Alex Cosio
Hispanic Pastor
I heard a story of a missionary in a remote area who was writing some letters. A child from the village was intrigued by those symbols being put on a piece of paper. He asked the missionary what he was doing. The missionary knowing the child could not possibly understand the term letters he said; “I am putting my thoughts in this paper.” The child responded: “oh I know… you are putting your thoughts in prison.” The missionary said: “No, on the contrary I am setting my thoughts free.”
Paul was in prison because of the work of the Gospel. Those chains (which probably bound him to a roman soldier), those walls, and the hardships he was facing could not stop the spreading of the gospel. The religious and civil authorities of his day considered him a threat to their established systems; they thought they had put Paul out of business. Satan must have been leaping with joy, like a child with a new toy. “Paul is out!” “Paul is out!” was the news in the spiritual realms. But Paul was not out at all, he was too much in! The Lord used that time in prison for him to write several letters, which have transcended frontiers, cultures and eras. Today we can still read what Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote to the church, that is, to you and me.
What made this man so effective in the ministry? Saul was a very religious Jew and was very much against Christianity, he even persecuted the church and consented the stoning of Stephen. Religiosity can stand in the way of the work of God. Saul learned that there was only one correct way of doing God’s work; either Saul did it his way or God’s way. Can you identify with Paul? I can. I was against Christianity and made fun of Christians. You see, I was brought in the established religion of Latin America and was taught not to trust “Christians.” Praise God who had mercy and dealt with my heart just as he did with Saul’s.
The first attribute that made Paul so effective in the ministry his personal encounter with the resurrected Christ. In his famous Damascus road experience, Paul gave his life completely to his God and Savior Jesus Christ. For Paul the words of that great hymn “I surrender all” were true. He did not surrender ten percent or fifty percent, not even ninety five percent. He surrendered all to the Lordship of Christ. My dear brother & sister in Christ, this can only make me question myself how much have I surrendered to Christ. Are my interests set before God’s intensions?
Secondly, not only did Paul have a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, but also his obedience to his call. The Bible says that immediately he began meet people in the places where they gather to worship preaching Jesus and proving that Jesus is the Christ. (Acts 9:19-22) I praise the Lord for the renewed vision that He has given to Apex Baptist Church. We want to be the type of believers that go to share the good news.
Thirdly and many times overlooked Paul was effective because of his co-laborers in the ministry. Paul was never alone in the ministry; he never acted independently and authoritatively. In all of his letters, except 1st, 2nd Timothy and Titus, he mentions several people who co-labored with him in the service of the gospel. In Romans (16:21), he mentions Timothy, Lucius, Jason and Sosipater. In 1st Corinthians (16:17-19), he mentions Aquila and Priscilla, Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus. In 2 Corinthians (1:1), Timothy. In Galatians (1:2), “all the brothers with me.” In Ephesians (6:21), Tychicus. In Philippians (1:1; 2:25), Timothy and Epaphroditus. In Colossians (4:10-15), Timothy, Aristarchus, Mark, Justus, Epaphras, Luke and Demas (whom will abandon Paul going after the world instead of Christ -2 Tim. 4:10). In 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, Timothy and Silas. In Philemon (1:1), Timothy.
In the book of Acts we find several people co-laboring with Paul in the establishment of the churches in Asia Minor and Europe. Barnabas, Mark, Silas, Luke, Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Tychicus and Trophimus.
All of these men and women and many other whose names, though are not recorder in Scripture, are recorded in God’s book of memories (Mal.3:16). What a privilege you and me have to serve and co-labor in the ministry so that the work and the people of God continue to grow. I want to encourage you to join in the worship of God and the work of the ministry. Let us gather, grow and go to make His Glory great among us. Remember the three attributes that make the ministry effective. First; we need a personal encounter with Jesus Christ (our personal relationship with Him). Second; we need obedience to our call. Thirdly; join in as co-laborers in the ministry.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Vision Sunday
Phil Qualls
Senior Pastor
This past Sunday we looked at 3 core values for our church that are biblical and simple. Gather. Grow. Go. I conducted an experiment last week: Did you know my 3 year old grandchild can remember Gather, Grow, Go and a senior adult, an elder statesman, can remember it as well? It’s simple and clear and describes the three dimensions in our lives that can make us an active and dynamic fellowship which God uses to impact our community.
