Over the years I have watched as new people come to the Churches I’ve attended, and I rejoiced to see them there. Even though the Churches need people to support the ministries and outreaches, that’s not the reason I wanted them to join us. Yes, tithes and offerings are important to pay the bills and salaries but that’s not the reason for my joy. You see, people come to Church looking for answers and I realized they had come to the right place.
When the Church is being led by the HOLY SPIRIT there will be praise and worship that prepares our heart for the message. Praise and worship alone aren’t the answer, but they are an important part. Again, the preaching and teaching must be yielding to the HOLY SPIRIT for it to touch hearts and lives. Even the prayer service is an important part of getting the answers people need. Everything that precedes the call to repentance and prayer of repentance is setting the stage for the answer, but there is one critical part that makes it all work!
Sadly, I have also watched as people left the Church in the same broken condition as they came. Even when the praise and worship, preaching and prayer service and call to repentance has all been directed by the HOLY SPIRIT, broken people must respond and act. They must take that step of faith and repent of their sins and accept the LORD JESUS CHRIST as their personal Savior to be made new! That is when they pass from death to life and become a child of GOD! No matter what your beliefs or opinions are, JESUS said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6 KJV).
No, you don’t have to be in Church to get saved, the service doesn’t always have to be perfect, and there may not even have been a salvation message, but what better place than in GOD’s house with His people praying for you and cheering you on?
There have been other people who accepted JESUS and are saved but left because they were offended. I’m not sure why, but maybe they didn’t love GOD “with their all” or “love their neighbor as themselves” (Mat 22:37 and 39) and didn’t forgive the offender. I know GOD did His part and JESUS died for them. Pastor Bob said, “If you haven’t been hurt in Church, you haven’t been going long enough.” Paul said he wasn’t perfect but was pressing on (Phi 3:12) and most of us are in that imperfect category.
Even when people mess up or offend us, GOD told us we must love broken people like He did. He “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV) and like JESUS when he forgave them while hanging on the cross (Luke 23:34).
What is this love and how do we show it? “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Cor 13:4-7). If we do that, with GOD’s help, we can minister to those other broken people and ourselves.
Wayne Lance (2023) – That’s Good News to Share!