The Apostle Paul wrote the following prophetic words that describe our day to His young son in the faith, Timothy. “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
We are living in perilous times. The Apostle prophetically wrote the headlines that we read in our newspapers today. The Church today must make a choice. Are we going to be a people who have a form of godliness and deny its power, or are we going to be a supernatural people? Our mandate is clear. Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. In Mark 16:15 – 18 - And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
The problem is that we have become a sub-culture within the greater culture. We have been called to impact the culture. In Acts 17 the Thessalonians referred to Paul and Silas as those “who turned the world upside down.” The question for us today is, “Are we going to socialize or evangelize?” Are we going to simply have social events with no purpose, or are we going to fulfill the great commission? Are we going to entertain the saints, or are we going to reach out to those who are lost and in need of Christ?
There is a harvest to reap. Jesus said in John 4:35 – “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” As I look around the Church today, my question is, “Where is the burden to reach those around us who are lost and without Christ?” Where is the passion to gather our God ordained harvest?
We measure success in the Church today by the size of budgets, the number of activities that we offer families, and the size of our congregations. We can build multi-million dollar facilities, but can we impact our city and the culture of our region? People shop for churches and ask what can you do for me? Our church programs are consumer driven to attract people.
The problem is that most of our church growth is transfer growth. People are drawn away from churches for a number of reasons. I believe the Church must examine everything we are doing, and ask the following questions:
1) How does this fulfill the Great Commission?
2) How does this help us equip people to share their faith and to live an overcoming life?
3) How does this reach the next generation and what are we doing to teach them to impact their world?
My question today is “are we going to socialize or evangelize? Do we exist to entertain the saints, or do we exist to equip the saints. The Apostle writes in Ephesians 4:11 – 13 - “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
The purpose of the Church is to equip people for the work of the ministry, and to become strong in the Lord and the power of His might. To enable the believer to experience God, establish a relationship with the Lord, and to become a witness for the Lord.
We are living in perilous times. The Apostle prophetically wrote the headlines that we read in our newspapers today. The Church today must make a choice. Are we going to be a people who have a form of godliness and deny its power, or are we going to be a supernatural people? Our mandate is clear. Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. In Mark 16:15 – 18 - And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
The problem is that we have become a sub-culture within the greater culture. We have been called to impact the culture. In Acts 17 the Thessalonians referred to Paul and Silas as those “who turned the world upside down.” The question for us today is, “Are we going to socialize or evangelize?” Are we going to simply have social events with no purpose, or are we going to fulfill the great commission? Are we going to entertain the saints, or are we going to reach out to those who are lost and in need of Christ?
There is a harvest to reap. Jesus said in John 4:35 – “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” As I look around the Church today, my question is, “Where is the burden to reach those around us who are lost and without Christ?” Where is the passion to gather our God ordained harvest?
We measure success in the Church today by the size of budgets, the number of activities that we offer families, and the size of our congregations. We can build multi-million dollar facilities, but can we impact our city and the culture of our region? People shop for churches and ask what can you do for me? Our church programs are consumer driven to attract people.
The problem is that most of our church growth is transfer growth. People are drawn away from churches for a number of reasons. I believe the Church must examine everything we are doing, and ask the following questions:
1) How does this fulfill the Great Commission?
2) How does this help us equip people to share their faith and to live an overcoming life?
3) How does this reach the next generation and what are we doing to teach them to impact their world?
My question today is “are we going to socialize or evangelize? Do we exist to entertain the saints, or do we exist to equip the saints. The Apostle writes in Ephesians 4:11 – 13 - “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
The purpose of the Church is to equip people for the work of the ministry, and to become strong in the Lord and the power of His might. To enable the believer to experience God, establish a relationship with the Lord, and to become a witness for the Lord.
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