Isaiah wrote that our desire as believers should be God’s name and his renown. The focus should be on him and when we gather to worship and to study his word our worship should be about his name and his renown. When that happens there will be a transformation in our gatherings! We will hunger and thirst for more of God! Can you imagine what it would be like if we gathered together on Sunday mornings and sought after him with all of our hearts and our souls? If our desire as the body of Christ when we gathered was for God to be glorified? There’s no telling what could happen!
As a fellowship we need to understand the significance of gathering. That when we gather rightly we then desire what God desires for the church. In Ephesians 5 God tells us that his desire for the church is that she would be spotless and holy. And he has given us the Holy Spirit to help us grow. As we study and teach God’s word our lives become transformed and we take our eyes off of ourselves and fix our eyes on Christ. Not only that, but we begin to love one another as a fellowship and community. Can you imagine what it would be like to be a part of a local church filled with believers that put others’ interests above our own?
Finally, we respond to God’s desire for the lost. Personally. Not just intellectually. God isn’t willing that any should perish, but that all should come to salvation. Can you imagine a body of believers with that kind of passion? We are privileged to be God’s representatives or ambassadors. We get to love our neighbors and associates. That’s what it means to go! To reach out to the nations and to our neighbors. To plant churches and to see those churches plant churches.
We’ve been able to be involved with church planting in New Hampshire, Fuquay Varina and Holly Springs. And that’s just a beginning! We’ve gone to Mexico, Ukraine, India and are excited to partner with IMB in reaching a city in East Asia in the coming years.
Would you be willing for a few weeks to trust God and to go on a journey with us? Ask God to speak to you and imagine what God can do through our church if we all lived three dimensionally! Gather. Grow Go.
Senior Pastor
This past Sunday we looked at 3 core values for our church that are biblical and simple. Gather. Grow. Go. I conducted an experiment last week: Did you know my 3 year old grandchild can remember Gather, Grow, Go and a senior adult, an elder statesman, can remember it as well? It’s simple and clear and describes the three dimensions in our lives that can make us an active and dynamic fellowship which God uses to impact our community.
Isaiah wrote that our desire as believers should be God’s name and his renown. The focus should be on him and when we gather to worship and to study his word our worship should be about his name and his renown. When that happens there will be a transformation in our gatherings! We will hunger and thirst for more of God! Can you imagine what it would be like if we gathered together on Sunday mornings and sought after him with all of our hearts and our souls? If our desire as the body of Christ when we gathered was for God to be glorified? There’s no telling what could happen!
As a fellowship we need to understand the significance of gathering. That when we gather rightly we then desire what God desires for the church. In Ephesians 5 God tells us that his desire for the church is that she would be spotless and holy. And he has given us the Holy Spirit to help us grow. As we study and teach God’s word our lives become transformed and we take our eyes off of ourselves and fix our eyes on Christ. Not only that, but we begin to love one another as a fellowship and community. Can you imagine what it would be like to be a part of a local church filled with believers that put others’ interests above our own?
Finally, we respond to God’s desire for the lost. Personally. Not just intellectually. God isn’t willing that any should perish, but that all should come to salvation. Can you imagine a body of believers with that kind of passion? We are privileged to be God’s representatives or ambassadors. We get to love our neighbors and associates. That’s what it means to go! To reach out to the nations and to our neighbors. To plant churches and to see those churches plant churches.
We’ve been able to be involved with church planting in New Hampshire, Fuquay Varina and Holly Springs. And that’s just a beginning! We’ve gone to Mexico, Ukraine, India and are excited to partner with IMB in reaching a city in East Asia in the coming years.
Would you be willing for a few weeks to trust God and to go on a journey with us? Ask God to speak to you and imagine what God can do through our church if we all lived three dimensionally! Gather. Grow Go.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Life Groups Vision and Purpose
Tim Shaw
Minister of Education
I recall a Sunday morning many years ago, standing before my Sunday School class and noticing a couple in the back I did not recognize. I greeted them warmly and welcomed them as first-time visitors. Big mistake! They had been attending my class for four weeks! How had I missed them before? Could it be that were lost in the sea of the faces in that group? Could it be that no one else had noticed them either? Could it be that were a closed group, a "clique"? The answer to all of these questions is - Yes! Amazingly and thankfully they had continued to come over those weeks despite our neglect!
As a teacher who was extremely passionate about Sunday school ministry and people, this mishap shook me to the core. I couldn’t understand how we had failed. We were great at Bible study and praying for each other. We had weathered many storms together and met needs as they arose among our members. Fellowship was no problem – we knew each other's lives inside and out. We swapped stories often about our long history of memories throughout the years. We had been together a long time…That was the problem! The veil was removed from my eyes at that moment! We were wrapped up in ourselves. We were not reaching new people, we were ignoring them.
God then placed Dan Cook in my life who was the new Minister of Education at my church. He became, and still is today, my dear friend and mentor. He instilled in me the importance of Sunday School being outreach oriented. I took what I learned from him and spent the next months teaching my group the importance of being an outward focused New Testament body. We committed to become an evangelistic Sunday school class. We plunged into outreach in a way we had never known it before. And I mean we plunged! We went out together sharing the gospel and our testimonies with every prospect that we could find. We loved new people like they were family (because we truly wanted them to be). We began to show Christ’s love to prospects, follow up effectively with them, and to share the gospel with them. We discovered the effectiveness of assimilating people into the church, ministering to their needs, and discipling them. We wrapped our arms around them and loved them into God’s family – and it worked!
I cannot find adequate words to write the full results of this transformation. God ignited a fire in the hearts of that original group as they saw how He was using them to bring people to Himself, as they extended themselves in service to reach people for Christ and then disciple those new believers to do the same. Dozens accepted Christ because God’s people opened their hearts and put feet to the Great Commission to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20).
I could hardly believe what I saw God doing in that place! I wanted to tell every church in the world what could happen through the Sunday school ministry. Not only did I love seeing what God was doing, He called me to devote the rest of my life to teaching people how to transform Sunday School into the “front door” of the church. As your Minister of Adult Education, my passion is teaching people to Gather, Grow, and Go through Sunday school.
Ask most people the purpose of Sunday School, or what they are trying to achieve in Sunday School, and they are likely to respond with answers similar to these: “Teach the Bible,” “Help people know more about the Bible,” or “Build up the fellowship of our members.” While these are all good things and they need to occur in Sunday School, they do not reveal the purpose of Sunday School, why it exists, or what it needs to accomplish.
Then what is the purpose of Sunday School? Sunday School is the foundational strategy in a local church for leading people to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and for building on-mission Christians utilizing small and open groups focused on building relationships with the unchurched and assimilating them into the small group where they can find compassion, hope, and a personal relationship with Christ. Sunday School is a strategy. It is a plan – a way for the church to do the work of the Great Commission.
When a church sees Sunday School as a strategy and not just an organization or program, Sunday School becomes a seven-day-a-week plan for involving people in seeking the kingdom of God and fulfilling the Great Commission, not a one-day-a-week study period. Understanding this makes a Sunday School worker realize that he is not filling a position, but is part of a great strategy. When one reads John 10:10, Luke 14:23, 19:10, and 2 Peter 3:9 he sees that Jesus’ number one priority was outreach and evangelism. If outreach and evangelism was Jesus Christ's first priority; then the first priority of Sunday School, the largest ministry of the church, must be the same.
In seeking God’s direction for the Sunday School ministry, starting January 3rd I will be holding Sunday School worker’s leadership meetings the first Sunday evening and Wednesday evening of each month. I will be sharing overall vision, purpose, and direction for the Sunday School ministry for ABC. Though this is designed for the adult workers, anyone may and is invited to attend. The Sunday and Wednesday meetings will be same each month so you may choose either Sunday evening 5:30-6:30 in the choir room or Wednesday evening 6:30-7:30 in room 209.
