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Shelburne Free Press https://shelburnefreepress.ca/?p=10849 Export date: Sat Apr 20 11:36:50 2024 / +0000 GMT |
Crossroads Community ChurchSunday November 4th, 2012 This morning may have been damp but it did not put out our desire to Praise our Lord; worship was encouraging and comforting. Pastor Don offered the service in prayer, “Dear Heavenly Father we thank you for your grace and patience with us when so many times we stray from obeying your Word, teach and guide us to do what you ask us to do for your Name's sake and the benefit of others in Jesus we pray Amen…” “Today we will complete the series on “Spiritual Maturity”, let's recap; week one we learned about the natural man, the spiritual man and the carnal man, week two we explored what we need to grow mature and last week how do we become mature through trials. Today I will answer “Why do we need to become spiritually mature?” Think of a Hockey coach, his goal is to lead a team to win the Stanley Cup so he needs to assign different players in different positions in order to best attain the goal. Some players are good centers, left wings or right wings, others are great defensemen some are best at scoring goals, each player is gifted in a different capacity and the coach needs to appoint and organize the team in a way it will work best to ensure he will achieve the goal. God does the same with His Church, He has gifted each of us with different talents and abilities to accomplish His goal, (Ephesians 4:11-16). His ultimate goal is to present the church as radiant Bride for His Son and in order to do so we need to grow, we need to mature so we can glorify our Bridegroom and get ready for His return. God has appointed Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Teachers and Pastors to help us grow. Apostles are disciples who have learned the word of God and proclaim it. Prophets are spokespeople for God who bring specific messages from God to his people. Evangelists create passion and excitement for the word of God and make people aware of their need to be saved, then Pastors and Teachers continue what the Evangelists have started by teaching, caring for and spiritually feeding the flock of believers so that they in turn can accomplish the good works God has for them, (Ephesians 4:12). God's purpose for Pastors is for them to preach, teach, baptize new believers, serve communion, visit the sick, marry the young and bury the dead and training up new members. Unfortunately the expectations on a Pastor in this day are unrealistic and to the expense of their own family. 1Peter 2:9 says that we are all called to be a Royal Priesthood to build the Kingdom and Hebrews 10:24 says we are to spur each other on and Galatians 6:2 we are to carry each other's burdens. Here at Crossroads I feel blessed to see a God appointed team committed to each other out of love for Jesus and who want to spread the Gospel message by sharing the love of God. Everyone is a minister who is called to a specific need in the church and Scripture tells us to keep encouraging one another, (1Thessalonians 5:11). God wants us to be sensitive to the needs of widows and orphans and to help the needy in any tangible way we can, He wants us to give selflessly and to share with God's people, (James 1:27, 2;13-16, Romans 12:13). I once read “People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care”, caring for spiritual and emotional needs of one another, listening and being sensitive to each other, reaching out with love and understanding, helping in a non-judgemental way when someone is struggling spiritually by speaking the truth in love, all these things show our genuine love of God,(Galatians 6:1). Jesus said that the world would know that we belong to Him by our love, (John 13:34, 35). People will be drawn to Jesus when they see His love in action through His followers; they will believe those who walk the walk not just talk the talk. So this is why we need to mature so we are able to love and encourage one another when we gather together and humbly accept correction when needed. When we build each other up we will grow up and no longer be immature, we will speak the truth in love as the Holy Spirit leads us, (Ephesians 4:13-15). Beloved it isn't always easy to speak the truth but it needs to be done to protect each other from temptation that so easily entangles so to preserve the name of God, Everyone in the body needs to do their part. When we position ourselves in line with God's plan according to the gifts He has given, we will all benefit from them. May all churches come to be known as a humble loving and giving churches, that teaches and preaches the word of God all the while loving our neighbours as ourselves. Until we meet again, May the Lord God reveal himself to you and bless you with His love, Ashrey Shalom! To learn more visit www.shelburnecrossroadschurch.ca |
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Post date: 2014-11-26 17:38:08 Post date GMT: 2014-11-26 22:38:08 Post modified date: 2014-12-03 13:13:43 Post modified date GMT: 2014-12-03 18:13:43 |
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