The Church’s Marching Orders

Matthew 28:19

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Those who know me well – know that above most everything else – I would label myself an evangelical. As a Christian pastor – I believe that Jesus is Lord and that there is no other way to salvation except through Him. You could call me a John 14:6 kind of guy. In this passage Jesus tells us what is required to go to heaven. John 14:6 – Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Having said that – the passage for today has a lot of meaning. Today’s passage is part of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28 – Matthew 28:19 – Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

A number of pastors and church leaders as well as church members read my blog page each day. Our marching orders as pastors – as Christians – is The Great Commission. Because of the way some go about evangelism and the way that some have turned away from evangelism – in some circles – evangelism has become a dirty word. It is anything but!

His Only Son!

Romans 8:32

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Easter comes once a year – even if we should celebrate Easter every Sunday or even every day. Yet – we don’t have to limit our joy to that one day – do we? If your family is like mine – when we gather for Easter – for the family gathering – we usually end up talking about life and the blessings of that life. It is always a touching time – and watching our family age before our eyes – year after year. It brings a nostalgic note too. Listening to what the girls have shared over the years and now what the grandchildren will share has been and is a blessing. We are always thankful for the way God touches our lives and the joy we feel being together.

I’m the crier in the family (one daughter is starting to show my emotions as well). An example of my inability to hold back my tears can be seen in most any family gathering. I remember at a special birthday for my wife in recent years – as others were sharing – I tried to share my heart and the tears flowed. Tears will flow for most any reason from my eyes. I will shed tears when I watch It’s a Wonderful Life for the 200^th time – and even while watching certain episodes of The Andy Griffith Show – tears will flow.

Easter – 4th of July – Birthdays – Thanksgiving – Christmas – are all family time for our family – and we will gather once again – the Lord willing. Holidays and special days are especially hard for me now that mom and dad have gone to be with Jesus – along with my father & mother-in-law. Our parents loved the holidays and family times. We must keep making them special for ur children and grands.

Celebrating Easter Every Sunday

Romans 8:1

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

Easter has come and gone for another year. Churches were packed that Sunday from sunrise services through regular and extra worship services. Some of my colleagues had to hold Easter services off-sight for a variety of reasons. Some wanted to reach the unchurched and thought off-site might be the best way to do this.  Some would have had to hold so many services in their current facilities that it made sense to go off-site to a larger facility. Some for both reasons and maybe some others as well. I imagine that some saw larger crowds than they will see all year until Easter next year – April 20th.

If their attendance was anything like I have experienced over the years – although there were some visitors – like family visiting for the long holiday weekend – folks looking for a church or simply the C&E folks (Christmas and Easter) – mostly the higher attendance is a product of the regular folks all attending on the same Sunday. Sadly – studies show that regular for some means once or twice a month – something less than most every Sunday. When attendance on a regular Sunday is say 75 and on Easter it blossoms to 125 with only 10 visitors – that suggests that if your regulars were more regular – your normal attendance might be closer to 115 than 75.

As pastors we often ask the question – how can I reach the unchurched who attend on Easter? I would like to suggest – too late for this Easter but since they will be around some moving forward – we also ask the question – how can we excite the regulars to be more regular in cooperate worship? I’m not suggesting that those who see once or twice a month as regular worship are not sincere about their faith. For whatever the reason – and that is the key – other things take a priority over cooperate worship two to three Sundays a month. Why and what can the church do about that priority listing – if anything?  Shouldn’t the joy of our salvation – our relationship with Jesus – overcome even the toughest circumstances of life?

Growing Closer to Jesus

John 3:30

He must become greater; I must become less.

I cannot believe that we are ready to enter September – already. Football season is upon us. I learned a lot from football as a teenager.

It was in football – in High School – that I learned – that practice doesn’t make perfect – perfect practice makes perfect. Our football coach told us that – he used to say it often. It wasn’t going through the motions in practice that would make us a better football team – but rather it was doing things right – over and over again – that would make us better. Through perfect practice – we would soon be able to do the right things without even thinking about it. It would become natural and would flow from our actions and reactions.

Salvation is a free gift from God – for those who receive what Jesus did on the Cross of Calvary – who received Jesus as Lord and Savior. Ephesians 2:8 – For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—.

Once we have salvation – we are called to walk out our faith in such a way that God is glorified. Matthew 5:16 – In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. We are to let our light – the light of Christ in us – shine so that others see Jesus and give Him glory.

Jesus Is The Only Way to Heaven

Matthew 28:19

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Those who know me well – know that above all else – I would label myself an evangelical. As a Christian pastor – I believe that Jesus is Lord and that there is no other way to salvation except through Him. You could call me a John 14:6 kind of guy. In this passage Jesus tells us what is required to go to heaven. John 14:6 – Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Having said that – the passage for today has a lot of meaning. Today’s passage is part of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28 – Matthew 28:19 – Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

A number of pastors and church leaders as well as church members read my blog page each day. Our marching orders as pastors – as Christians – is The Great Commission. Because of the way some go about evangelism and the way that some have turned away from evangelism – in some circles evangelism has become a dirty word. It is anything but!

Reaching the lost for Christ is the calling of the church and the calling of every Christian. Too many today avoid this essential part of who we are called to be. They think that the church is being judgmental when we say you must have Jesus to get to heaven. Well – this is not the church saying this – it is Jesus Himself.