Minister of Education
I recall a Sunday morning many years ago, standing before my Sunday School class and noticing a couple in the back I did not recognize. I greeted them warmly and welcomed them as first-time visitors. Big mistake! They had been attending my class for four weeks! How had I missed them before? Could it be that were lost in the sea of the faces in that group? Could it be that no one else had noticed them either? Could it be that were a closed group, a "clique"? The answer to all of these questions is - Yes! Amazingly and thankfully they had continued to come over those weeks despite our neglect!
As a teacher who was extremely passionate about Sunday school ministry and people, this mishap shook me to the core. I couldn’t understand how we had failed. We were great at Bible study and praying for each other. We had weathered many storms together and met needs as they arose among our members. Fellowship was no problem – we knew each other's lives inside and out. We swapped stories often about our long history of memories throughout the years. We had been together a long time…That was the problem! The veil was removed from my eyes at that moment! We were wrapped up in ourselves. We were not reaching new people, we were ignoring them.
God then placed Dan Cook in my life who was the new Minister of Education at my church. He became, and still is today, my dear friend and mentor. He instilled in me the importance of Sunday School being outreach oriented. I took what I learned from him and spent the next months teaching my group the importance of being an outward focused New Testament body. We committed to become an evangelistic Sunday school class. We plunged into outreach in a way we had never known it before. And I mean we plunged! We went out together sharing the gospel and our testimonies with every prospect that we could find. We loved new people like they were family (because we truly wanted them to be). We began to show Christ’s love to prospects, follow up effectively with them, and to share the gospel with them. We discovered the effectiveness of assimilating people into the church, ministering to their needs, and discipling them. We wrapped our arms around them and loved them into God’s family – and it worked!
I cannot find adequate words to write the full results of this transformation. God ignited a fire in the hearts of that original group as they saw how He was using them to bring people to Himself, as they extended themselves in service to reach people for Christ and then disciple those new believers to do the same. Dozens accepted Christ because God’s people opened their hearts and put feet to the Great Commission to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20).
I could hardly believe what I saw God doing in that place! I wanted to tell every church in the world what could happen through the Sunday school ministry. Not only did I love seeing what God was doing, He called me to devote the rest of my life to teaching people how to transform Sunday School into the “front door” of the church. As your Minister of Adult Education, my passion is teaching people to Gather, Grow, and Go through Sunday school.
Ask most people the purpose of Sunday School, or what they are trying to achieve in Sunday School, and they are likely to respond with answers similar to these: “Teach the Bible,” “Help people know more about the Bible,” or “Build up the fellowship of our members.” While these are all good things and they need to occur in Sunday School, they do not reveal the purpose of Sunday School, why it exists, or what it needs to accomplish.
Then what is the purpose of Sunday School? Sunday School is the foundational strategy in a local church for leading people to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and for building on-mission Christians utilizing small and open groups focused on building relationships with the unchurched and assimilating them into the small group where they can find compassion, hope, and a personal relationship with Christ. Sunday School is a strategy. It is a plan – a way for the church to do the work of the Great Commission.
When a church sees Sunday School as a strategy and not just an organization or program, Sunday School becomes a seven-day-a-week plan for involving people in seeking the kingdom of God and fulfilling the Great Commission, not a one-day-a-week study period. Understanding this makes a Sunday School worker realize that he is not filling a position, but is part of a great strategy. When one reads John 10:10, Luke 14:23, 19:10, and 2 Peter 3:9 he sees that Jesus’ number one priority was outreach and evangelism. If outreach and evangelism was Jesus Christ's first priority; then the first priority of Sunday School, the largest ministry of the church, must be the same.
In seeking God’s direction for the Sunday School ministry, starting January 3rd I will be holding Sunday School worker’s leadership meetings the first Sunday evening and Wednesday evening of each month. I will be sharing overall vision, purpose, and direction for the Sunday School ministry for ABC. Though this is designed for the adult workers, anyone may and is invited to attend. The Sunday and Wednesday meetings will be same each month so you may choose either Sunday evening 5:30-6:30 in the choir room or Wednesday evening 6:30-7:30 in room 209.
