunity we are presented to witness for the Lord. 

 As I have said before, Acts 1:8 is both prophetic and prescriptive. We will be witnesses for Christ. The only question is what kind of witnesses we will be.

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt