Category: The Church

The Reason Jesus Came

On By Ed AlgreenIn Effective Ministry, Reflective of Jesus Christ, The ChurchLeave a comment

Saturday, 2016-08-20

Scripture

Bible Reference: Mark 2:17

Bible Text: 17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take

The attention given to the unrighteous, reminds me of a friend who is attracted to the one who sits at the back of the church and may be feeling dejected. I am also made keenly aware of why our churches are not reaching many of the unsaved in our communities. Think about it, who do most of our church members hang around? Fellow Christians, right? What happens to a pastor or church leader who may be seen hanging around a questionable crowd? Jesus said that He came for those who know that they are sinners. Wouldn’t that be a bold statement for a church to acknowledge that they exist for the sake of the unsaved? Who generally devours most of your pastor’s time, the saved or the unsaved? Where do most of your budget dollars go – towards reaching the lost, or patting the backs of the saved and keeping them entertained? Will the unsaved feel welcomed at your worship services, or will they feel looked down on by the masses? Are you a part of a ministry that imitates the desire of Jesus, or are you ministering in opposition to the plan of Jesus? 

Prayer

Lord, may we Your children be willing to minister to those in need of a Savior more than we minister to those just like us. You came so that the lost might be saved and see the Kingdom of God. Please help us to keep that as our focus of ministry. I ask these things in the strong name of Jesus, AMEN!

Footnote

If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!

Biblical Qualities of a Growing Church

On By Ed AlgreenIn Church growth, The Church2 Comments

May I encourage you to get your spiritual ‘Nuggets’ to start your day off right? Pretty amazing that our awesome God would consider feeding even us with His Word! May I encourage you to read the whole devotional, and look for a blessing, friend!………

Today’s Bible Reference: Acts 2:42-47
Today’s Bible Text: 42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper*), and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity*—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
The Bible Translation: New Living Translation (NLT)

My Take Away: Without giving the appearance of being too repetitive, I wanted to highlight some of the things that made the very early church a very successful one. This is in hopes that we may see something that might help us to do the same today. Friends, let me say at the very outset that I am not referring to the BIG church down the road who seems to be flourishing already, or the small to medium church that seems to be catching the BIG church up pretty quickly. I’m talking about the church of our Almighty God, for I believe that it should always be our objective to see His church added to daily (evidence of the unsaved world being reached with the gospel). So here are some things worth taking note of:

  • Those that were saved, devoted themselves to the apostles’ teachings. What beautiful choice of words! Being ‘devoted to my wife’ means that I will do everything to be with her, listen to her, try to please her and will go with her even when a good football game is on or the fish are biting good! Therefore attending church, or Bible teaching, would have similar priorities to those things just mentioned, or as mentioned in Acts 2. There would be nothing with greater priority;
  • Fellowship – I believe that when these Acts 2 believers spent tIme together under the teaching of God’s Word, they learned some things that helped them really get along with each other, so they enjoyed times of fellowship together. I bet they learned to overlook one another’s faults, and also their individual peculiarities!!
  • Sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper) – The mention of ‘food’ will normally bring folk out to church, but what a challenge to get those same folk to join you for a Bible Study that follows, or the Lord’s Supper that may only occur once per month or quarter. Knowing that God sees the heart, I wonder what He must see as the ‘devotion’ of these folk?
  • Prayer – Similar to the last item, this is probably one of the least attended services at a church. Analyzing this from a human perspective, means that folk either struggle with talking to their Father, fellowshipping with other believers while they talk with their Father, or simply sees no importance in publicly talking with their Father with hopes that others might be encouraged or blessed to hear of your answered prayer. I wonder which!
  • Shared everything they had with those in need – In other scripture, God shows where the church was designed to handle this through tithes and gift giving, or through handing out food and clothing to those in need. Oh that we would be done with the excuses of assuming that the church abuses this privilege, therefore we will not give to the church as God directs. These folk sold everything they had so that others might be blessed. May I suggest that the giver was probably more blessed than the receiver?