Friday, November 30, 2007
An Anthem of Thanksgiving
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The first half of 2006 was atrocious. It was without question the most miserable six months of my life. For the sake of time let me briefly summarize the January-July, 2006: the end of a three year dating relationship; massive financial crisis (month to month); home heating unit went out; got a severe stomach illness (I literally and honestly thought I was going to die); seminary classes were significantly more demanding than previous semesters; ministry responsibilities were mounting exponentially; major crisis concerning my dad; another failed dating relationship; and increasing job anxiety (working as a mortgage broker at the time). This is not a complete listing of all the “bad” I underwent. Just trust me when I say that it was awful and I do not want to go through anything like that ever again…or do I?
Throughout those infamous six months, I held on to one thing. It was the only thing that I could hold on to—the only thing that gave me hope. My Father is the Sovereign Lord and He loves me. This isn’t just preacher talk or Christianese rhetoric. Rather, it is the reality that inspires the downtrodden and broken hearted to ascend high above earthly trouble and worry. It is because of this truth that I could Amen the words of the psalmist: “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living” (Ps 27:13).
My Heavenly Father directs everything concerning my life. The Book of Ecclesiastes says, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (3:1), and “He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time” (3:11). In other words, God not only ordains the “good” times in my life, but also the “bad.” In fact, those so called bad times, are beautiful in God’s eyes. Those times are beautiful because God uses them to perform a work of spiritual art—to mature me into conformity with Christ. This is a grand promise! My God, who is faithful, has promised to complete the work that He began in me (Phil. 1:6). I have a guarantee that “the LORD will accomplish what concerns me” (Ps 138:8).
The story of 2006 does not end with six wretched months. Listen to this! In August 2006, God blessed me with a roommate to help with my financial crisis. That same month a local church lost their pastor and asked me to fill their pulpit for two months. This was a huge deal because it helped me financially and more importantly confirmed my calling to preach God’s Word. In September 2006, Apex Baptist Church brought me on staff as Minister of College & Singles giving me the opportunity to devote myself to the ministry, as well as financial security (for the first time in years). Then God added a cherry on top. I started dating Jamie, now my mega pretty and godly wife.
But the story is still not over. On July 21, 2007 I was blessed with the honor of baptizing Jamie at Jordan Lake (she grew up Methodist). The next night (July 22) I was ordained as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ by Apex Baptist. Six days later (July 28), Jamie and I were married. Two weeks after that (August 11), I had the privilege of officiating my first wedding—the wedding of the friend God had blessed me with as a roommate during my time of need in 2006.
This story is an anthem of thanksgiving to God. I am so grateful to God for the past year. I knew all along in 2006 that the Lord would bring me out of the “bad” season and into one that was “good.” The irony is that looking back the bad season wasn’t so bad. Sure it hurt at the time, but had it not been for that time I would not have experienced the Lord’s faithfulness and love in the way that I did. Here is the crazy thing…I am equally thankful for the six months of trial in 2006 as I am for the overwhelming blessings since.
All of us are either just coming out of a bad season, in the midst of a bad season or about to go into a bad season. This is an inescapable fact. That being the case we must ask ourselves how we are going to interpret those events in our lives. I pray that we will always filter those not so good times through the gospel. The same power that raised Christ from the grave is at work in us to strengthen us during such times. It is Christ who compels us to respond to bad seasons with an anthem of thanksgiving: “I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving” (Ps 69:30).
The first half of 2006 was atrocious. It was without question the most miserable six months of my life. For the sake of time let me briefly summarize the January-July, 2006: the end of a three year dating relationship; massive financial crisis (month to month); home heating unit went out; got a severe stomach illness (I literally and honestly thought I was going to die); seminary classes were significantly more demanding than previous semesters; ministry responsibilities were mounting exponentially; major crisis concerning my dad; another failed dating relationship; and increasing job anxiety (working as a mortgage broker at the time). This is not a complete listing of all the “bad” I underwent. Just trust me when I say that it was awful and I do not want to go through anything like that ever again…or do I?Throughout those infamous six months, I held on to one thing. It was the only thing that I could hold on to—the only thing that gave me hope. My Father is the Sovereign Lord and He loves me. This isn’t just preacher talk or Christianese rhetoric. Rather, it is the reality that inspires the downtrodden and broken hearted to ascend high above earthly trouble and worry. It is because of this truth that I could Amen the words of the psalmist: “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living” (Ps 27:13).
