Evangelism

Survey saids... the most popular reason for not evangelizing is not because we feel lacking Bible knowledge or feel ill equipped but because most of us feel that our lives are not a good witness.

Stott sees evangelism as the outreach that balances the church's interior life of study, fellowship, sharing and worship. Three things are noted:
1) only Jesus can open the eyes and ears of one's heart
2) salvation and church membership go together
3) evangelism is a daily task

Personally, I am greatly relieved and that it is the Lord who does the work of witness. And that he can use even an imperfect vessel like me. As members of the body of Christ, we are instruments of the perfecting work of Jesus... encouraging and correcting one another. So, let us walk daily, looking for opportunities to be used by God.

The Marks of a Living Church

There's a saying, "if you find a perfect church, don't join it, because you'll ruin it." No perfect churches exist in the world, not even during the apostolic period. The church is composed of sinners, so it would be illogical to expect perfection of any kind. Rather a church should be a place where sinners are able to learn about Jesus Christ and yes even make mistakes and forgiven and loved -- where the gospel message is being living out. In today's reading Stott points out the four marks of a living church. I suppose we should ask whether our church at ODM is characterized by them: biblical teaching, caring fellowship, humble worship, and compasionate outreach to the world. Well, is it?

Now it's easy to criticize and say what is wrong with our church or some other churches. The hard thing to do is to ask whether our paticipation in the life of the church helps to strengthen the church or whether we weaken it. Are we a giver or a taker? Do we like to serve or be served? Is our presence encouraging or discouraging others? Does our presence elevate or weaken people's desire to live godly lives? Apply these questions to the four marks of a living church and we'll know where we are!

I for one am very encouraged by the humble leadership in our church body. We are not perfect but we have good people who are committed to the work of the Lord. And I'm very thankful that I have had the privilege of serving the Lord with you. Yet like many of you, I'm not satisified with where we are and by God's grace we all need to push ahead to be better servants of the Lord's work for Christ's sake.

Posted by Pastor James

Worship

In the reading, it touches on two aspects of worship and that is the joy in worshiping and the worship that exist in our formal/informal settings. In the scripture for this reading, the first word that processed in my head was the word "devoted". When defining the word "devotion", I related that word to words like "affectionate" and "selfless". These synonyms can't function or apply alone, but requires other bodies to complete it's meaning. I agree that worship in Church is as important and ought to happen as much outside of Church on Sundays as well. Breaking off into smaller groups and sharing allows us to engage with one another as that group, or body. As people relate and encourage one another, I feel the worship occurs when we devote ourselves to God through that body. Now from an intimate setting to a bigger body, we can come to Sunday worship with prepared hearts and attitude. For example, a football team during the weekdays train/focus in smaller groups. Offense and defense are coordinated by coaches of that section of the team. Once the weekend comes, they come together as one team to fight for that victory every week. Throughout the season, the individual players work hard on the different areas of their weaknesses, but not alone because the team and its organization is there to support each individual to become that stronger body. We on the other hand are guaranteed that victory in the end promised by God. (1 Cor 15:57 "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.") Because of this truth, it is a no brainer that we should come feeling outbursts of joy every Sunday morning when we worship. I know that if I surrender myself and place my pure utter dependency on Him, victory will always follow my footsteps into the endzone. Just like how those athletes celebrate with a touchdown dance, or putting up their hands, I feel I should be compelled to respond as well having felt victory and celebrate with joy through the act of worship. I'll have to think of a victory dance now. Perhaps, everybody should have one now that softball seasons coming up... hehe. I thought it was amusing that the reading mentioned how worship can be easily mistaken for a funeral service. Those football games on Super Bowl Sunday I'm sure won't have a single seat with somebody standing like a zombie falling asleep, because of their passion, love, and devotion to/for the game. Just like how its mentioned in the reading, if we came on Sundays with wonder and humility, that defines what we call worship. I believe if we can continue to come together as a body, formally and informally with exuberant joy, we would also have a better understanding of the word that we take on and proclaim in our everyday lives, known as "devotion".

Study

I'm reminded once again that the authentic and true church must be firmly founded in the word. Like the new converts in Acts 2, we too must devote ourselves to the Apostle's teaching which is conveniently written out for us in a book called New Testament. Everything else like a awesome praise band, cozy cafe, many fun and intriguing activities must come after. It's sad to say, but many churches have given into the selfish desires of men and made the teaching of the word to be the last priority. Let's make sure that our church does not fall into the temptation of pleasing men but instead be in the business of pleasing God.

Sharing

All Things Considered, March 20, 2008 · Does money buy happiness? Researchers and bar-goers alike have long debated this slippery question.
The verdict is far from clear. Studies show that money does make people happier, but only up to a point. Beyond a certain level, additional income yields hardly any additional happiness. The United States, for instance, is four times wealthier than it was in 1950 yet Americans report being no happier than they were half a century ago.
A new study, published today in the journal Science, suggests that what matters most is not how much money we have but, rather, what we do with it. Spending money on others, it shows, can boost our own happiness.
The researchers first asked a group of college students how happy they were. They then gave the participants money — either $5 or $20. Half were told to spend the money on themselves. The others were told to spend it on others, such as giving a gift to a friend or making a charitable donation. That evening, the researchers again asked the students to gauge their happiness.
It turns out that the participants who spent money on others reported a much greater happiness boost than the ones who spent money on themselves. And, surprisingly, the amount of money the students were given didn't seem to matter at all. It was how they choose to spend it that determined their happiness levels.

Interesting research! Isn’t it?

I thought that we are more tending to share our goods, when we have our portion first. Like, what if some of the people need help right now? I guess they have to wait till I am ready to help, because I’m not happy with what I have now. That is how my thinking usually works. If I’m happy, I usually think I can make others happy. But that’s not research telling us it’s the other way around.

Fellowship

"If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another" 1John 1:7

Initially, it seems simple, I'd read it something like this: if we read the Word, do our best to live by it, we will have happy relations with God and with others in Him.

But then, why are there areas of broken fellowship - even among Christian brothers and sisters?  And what does it look like to "walk in the light"?

   

John Piper helps to dig deeper here (ooop, i cheated!)

Here's roughly what I gathered:

• Light - truth and God = Light, therefore God is the source of all that is true and walking in the light is the same as walking in truth and, ultimately, walking in God. 
• In God, there is no darkness: he knows all things and all is exposed; no hidden agenda, no small print
• To walk in the light is to have desires that align with those of God: It is the darkness that causes us to desire things that are not good for us.
• note "WALK" - it is a process, a way of life rather than a moment
• in order to have fellowship, both parties must walk in the light

John 3:10 says "the light has come in to the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil."  ..there is a willfulness to remaining in darkness.  So if there is any brokenness in fellowship, there must be some area where I am CHOOSING to remain in darkness, where I am controlled by the desires of the world rahter than desires for God...

    

Maybe, If we turn from the darkness and walk in the light, "selling [our] possessions and goods, [and giving] to anyone as he had need." would not be such a 'disturbing' idea.