Much Fruit
As long as I have been called to the ministry, I have desired to glorify the Lord by bearing much fruit, both the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and the fruit of seeing people come to Christ. (John 15:8, Matthew 4:19) It has been my heart's longing to see the church return to the power of the early church and to see people saved and added to the church daily. (Acts 2:47) I am sad to say that it has not happened very often over the past 30+ years. Once at Smith Bend Baptist and once at Bayshore Baptist, we had a glorious time of awakening and a good number of people came to the Lord. I pray constantly that God would choose to do that again. I believe He wants to do that, but there is some factor holding Him back that has to do with us as a body of Christ.
In fact, I do find myself in the minority on this. Many Christians want to be comfortable with their friends at church. They do not really want more people in the church family, because it would just complicate things. There would be change, and people don't accept change very well. Therefore, they are content to go through their lives attending church services and events, but not praying for a harvest of souls or working for it. There are other reasons for this besides the desire to be comfortable and to avoid change, but all of them grieve the heart of God. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and faith in Christ. (II Peter 3:9) His heart is for the one lost sheep and to rejoice over his safe return to the fold. I pray that our hearts will be in line with the heart of God.
Of course, that is why we have scheduled the Strength Team for March 12-16. It is a possible way to plant the seed of the Gospel and to see a harvest of souls. It may or may not happen, but I am fairly sure that it will happen in proportion to how much we pray and participate. We must show unbelievers and new believers that we genuinely care for them with the love of Christ and we are willing to reach out to them in that love to help them know Him and to grow. Please, join me in praying for this event that it will not be just another event, but an awakening time for our church, in which we see that it is possible to see many people come to Christ today and see the church grow according to God's supernatural power.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Deuteronomy 3-4 and Mark 10:32-52.
In fact, I do find myself in the minority on this. Many Christians want to be comfortable with their friends at church. They do not really want more people in the church family, because it would just complicate things. There would be change, and people don't accept change very well. Therefore, they are content to go through their lives attending church services and events, but not praying for a harvest of souls or working for it. There are other reasons for this besides the desire to be comfortable and to avoid change, but all of them grieve the heart of God. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and faith in Christ. (II Peter 3:9) His heart is for the one lost sheep and to rejoice over his safe return to the fold. I pray that our hearts will be in line with the heart of God.
Of course, that is why we have scheduled the Strength Team for March 12-16. It is a possible way to plant the seed of the Gospel and to see a harvest of souls. It may or may not happen, but I am fairly sure that it will happen in proportion to how much we pray and participate. We must show unbelievers and new believers that we genuinely care for them with the love of Christ and we are willing to reach out to them in that love to help them know Him and to grow. Please, join me in praying for this event that it will not be just another event, but an awakening time for our church, in which we see that it is possible to see many people come to Christ today and see the church grow according to God's supernatural power.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Deuteronomy 3-4 and Mark 10:32-52.