Words from the Pastor
I am not sure how many of you read the front of the bulletin (Or how many of you read any of the bulletin for that matter!), but as I was praying about and inserting a new scripture on the front page, I read this quote:
The church of Jesus Christ is to minister to people at the point of their need. It’s not a sacred society for snubbing sinners. It’s not a hotel for saints. It’s a hospital for sinners. It exists to help the hurting and aid the broken. Be the church God intends by inviting all people to know Christ and receiving them into fellowship when they express faith! Now even though I put the quote there, I am not sure where this quote came from or who wrote it, but I really do like it. We, you and I, are the church of Jesus Christ brothers and sister! We are His bride; we are His body! We represent Him on this earth. We are what people see when they think of a Christian. We are His ambassadors the Bible calls us. An ambassador represents something. Where ever the United States has an embassy in a foreign country, that land where that embassy is located on is considered sovereign land of the United States and the people that live and work in that embassy represent the United States, just like you and I represent the Kingdom of Heaven. In II Corinthians 5:20 Paul tells the church at Corinth this: “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christs behalf: Be reconciled to God.” We, as Christians are Christ’s ambassadors, as through God were making His appeal through us it says. If you read this passage of Scripture in context it is talking about Christ being made sin for us so that we could share eternal life with Him in Heaven. That is suppose to be our message to the world around us. That is what we are to share with people on a daily basis. We, as Christians, are to be sharing our faith with the lost and dying world around us. Verse 21 reads this way: “God made Him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” That really does thrill me brothers and sisters! That is what we, as true Christians, are supposed to be sharing with the world around us! We should be sharing our hope that we have in Jesus Christ with others as true ambassadors of Him.
“Okay preacher,” you may be saying, “how am I supposed to share my faith with people that don’t want anything to do with church or the Bible?” Well, we share our faith through our actions. We share our faith through our love for those that are hard to love. We become the body of Christ here on earth. We always must preach, and sometimes we even have to open our mouths. Father, help me to be Your ambassador.
Please let me know if you need anything. You pray for me and I’ll pray for you. Naomi and I love you all. -Pastor Steve