West Main

I am sorry it took so long to get back to this thread . . . we have finally come out of the “Great Plague of 2015.” :)

 

 

When we last finished we were considering the place of the Holy Spirit in our ministries. Where is He in our works? How do we make sure our church is plugged into His power in EVERYTHING we do?

 

 

Have you ever asked yourself how important the Holy Spirit is to your personal faith and walk with Jesus? How important is THIS PRESENCE to you?

 

 

I have always been baffled by John 16:7, where it says, “But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the comforter won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.” Have you ever truly tried to digest this statement? It is mind boggling to me! Jesus is actually saying that it is BETTER FOR HIM TO LEAVE.

 

 

Where, in any situation would this make sense to us? I’ve never been in need of God’s leading or healing and thought, “Man, you know what would make this better? If Jesus would just leave...” :) My mind tends to think that nothing could be better than having Jesus in the flesh walking with me. But Jesus clearly says the opposite here ... “It’s way better for you if I leave.”

 

 

Why is this? It is because the presence of the Holy Spirit is THAT important! Do we really believe this? I think it is time we start wrapping our heads around this. Our ministries MUST have the Holy Spirit in them. Do we ever place that at the top of our importance lists? A ministry effort without the Holy Spirit is simply just a work of man. A ministry without the Holy Spirit will NEVER produce fruit.

 

 

WITHOUT AN ACTIVE THEOLOGY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT BEHIND OUR MINISTRY EFFORTS, WE ARE ONLY TEACHING BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION!

 

 

We should never be in this business. We should be in the business of redemption! God changes us from the inside out, and when we have HIM living inside of us, we want to change. We repent and turn our ways and walk towards a life filled with righteousness and redemption.

 

 

How do we do this together as a church family? I hope we can wrestle with this together. Next time we will look at two simple questions to help us start wrapping our minds around this concept. Until then, may the peace of God be with you.

 

– Pannell

 

 

 

 

TOO MODERN TO SEE THE GOSPEL

 

 

“It’s about time,” is a frequent expression. Another expression says, “Timing is everything.” We are often told to “be on time.” More negatively, we might say, “Time has passed us by,” or “We are out of time.”

 

 

This coming Sunday we will be looking at the relation of the aspects of time to the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Consider for instance Paul’s words in Ephesians: “And [God] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment – to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ” (Ephesians 1:9-10).

 

 

If “timing is everything,” then what are we to make of the timing of Christ’s coming to earth? How did time reach its “fulfillment” with the coming of Christ? I imagine if you asked most people what time period in history represents the fulfillment of time, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who would say, “The first century is when time reached its fulfillment!”

 

 

What difference would the coming of Christ make if he came in the 21^st century rather than the 1^st century? Over the years I have heard various Bible studies make reference to the Roman Empire’s extensive creation of roads in antiquity. Truly, the Roman Empire enabled the gospel message to travel to virtually the entire civilized world through a network of roads unparalleled up to that time in history. However, if the speed and extent of the gospel spreading is the key to the fullness of time, then perhaps should God have waited until the invention of cell phones and the world-wide-web?

 

 

When we consider the advances to date in science and technology, many I assume would consider our time to be fuller than the 1^st century! World historians generally mark the modern era (what some refer to as modernity) as the beginning of the fullness of time. The modern era is typically thought of as beginning in the 16^th century. The modern era is particularly marked by empirical investigation guided by science as the source of knowledge over the pre-modern era of faith and religion being the source of knowledge. The modern era can be seen as a step away from superstition and belief in gods to an understanding of physical reality and its physical causes and effects. We know much more about our world today than anyone living in the 1^st century could have imagined.   People who have walked on the moon would seem to be living in a fuller time than people who did not even enjoy light bulbs!

 

 

But how does God see time? Is history to be measured in physical explanations for our physical universe? Is time simply to be measured in technological advances? Paul declares that “all things in heaven and on earth” are brought together in unity “under one head, even Christ.” There is no greater accomplishment than unity in this universe. Not just unity on earth (seen) but unity in heaven (unseen). There is more to life than light bulbs and walking on the moon. God has accomplished the purposes of the Gospel for heaven and earth. The coming of Christ is ushering in a new age of the fullness of time! Whatever the gospel is, it is achieving a purpose far beyond our imaginations. The question is, “Are we too modern to see it?”

– Terry