The New Church

Building a New Church

John 13:34-35 (ESV) “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this, all people will know that you are my disciples if you have a love for one another.”

When Jesus gave this commandment to his disciples he was doing more than just giving them another instruction to follow; he was giving them the foundation of his ministry and the foundation on which to build the church. Now, in these troubled times, it is more important than ever for the church to return to these roots. How can our leaders talk about the importance of the lives of the unborn and in the same time talk about going to war?

Every day people are killing people; kids are starving prisons are overcrowded, churches close and the rich get richer. I read something on Facebook just a couple days ago that kind of put some perspective on the current state of affairs in our nation.

“Imagine it's noon and you start reading a book using only the light of the sun. As it gets later, it naturally gets darker, but somehow your eyes adjust to the darkness without you even noticing.  Now imagine when someone else walks into the room, sees the darkness and turns on a light. When this has happened to me, I wonder how did I not notice the darkness, and activate the light. We are living in a world that is growing darker and darker every single day. Someone....ANYONE needs to show this world THE LIGHT.

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 (NIV)” (Getter 2016)

  

Part 1: The Home Church

So how do we overcome this and strengthen the church? Paul began laying out a plan that would build up the church and can help us today. The Home Church is the key to church growth and strength.

    In Acts 20:17-20 (NIV) it says “17 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. 18 When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. 20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.”

The Foundations of Religious and moral value need to start at home and spread outward. The Lord said where two or three are gathered in His Name, He is present (Matthew 18:20). This home church also enforces that the church is not a building but the people. When we open our homes to the community, we also open our hearts to them.  From the home churches, we can build community churches where several home churches come together every once in a while to share and fellowship.

Part 2 Discipleship

Matthew 28: 18-20(NIV) “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The church starts at home but it cannot stay at home if there is to be growth.  The best way to grow is through discipleship. It is our commission given down from Christ to make disciples and send them out to build the church.

Paul said to Timothy in 2Timothy 2:1- 2(NIV) “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”

One generation must train the next, building them up in Biblical knowledge, passion for the Lord, and Moral fortitude. The home church is not meant to be a replacement to the current churches but an alternative to it for those who feel uncomfortable with the large churches for any reason.

Conclusion

This plan is not another small groups plan. The home churches do not belong to a larger church they are churches. The plan is not for them to grow into bigger churches if a home church starts to get to big then it is not using discipleship correctly.

References

Getter, Melissa. 2016. “Light of Jesus.” Facebook. July 8. https://www.facebook.com/TheGetters?fref=nf&pnref=story.

Ignited Online Daily Devotional

The Providence of God

I recently returned from a trip to visit my daughter and then to visit my hometown of Dayton Ohio. I got to see a childhood friend that I have not had contact with for almost forty years. The two of us had gone our entire lives without contact with each other but when we saw each other he is a man I would still call my best friend. As we talked, I realized that there were many times in our lives that we both face the same choices but chose different paths. Out of high school, I was given the opportunity to go to college and study drafting, but I chose a different route.  There were times in my life when I walked with God and time when I walked away from God.  There are many people in my life who would never have believed that I would end up the servant of God I am today, and one of those was me. Thankfully one of those persons was not God. Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NIV) says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.”

That plan God has always had for me has brought me back to my childhood friend and shown me the providence of God’s plan because now after 40 years of being apart God kept us together as he is now also in the ministry, and God has me in a place where I am able to help him with his ministry when it really needs my help.

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Statement of Faith

I believe there is one God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.   The Father is the creator of the heaven and the earth. The Son, Jesus Christ is everlasting and eternal, fully God and fully man. The Holy Spirit is sent by the Son and the Father to guide me and comfort me. The Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one.

I believe that Jesus Christ became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made human. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried. The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

I understand that Jesus left us with a new commandment which should be a guiding force in our lives; John 13:34 (NIV) “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” God is Love 1 John 4:8 (NIV) “Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love.”

I believe that we are commissioned by Jesus and led by the Holy Spirit to Go and teach all nations, we must baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: we are required to teach them to observe all things. (Matthew 28: 19-20 NIV)

I believe that just as miracles happened during the time of the New Testament, so they still do today.

I believe that the Bible is the Living Word of God. “All Scripture is God- breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV)

During the development of my creed, I did some real exploration of my life and my faith. This doctrine is based on clear biblical principle and also explains my faith in a way that is easily understood by anyone who should read it.  Not only does it cover what I believe it shows the biblical sources for how I came to these truths. This creed does not end with just a statement of faith it also tells what to do with this faith and how we should live out our faith. 

The acknowledgement of the triune nature of God is recognized along with the importance of all three persons of the Trinity. We should never give more value to any one person of the Trinity as together that are all one God with equal value and power in all three persons.

Holy Spirit

Acts 2:17 (NIV) “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”

            Several years ago when I found my way back to God it was in a very different way than I had experienced before in my life. When I walked with God in my younger days, my journey was shown to me in visions of the futures. The Holy Spirit would show me what I did do next, and I would do it. It was simple, and I knew what God wanted me to do, and I did it.

I left the path God had for me for a very long time and went through many changes in my life. I came to a point in my life where I had to reach a point where I felt that I had lost everything and had nothing to live for. I was in my forties and hardened by the turmoils of life. It was then that I felt God drawing me closer to him again.

As I grew stronger in my faith, the Holy Spirit begin to Give me wisdom and to show me, in my dreams how to help and guide others. It is often said that the Holy Spirit is the most neglected person of the Trinity. I feel that He is the Person of the Trinity that we rely on most in our everyday walk as Christians.

I AM

In John 8:56-58 (NIV), Jesus says “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” This is a reference to Exodus 3:14 when God the father says “I AM WHO I AM.”

We often think of Jesus in the terms of his earthly existence and not his eternal life. It would be easy for us to think of him as just a good man. He was a man born to a mother named Mary and he grew up the son of a carpenter, I am sure that as a young boy he learned the skills taught to him by Joseph, and he may have been one of the brightest young carpenters in his town.

Jesus had friends, brothers, and cousins. He went to weddings and celebrated holidays with his family.  I’m sure he did a lot more stuff that is talked about in the Bible, in John 21:25 it says just that. I can picture him putting his carpenter skills to use helping and old man fix a leak in his roof while he shared the message of salvation and love.  On the merit of his actions alone, it would be fair to say that he was a great man.

When we go beyond the deeds that could have been performed by any ordinary man and begin to look for his wisdom and the miracles he performed that we start to see the divine nature of Jesus. It is this fully God divine nature of Jesus that testifies to his eternal existence.