Dear Family of God,
We’ve been studying the seven churches of Revelation Chapters 2 and 3 for the past seven weeks. It is obvious from the study that God expects far more of His church than most of us expect to give.
James Draper, former President of LifeWay Christian Resources, says it this way: “the kind of weekend Christianity we have would be unknown in the New Testament. It would be unknown in most of church history. The kind of people who died to get Scripture to us, people like Wycliff and Tyndale, wouldn’t recognize the kind of Christianity we have today. The big thing to me is that Jesus died so He could be ‘everything’ in our lives. To most of us, He’s become ‘something’ (but not everything). The idea that we have been put in the world to spread the Gospel is foreign (to us).”
Think about it: Is it too much to ask that God’s people attend Bible Study for an hour a Sunday prior to morning worship? Is it too much to ask that we give one night a week for twelve weeks to learn to share the Gospel and to go out to invite others to His church and to His salvation? Of course not.
For the God who gave His only Son to die for our sins, anything He asks is very little. And then, just to think, the ones who give the most of themselves in following the example of our Lord are the very ones who get the most enjoyment out of the Christian life.
Last night I visited one of the senior saints of First Baptist Church. She is 89 years old. While there, she gave me a Bible test sent to her by her Sunday school teacher. I remarked that I was surprised that she knew so much about the Bible. She said, “Of course, I read it every day. . .My Father taught us Bible verses when we were growing up. . .We were in Sunday School and worship every time we got an opportunity to go.” She went on to recite the twelve Apostles - and didn’t miss a one.
It was obvious her life was joyful. I asked Mrs. Grantham her favorite Bible verse. She replied, “Rejoice evermore.” I’d gone there to encourage her, but found she had encouraged me.
The point of this all? Get into a Bible Study class. If you are not presently enrolled in Sunday, you are welcome to join the Pastor’s Class in the sanctuary at 9:00 am. Teach your children the Word of God. Join in the upcoming semester of FAITH. And soon, you, too, will be rejoicing evermore.
Love in Christ,
Bill Patterson
Posted on
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
by Erica Sutphin