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“We can only understand what we are shown. Ask God to show you...” Welcome... It is good to read the Bible and listen to teaching, but how much is this helping you to please God and to do his will? His will is that we reflect his goodness - that we are holy as he is. It is also that we share the message of Christ with others. How well are you doing? If your Church’s teaching is relevant and you are finding it natural to share God with those you meet, that is wonderful. However, if any of us are struggling with being fruitful, in terms of both becoming more like Christ and also sharing our faith, let us not become despondent. We need to encourage and learn from one another, and refocus on Christ as our source of strength and motivation. Let us ask God to show us, by His Spirit, how to live properly, and how to share our faith with different people. We must be open to being shown how to speak and act - both to one another and to those who don’t know God yet. We hope you find the comments below interesting. Please find some general links below, and then click through via the above links to the two sections: Teaching and Theology, and Evangelism and Mission. |
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Primary Objective: the Gospel The Church’s primary task on earth is to share the Gospel; the message of salvation through Christ. Before he is taken into Heaven, Jesus makes a clear command to his disciples to preach the Gospel to all people (Matthew 28:18-20). We are expected to share the Gospel with others - it is required. There is more about evangelism, including a featured article, in the evangelism section. However, at this point here we would like to make a connection with one of the the main purposes of this site. We should share the Gospel in both words and actions. We need to be shrewd, creative and natural in sharing God with our unbelieving friends and work colleagues. Above all, we should take opportunities to share God with people - actually telling them about our spiritual convictions and of our experiences of God in our lives. As well as this, we must conduct ourselves in a godly way. Treating people with respect and fairness is always noticed, and is usually seen as a positive thing, even if people do not comment on it. Some people have felt needs, for example, they are lonely, or perhaps they are poor. The rest of the site has comments and resources on how some of these problems can be met in practical ways. Out of love and obedience to God’s command (Leviticus 19:18, Luke 10:27), we must make an effort to care for those who are suffering where ever we can. We can also act practically to demonstrate this love. Two dynamics of love should meet together. We show love in both our practical actions and words of benevolence, and also through the act of sharing the message of the Gospel in plain words - directly. This need not be with any confrontation or fear. Many of us have a lot to learn about how to be natural in sharing our faith. Again, we hope the Evangelism section will provide some useful thoughts and links on this area. Unity, Prayer and Love in the Body As Christians we must be united. Where Churches agree on the fundamental aspects of faith - Christ as the bringer of salvation, and the Bible as his word of truth, then we need to be broad minded, I think, about networking and working together towards our common goal. If we pray together and are unified, we will see many more people come to know Christ. Also, the quality of our fellowship - the amount of love and support people receive through Church, will improve in a natural, automatic way. There are links in the Evangelism section to good Christian sites which specialise in encouraging unity and prayer across the body of the Church. Apart from the wider picture of the Church reaching out to those people who are currently without God, we also need to be united in a personal sense. This site aims to encourage and strengthen people in their spiritual and emotion selves. It also particularly aims to encourage Christians to be sensitive to those in spiritual and emotional need around them. This particularly includes fellow Christians. As Jesus teaches in Luke 10 (the parable of the good Samaritan), we should love one another. This goes beyond merely being friendly and courteous to people. Often we have to be patient in our conversation and engagement with people who may be quiet or seem a little unfriendly. Rather than not wanting friendship, the reality could be that someone’s confidence is being stifled by their hurt and brokeness within. Romans 15 (particularly verses 1-7), is useful in providing some teaching about the importance of love, encouragement and unity in the Body. We often do not notice people in need like this because we do not stop to think. Alternatively, it could be because we really do not care about others. This selfishness - an inherent negative condition which we all suffer from, has found its answer on the cross of Christ. As we are saved from our sin, we can and should break free from sinful attitudes and habits. It is a matter of obedience and action - to repent of our sin and selfishness and to deliberately start to show a real love and concern for brothers and sisters who are weak, or who have been through the fire of suffering. If this site can help you to learn how to be like this more, please use us, and perhaps contribute in some way. For example, you could write an article, testimony or letter about almost any subject you want (in keeping with our main themes!). Christian Isolation If you are in a Church where no one seems interested in you, and people are not able or willing to provide at least some support if you are experiencing a personal difficulty or crisis, then I want to say a few words to you. Do your best to look for another Church. Guard your heart, and do not expect too much from people. Put your hope in God, but also seek the Christian help you need (and professional help for that matter, if this is needed). It is essential that you should meet with other Christians in a meaningful way. It is also important to have deeper friendship with some Christians. If you know that there is no one that you can relate to in this way in your Church, then it is better to move on if you can. Some people may judge or criticise you for this, but do your best to explain to them your situation, and to keep in good relations with them. How ever you find it, and to what ever lengths you have to go to, you must find meaningful fellowship. If the quality of this is less than you would hope for, then something is certainly better than nothing, and you can pray for further provision. You must at least have some people who you can share with and pray with. Relating to this issue of fellowship, is the concept of Christians living together in a community of some type. Please see the “Lonely/Berieved” section for some comments about Christian communities, as well as the links section of that page. Leadership: responsibility and the bounds of Authority Authority has its limits. It seems that so many people that I have meet have had bad experiences of leaders or others in the Church hurting or disappointing them. Well, in one sense this should not be suprising, of course. We are all human, and our selfishness and pride so often gets in the way of us serving our brothers and sisters in the way that we should. However, leaders do have a specific responsibility upon them to act in a way which builds up the believers that they are leading. Some leaders love the power and influence that they hold, and use their position to protect themselves from their own insecurities. For example, if they feel they have been hurt or let down by someone in the church, they may forget the law of forgiveness (for it is a law in the sense that we must forgive to please God). They might gain revenge through sidelining the offending party in an over-the-top way; as if God himself were abandoning those Church members. We must not expect too much from our leaders - everyone has their faults. It is also important to think through or clarify with your Church the specific people who have pastoral responsibility. In a big Church, or even a smaller one, the main leader obviously cannot look after the pastoral needs of everyone. However, what should be present form leadership is a recognition that people do need looking after, and a willingness to both encourage pastoral friendship in the Church (that is, people looking out for one another’s spiritual and emotional needs), and to also practically act to make sure that this happens. If you are despondent about the “level of love” (!) that exists in your Church, try to be a part of changing the situation. Act as you think others should, and look out for anyone who you feel is marginalised or isolated in the Church. |
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