GETTING READY TO GROW
1 Tim. 4:15-16
A. The description in of the church in Laodicea is disheartening,
Rev. 3:15?19.
1. If That congregation was evangelist so that numerous people
were being baptized.
a. How long would most of those new converts have remained faithful?
(A) Its a tragedy that not many of the lost are being rescued
The greater tragedy
is the mortality rate of those who have already been rescued.
(1) Could it be, That the way some of the Lords own people
think and act make
It difficult to interest unbelievers in the Lord Keep those
who are new in the
faith.
(a) What needs to be done here before we can have real, enduring
growth?
(b) How do we get every member interested in reaching the lost
in Spur.
(2) How intimate is our daily walk with God? How involved are
you on a daily basis,
in the work God gave us to reach the lost in this community?
(1) Jno. 12:20-21, Certain Greeks...came to Philip, and
asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus. When
was the last time someone was so impressed by your Christianity
that they asked you to tell them about it?
(2) Shouldnt people see, in us the blessings of walking
with the Lord not simply the pride of knowing about the
Lord. You gotta live it yourself!.
(3) You cannot hire a preacher to do, in the community, what you
personally should be doing as an individual Christian.
(B) The work of an Evangelist is to Grow individual members of
a Congregation.
(1) Eph. 4:11?16, God gave some to be apostles, some to
be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastoring
teachers, (Why?) So that we can become grounded in the truth....15,
so we can learn to speak the truth in love, and in all things
grow up in Christ who is the Head of the Church. That says
that you have to grow and accept your responsibilities as a Christian.
` (a) Your Preacher cannot: Believe for you; Repent of your sins;
be baptized for you; do your praying because you dont have
time; Lords Supper, Sing praises to God; Raise your children
to be Godly; Be faithful to God; Live your Christian life for
you so your neighbor will be impressed by you; Make you study
so you can teach your neighbor how to be saved.
(1) I am not an Elder, therefore I am not going to do the work
of an elder for you and I am not going to assume the responsibilities
God has placed on you for you to be a Christian who is acceptable
to Him.
(2) You cannot hire a preacher to be your substitute to God and
expect him to have time to feed you anything Spiritually, except
pablum and weak watered down soup.
(2) We tell people the Lords church as a loving family who
support one another in the living of life together. That is the
New Testament example we are told to follow in Jno. 13:34-35.
(1) Does the reality of this congregational life fulfill the claims
we make about the closeness of the Lords family?
(2) In this busy age, the same thing can happen to our spiritual
family that is happening to our physical families: we are merely
living/worshiping under the same roof without any real
fellowship or sharing of life together.
b. Have we truly Restored New Testament Christianity, or are we
just going through a
lot of empty motion? Ratteling a lot of ecclestical machinery
while playing church?
(1) How many members of this congregation have been VERY sick
and you have not taken the time to visit, cook a meal, clean a
house?
(1) How many of you have supposedly been good friends with members
who have forsaken the assemblies for months and you have not made
repeated efforts to bring them back. Thats what were
commanded to do, Heb. 10:23?25.
(2) Young mothers soon realize that the reality of having baby
is often strikingly different from our idealized visions beforehand.
(1) The same is true of new converts. They present a host of problems.
(2) Often, those who are most receptive to the gospel are not
from our own socio?economic group and our prejudices cause us
to feel uncomfortable dealing with. Jesus speaks candidly about
this in, Matt. 9:11?13. God did not come to save just Educated
Sinners, Socially Acceptable Sinners, Financially Stable Sinners,
Ethically Suitable Sinners.
(3) Biggest problem in most congregations. Limited their evangelism
to well?scrubbed individuals who would fit right in
with little work on our part.
(4) Our attitude about new converts should be the same as Paul
in, 1 Thess 2:7?8.
(3) Perhaps that very lack of love for ALL the lost keeps us from
growing.
(4) Before becoming useful and effective in reaching the lost,
we may have to cleanse ourselves from things that
hinder us, as Paul told Timothy in 2 Tim. 2:21.
(1) There is work to be done setting our house in order for the
work of reaching the lost in Spur. 1 Tim 4:15?16, gives this counsel,
Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them,
so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine
closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both
yourself and your hearers.
(b) Acts 20:32.
Spur - 6/10/2001 am
|