Tag: Pastors

Are You Equipped?

Ephesians 4:11-16, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”

I’m going on 40 years of being saved and in those years have heard literally thousands of sermons, but if you asked me how many of them, I could quote or recall a significant amount of the message, if I were honest, I would say relatively very little.

This is not to say that a vast majority of them weren’t good or that they didn’t have impact on my life but if we were honest most sermons especially by evangelist are motivational messages.

Many times, I have been in a service that blew my mind and got me very excited to go out and change the world for Christ and the next day I got up as usual, got dressed, ate breakfast, made my lunch, went to work, put my 8 hours, then came home, and nothing happened.

So, this thought came to me, why? Then this question came, what is the purpose of the church, especially it’s leadership?

The reason for us to gather together is found in Acts 2:42, “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Hebrews 10:23-25, “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” 

So, the question is, are you being equipped?  1 Peter 3:15, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”

Are you able to defend the faith…marriage between a man and a woman?

Hebrews 6:1-3, “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.  And this will we do, if God permit.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says in the Amplfied, “Every scripture is God-breathed given by His inspiration- and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, and for training in righteousness [that is, holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose and action] So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

In the thousands of messages, I’ve heard in my lifetime I can narrow it down to this problem, most messages tell you that you need to receive Jesus Christ in their heart, that you need to read the word of God to learn who He is and you need to pray to have that communication with our Savior. The problem is many times we don’t tell them the how.

Jesus often with His disciples had to tell them the how, teach us how to pray they asked, when will the time of the end be? Jesus had to explain what the four soils meant and many of the other parables Jesus told those gathered.

Paul told us in Roman 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” But what about the why to this question, 13-16, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 

In the modern-day church, the emphasis has been put on more worship and short sermons not so much on teaching but ironically a recent survey among Evangelicals shows people want the opposite, fewer than 10% want shorter sermons while nearly 30% want more in-depth teaching, the younger adults are even more interested as only 7% wanted shorter sermons.

Just as the bible charges parents to train up a child in the way he should go, we in the church have the responsibility to train (equip) those who God has entrusted us with.

Having the proper equipment is important, when you start sometimes you can have the basics, like screw drivers and hammers, but for me it’s important to obtain better tools to do the job God had called us to do better, battery drivers, table saws, ratchet sets are all tools I’ve added to do a better job but you also have specialty tools, ie, laying concrete, putting in windows, hanging cabinets, etc. we in this church have many different talents as well…

A good example we can find in Eph 6:13-17, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: is what we should do

Ephesians 6:10-12, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Is the why we should put on the armor of God everyday

Ephesians 6:18, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” Is the how we put on that armor.

Ephesians 4:11-12, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting (equipping) of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:”

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Are You a Doer?

be-a-doer

By Pastor Jeff,

Luke 2:41-49, “Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?”
From the birth of Jesus to this event we find very little written about the life of Jesus other than “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him”. But here at the age of twelve He was letting everyone know that He knew what His purpose in life was to do His Fathers business!And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”

Then again we have nothing written until the age of 30, Luke 3:21-23, “Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli” 

I have no doubt that Jesus could of started His ministry at any time but we see in scripture that the age of thirty was pretty significant as evidenced that is when Joseph appeared before the Pharaoh (Gen. 41:46, the priest entered service (Num. 4:3), David became King (2 Sam. 5:4) and a few others. Now that does not mean that we who are called into the ministry or any other work for our Lord have to wait until thirty, I believe that we do need some maturing as Christians before we step out so that our enemy the devil does not use our own immaturity to destroy us.

With that, we need in our church doers not just hearers, James 1:22-23, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:” I have less and less patience for those who say they are going to do something but never follow through even though your intentions may be good. That’s not good enough, its especially troublesome when pastors, evangelist, leaders stand at the pulpit and proclaim that they are going to change, going to pray more, going to read the bible more, going to do this, going to do that, then never follow through.

Let’s read Matthew 21:28-32, “But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.” I’d rather have someone who never proclaims that he will do something and is known as a doer than hypocrites who love to stand bringing attention to themselves who never do nothing. Matthew 5:37, “But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”

One of my favorite song writers, singers is Matthew West for many of his songs speak to my heart especially songs like,  “Strong Enough, Do Something, Mended, Hello, my Name is…Broken Things” especially has meaning as you read these lyrics let them speak to your heart as well;

“If grace was a kingdom, I stopped at the gate, Thinking I don’t deserve to pass through after all the mistakes that I’ve made, Oh but I heard a whisper, As Heaven bent down, Said, “Child, don’t you know that the first will be last and the last get a crown”

Now I’m just a beggar in the presence of a King, I wish I could bring so much more
But if it’s true You use broken things, Then here I am Lord, I’m all Yours”

The pages of history they tell me it’s true, That it’s never the perfect; it’s always the ones with the scars that You use, It’s the rebels and the prodigals; it’s the humble and the weak
All the misfit heroes You chose, Tell me there’s hope for sinners like me.

Grace is a kingdom, With gates open wide, There’s a seat at the table just waiting for you
So, come on inside!

Amen, God is looking for doers, especially those with the heart that cries out to Jesus and proclaims that “here I am Lord, I’m all Yours.” If that’s you then Jesus has a job for you, You may have to wait a little but it will be worth it. It may not be standing before thousands declaring the words of the Lord, for I will confess before you that if I never stood in a pulpit but found myself in His perfect will, I would be better than OK with that. But God may have you talking to your neighbor, praying for the lost, visiting the sick, cleaning the church, the things that may never be seen but others. God see’s and He’s the reason we should be a doer anyways!

Picture care of: halchaffee.com