You may be asking why God would have all this included in His Word for us. I believe that it was very intentional in mentioning that the church grew daily. Again, this refers to God’s church – regardless of what denomination tag may have been placed on it on earth. Friends, our churches are dying rapidly today, so may I encourage you to not worry about inviting the church growth division of your state to discuss and help you analyze your church problems, but rather look inside your own heart and see how well you are doing in the above items? God will add to His church when he sees people who are serious about Him. Let’s take care of these things personally, and I believe that God will take care of the rest!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, in appreciation for all that You have blessed us with, we want to recommit ourselves to the proven qualities of this early church. I believe that You placed things like this in Your Word so that we might be best equipped to help grow Your kingdom in and through the many churches that we are involved in. Please help us to cut through the church politics, and the conclusions we tend to jump to about how our churches are run, and just do our part, knowing that You will add to Your church daily when Your children follow Your prescription for church growth. Thank You oh Lord for loving us enough to point us in the right direction. May we now be obedient, so that Your work might be accomplished before it’s a day too late. For I ask these things in the precious name of Jesus, AMEN!

Footnote: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to http://www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!
2016

The Impact Our Life Has On God

On By Ed AlgreenIn The Church, WitnessLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Message – Revelation 3:15-17): “I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.

THOUGHTS: The church at Laodicea was one that appeared perfect to the world around them. They were a wealthy church, no doubt able to pay their bills and perhaps even help the poor. We have many churches like that today, and we thank God for their ability to chip in and help, especially when many of the smaller churches are struggling to make it financially. However, in these verses, it is clear that God was unhappy with this church at Laodicea, for it was so concentrated on its riches and good fortune that it’s people provided to the church, that they lost sight of who blessed them with such things as: salvation; healing; promises of a place called ‘heaven’; the Master of the universe who was with them ALWAYS; good health; a good mind and multiple other attributes that originate from God alone. In fact, there was every indication that the general membership may have felt that if God totally separated Himself from them, they would still be OK. But wait a moment, could we still have churches (people) that still act like this today? Do we still have ‘Laodicean’ churches in our towns even now? What are some of the indicators we must be careful of, or watchful for, so as not to make God sick to His stomach with our church? It was spelled out for us in this same scripture:

  • Bragging about what we have – let us never lose sight that whatever we are blessed with as a collective body of believers, it was provided by God, and for His ultimate glory. I believe that if we brag or boast about our riches, we tend to believe that we had something to do with us having it, and/or we are anxiously waiting to see how we might spend our riches in a way to personally receive maximum glory;
  • We lose sight of whose we are and from whence we came – God knows that in and of ourselves, we are as pitiful as a blind beggar, without clothes to cover our nakedness.

So unless we leave this devotional feeling like there is little hope, or that all ‘Godly’ churches can only be poor and needy, I want to remind you that ‘the church’ consists of individuals, so the change of heart must happen in our personal lives. Remember, God created us; He provides air for us to breathe every day; income opportunities for us; family and other believers to comfort and cheer us every day and a promise that even when all the joys of this earth are over, still He has prepared an even more glorious home for us to spend eternity with Him, where we might worship Him endlessly. Money can’t buy any of these things, so let us continually lift up our Lord and Savior who provides ultimate joy and happiness for us in this world and in His kingdom that will soon be our new home.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, what an eye opener this morning, for You have shown me how careful we must be to glorify You in all things. You may choose to bless us with riches, so that we may pass those riches on through helping others in need of a Savior, or so that we might clearly recognize Your awesome power and blessings through even us. Lord You are good and Your mercies endureth forever. Please help us to remain humble, and never attribute blessings to anything that might bring recognition or praise to us. You alone are our King and our Provider, we glory in all that You are and all that You do for us each day. Our ultimate goal is that we be found worthy in Your eyes, when You call us home to be with You. Use us for Your glory while we remain here. Be blessed in all that we say or do, is my humble prayer that I ask in the strong and everlasting name of Jesus, AMEN!

PLEASE NOTE: I will be out of town on a mission trip to be of service to our friends in Mexico during the week of July 19th. I will not be able to publish these devotionals during that time. Please pray that God might use His servants, our group of 30, so that His children in this foreign land might be encouraged and drawn to Him through our honest and sincere representation of our Savior. May God be glorified in all things through our witness! I expect to resume these devotionals on Monday, July 27th.

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, Sebring, FL! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!