My Heavenly Father directs everything concerning my life. The Book of Ecclesiastes says, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (3:1), and “He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time” (3:11). In other words, God not only ordains the “good” times in my life, but also the “bad.” In fact, those so called bad times, are beautiful in God’s eyes. Those times are beautiful because God uses them to perform a work of spiritual art—to mature me into conformity with Christ. This is a grand promise! My God, who is faithful, has promised to complete the work that He began in me (Phil. 1:6). I have a guarantee that “the LORD will accomplish what concerns me” (Ps 138:8).
The story of 2006 does not end with six wretched months. Listen to this! In August 2006, God blessed me with a roommate to help with my financial crisis. That same month a local church lost their pastor and asked me to fill their pulpit for two months. This was a huge deal because it helped me financially and more importantly confirmed my calling to preach God’s Word. In September 2006, Apex Baptist Church brought me on staff as Minister of College & Singles giving me the opportunity to devote myself to the ministry, as well as financial security (for the first time in years). Then God added a cherry on top. I started dating Jamie, now my mega pretty and godly wife.
But the story is still not over. On July 21, 2007 I was blessed with the honor of baptizing Jamie at Jordan Lake (she grew up Methodist). The next night (July 22) I was ordained as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ by Apex Baptist. Six days later (July 28), Jamie and I were married. Two weeks after that (August 11), I had the privilege of officiating my first wedding—the wedding of the friend God had blessed me with as a roommate during my time of need in 2006.
This story is an anthem of thanksgiving to God. I am so grateful to God for the past year. I knew all along in 2006 that the Lord would bring me out of the “bad” season and into one that was “good.” The irony is that looking back the bad season wasn’t so bad. Sure it hurt at the time, but had it not been for that time I would not have experienced the Lord’s faithfulness and love in the way that I did. Here is the crazy thing…I am equally thankful for the six months of trial in 2006 as I am for the overwhelming blessings since.
All of us are either just coming out of a bad season, in the midst of a bad season or about to go into a bad season. This is an inescapable fact. That being the case we must ask ourselves how we are going to interpret those events in our lives. I pray that we will always filter those not so good times through the gospel. The same power that raised Christ from the grave is at work in us to strengthen us during such times. It is Christ who compels us to respond to bad seasons with an anthem of thanksgiving: “I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving” (Ps 69:30).
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
I HOPE MY CHURCH DOESN’T LOOK LIKE MY YARD.
Matt Rice
Minister of Church Plant
mattrice@apexbaptist.org
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My yard looks terrible. It took a severe beating this summer due to the lack of rain. I have never been one to water – it is too expensive. I basically do enough not to have the neighbors mad at me. I am used to my lawn turning brown and crunchy by early July. But this year, in addition to my crunchy grass, I lost several bushes. You see, in order for your yard to survive it must have enough sunlight, water, soil, and air. All four of these elements are vital to the survival of your yard.
As I sit and think about “planting” a church in NW Cary, I have learned some early lessons about what I don’t want the church to look like – my yard. I have not cared for my yard nor provided the balance of the four elements needed for it to thrive. Therefore, I have a yard with weeds who masquerade themselves as grass and bushes (I have some left) struggling to make it.
The four elements necessary for a plant to survive are equally applicable to a church plant. First, the church needs light. In I John 1:5, John proclaims, “God is light.” Jesus said in John 8:15, “I am the light of the world.” Light provides growth to a plant. If this church will grow it will be because of Christ – nothing else and nothing more.
Second, for a plant to grow there is a need for water. In John 4:13 we find that Jesus provides water unrivaled for the believer and the church. This water satisfies and is eternal. The church must “tap” into this water to avoid becoming brown, crunchy, and thirsty like my yard.
Next, there is the issue of soil. Vital to the growth of a plant is the foundation it has. My kids know from the song, “The wise man built his house upon the Rock….. and the house stood firm.” Another song proclaims, “You (Jesus) are the air I breathe.” Air and soil are critical elements needed for a plant to survive. The church must breathe the air of Christ as she is planted on the Rock (Christ).
