Discipleship

Week of November 22, 2024

“Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” (Colossians 1:28, NKJV)

Christian discipleship is the process of following Jesus Christ in faith and learning to live according to His teaching and example. It involves a commitment to grow in spiritual maturity and to emulate the character of Jesus. The Apostle Paul said he would urge every person God placed in his life to come to a full experience of the person of Christ (Col. 1:29). He was not satisfied that people would become partially like Christ. He wanted the fruits of the Spirit to be expressed through their life.

We can mistake Christian activity with becoming like Christ, but Christian activity and Christ-likeness are not the same things.

Now, Christian activities should be an expression of our relationship with Christ. Encouraging someone to just attend Christian activities is not true discipleship. Our goal is to lead those around us who have come to faith in Christ to become fully devoted followers of Christ.

If God has put new Christians under your care, you have an obligation to minister to them until they have reached Christian maturity. Here are some steps you can take: live out your faith consistently, pray for them, invite them to study scripture, encourage them to take steps of faith, and be a mentor to them. God will be working in their heart.

God Bless, Pastor Rick

God Still Speaks Today

Week of November 15, 2024

29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30, NKJV)

Your life is a part of God’s grand design. Before the foundation of the world, God had you in mind. He had a plan for your life before you were born. God predetermined that you would become like His son so your life has a destiny. Every event He allows into your life is designed to make you more like Christ.

God’s call on your life is His invitation to join Him in the process. At a specific moment in history, God Almighty, personally invited you to become His child. For those who accept that call from that moment on God begins to unfold His specific plan for your life. The Bible says, “he that has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says...” God is speaking still today. Do you have your spiritual ears on?

God Bless, Pastor Rick

One Single Time Is Enough

Week of November 8, 2024

“Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” (Jonah 3: 1-2, NKJV)

          Jonah didn’t like the assignment God gave him. He was to get on a boat and head to Nineveh a place he was not interested in visiting. Jonah was to warn the people of God’s approaching judgment and to tell them to repent. Jonah fled in the opposite direction hoping to escape from God’s command.  God didn’t make a mistake the first time so He spoke to Jonah again. His second message was the same as the first. Though God did not speak to Jonah the second time until he had been in the belly of a great fish for 3 days and 3 nights. He was now ready to hear God speak.

          God also spoke to the prophet Jeremiah two times. “While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the Lord came to him a second time: 2 “This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is his name: 3 ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ “Jeremiah 33:1-3.  Jeremiah accepted God’s word to him the first time. He spoke to him the second time to give him additional enlightenment of what He had first told him.

          What God says to us next will depend on how we respond to His previous word to us. If like Jonah we disobey His earlier instructions God will give them to us a second time. If we obey His first instructions He will give us a fuller revelation of His will.

          If we are not receiving fuller, additional revelation from God then we need to return to the last thing God told us and examine our obedience. Hopefully we are like Jeremiah and we properly respond the first time.      

God Bless, Pastor Rick