I do not want my church to look like my yard. I also don’t want my life to resemble my yard. What does your life look like? Is it brown, crunchy, and thirsty? I encourage you to open your eyes to the light of Jesus, drink from the tap Jesus offers you, fix yourself on the Rock who is Jesus, and breathe the air He allows you to breathe.
“”Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8
I want my church (and my life) to look like this verse…..not my yard.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
PRAYER - FIRST OF ALL
Peter Dubbelman
Minister of Administration
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Paul urged that “first of all, requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone,” a theme that dominated his life and letters. Resultantly, those in Colossae were told “to devote themselves to prayer,” the Thessalonians needed to “pray constantly” and Paul relentlessly prayed for those who received his letters. Naturally, the Church’s greatest theologian and church planter should have this perspective, for prayer is the primary way to penetrate human or satanic obstacles, an integral part of missions, a link to God’s blessings, and the portal into the Lord’s vastness. It is powerful and effective; a vital component to penetrating the barrier of anyone’s darkened heart, and something that should therefore be done as a first priority!
A mother may be hindered from conversing with her daughter, because she has “closed” her ears; but through prayer, this mom can still be a fundamental part of God reaching her daughter. Similarly, an employee may not be able to witness at work, but every co-worker’s heart can be challenged via prayer. Martin Luther, who said, "I have so much work to do today that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer," had Paul’s same perspective on the preeminence of prayer.
Philip's translation of 1 Cor 12:22-24 depicts the body of Christ as follows: “The parts which do not look beautiful have a deeper beauty in the work they do, while the parts which look beautiful may not be at all essential to life? But God has harmonized the whole body by giving importance of function to the parts which lack apparent importance.” To the undiscerning, prayer appears to be both unbeautiful and unimportant, but it is not a task of endurance but a privilege of partaking in God’s divine nature and plans; an indispensable gift, essential to the vitality and advancement of the Church. John Knox of Scotland was known as a person given to prayer. In fact, Queen Mary of England stated that she feared his prayers more than all the armies of Europe. One night while John and others were in prayer for Scotland, he stated that deliverance had come to his county. He could not tell what happened, but he knew something had occurred. John later learned that during that very prayer session, Queen Mary died. May we, as Jesus’ followers, grasp prayer’s importance so that like our Lord we may pray, first of all.
Terry and Matthew Bradham, along with others, have played an integral part in establishing an active prayer room in our church. You don’t need to come into this space to pray; however, in it you’ll find daily, weekly, and monthly prayer requests and an atmosphere conducive to prayer.
A mother may be hindered from conversing with her daughter, because she has “closed” her ears; but through prayer, this mom can still be a fundamental part of God reaching her daughter. Similarly, an employee may not be able to witness at work, but every co-worker’s heart can be challenged via prayer. Martin Luther, who said, "I have so much work to do today that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer," had Paul’s same perspective on the preeminence of prayer.
Philip's translation of 1 Cor 12:22-24 depicts the body of Christ as follows: “The parts which do not look beautiful have a deeper beauty in the work they do, while the parts which look beautiful may not be at all essential to life? But God has harmonized the whole body by giving importance of function to the parts which lack apparent importance.” To the undiscerning, prayer appears to be both unbeautiful and unimportant, but it is not a task of endurance but a privilege of partaking in God’s divine nature and plans; an indispensable gift, essential to the vitality and advancement of the Church. John Knox of Scotland was known as a person given to prayer. In fact, Queen Mary of England stated that she feared his prayers more than all the armies of Europe. One night while John and others were in prayer for Scotland, he stated that deliverance had come to his county. He could not tell what happened, but he knew something had occurred. John later learned that during that very prayer session, Queen Mary died. May we, as Jesus’ followers, grasp prayer’s importance so that like our Lord we may pray, first of all.
Terry and Matthew Bradham, along with others, have played an integral part in establishing an active prayer room in our church. You don’t need to come into this space to pray; however, in it you’ll find daily, weekly, and monthly prayer requests and an atmosphere conducive to prayer.
If you’d like to take a 30 minute prayer shift in this room, please contact Terry Bradham For a look at the open prayer slots click here.
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