Live Like a Champion – Week 34
The Promise of Membership!
Romans 12:4-5 (NAS95)
The promise of the week is “The Promise of Membership!” The promise of membership must be built upon God’s Word, not on the world’s view of membership. American Express taught us that membership has its privileges, meaning that if you paid your dues, then you received your benefits. God’s Word teaches us that membership is a privilege and that being a healthy and functional member of the Body of Christ is an essential part of experiencing holiness and wholeness!
You are an essential piece of a living organism, and we, as a church, are only as healthy as each of our individual parts. This is the imagery of God’s Word! We are intended by God to be a mutually dependent people, created in His image of community (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
Paul very intentionally gave us the imagery so that we can understand just how important the promise of membership is, not only to us, as the individuals, but to the whole living organism of the church. Remember that Paul was addressing both local congregations and the entire church. Therefore, Paul gave us an extended version of this memory verse in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27,
For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.
A third and final scripture that is essential to understanding this word picture from Paul is found in Ephesians 4:11-16, which includes last week’s memory verse, from which the Reverend Mark Thompson did an excellent job teaching us the promise of leadership and the vital importance of community and building up our community by speaking the truth in love to one another:
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
Where the promise of leadership and the promise of membership intersect is how the church will grow. It’s not an either-or, it’s the both-and of Jesus’ promise to Peter from Matthew 16:18, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
Jesus was very clear that He would build His church and how He does that is through His people—we are the members of the body “according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:16).
Leaders are members of the body and must take their call to leadership as seriously as you take your call to membership. We pray for leaders who are fully engaged in the work of the kingdom of God, both in the local congregations and throughout the larger church. Imagine what would happen if church leaders took their call to leadership as casually as many people take their call to membership to local congregations and their call to missions in the world. We all need the reviving fires that can only come through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Listen to this ancient imagery of how God uses His people as a body to do His will in the world. This is Old Testament imagery from Ezekiel 37:1-10:
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ “Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. ‘I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’ ” So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.” ’ ” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Just as God was the only one who could make this happen, only God can do this work today! This is not a heavy pressure on us, but an invitation for surrender to God and revival through the work of the Holy Spirit. It is the work of the Spirit of God to fulfill the promise of membership, just like it is a work of the Spirit of God to provide spiritual leadership for the body of Christ. Let us submit ourselves now to the work of the Holy Spirit so that we will be healthy, functional members of the one body of Christ. As Paul said in Ephesians 4:1-6,
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
Membership is a privilege that comes with responsibilities! The health and growth of the body of Christ is intimately yoked with you and your experience of a life-giving faith where you are manifesting the fruit of the Spirit and the peace of God in your life, which I like to call your spiritual vitality. Let us walk together in the easy yoke of Jesus Christ and watch what God will do in and through His body, for Jesus Christ is the only head to which we all—leader and member alike—must submit.
Allow me now to pray for us according to Paul’s prayer for the early church in Ephesians 1:17-23:
[I pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Amen!
You can listen to Jerry’s message below:
You can watch the service by clicking the link below:
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Seize the Moment – Day 522
“Lord, I Need You”
Psalm 40:17(NLT)
“ As for me, since I am poor and needy, let the Lord keep me in his thoughts.
You are my helper and my savior. O my God, do not delay.”
This modern-day hymn was written by the collaboration of four songwriters-Kristian Stanfill, Christy Nockles, Jesse Reeves and Daniel Carson and was sung by Matt Maher at the Passion 2011 Conference. One person would write a line then send it to the group, then someone would add to that line and send it on.
Half-way through, Jesse said it reminded him of the hymn “I Need Thee Every Hour”, so they paid homage to that song by including part of it in their hymn.
But Maher remembers the big moment when they wrote the lyrics “Where You are, I am free, holiness is Christ in me!” This was the songs declaration of the powerful Truth that when God looks at us, since we have been redeemed by Jesus, He sees His Son.
Lord, I need You, Oh, I need You. Every hour I need You.
My one defense, my righteousness, Oh God, how I need You.
The challenge of this hymn is to think about whether or not you believe every word when you sing along!
We need to wake up and acknowledge the fact that we need God every moment of every day and lean into Him.
YOUTUBE:
Lord, I Need You
Bowing here, I find my rest
Without You, I fall apart
You’re the one that guides my heart
Every hour, I need You
My one defense, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You
Where grace is found is where You are
And where You are, Lord I am free
Holiness is Christ in me
Every hour, I need You
My one defense, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You
When temptation comes my way
And when I cannot stand, I’ll fall on You
Jesus, You’re my hope and stay
Every hour, I need You
My one defense, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You
You’re my one defense, my righteousness
Oh God, how I need You
Oh God, how I need You
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Seize the Moment – Day 521
The Peace Offering!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, August 20.
Do you like to invite your friends or family to join with you to share a meal?
There is something about sharing food that draws you closer to people, especially when you have provided the meat or a portion of the meal for others to enjoy.
Leviticus 3 describes the regulations for the peace offering, also known as the fellowship offering. Based on the original Hebrew word it has also been called the “well-being offering.” While there is some ambiguity around the meaning, there is no confusion about its purpose.
Listen to Leviticus 3:16, “The priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar as food, an offering by fire for a soothing aroma.” The peace offering was the primary type of sacrifice that provided meat for the people, unlike the sin and guilt offerings which could only be eaten by the priests, and the burnt offering which was to be completely consumed by fire on the altar. With the fat and blood consumed on the altar and the priest receiving his portion (Leviticus 7:28-34), the rest of the meat would go back to the worshiper to be consumed within one or two days of making the peace offering (Leviticus 7:15; 19:6-8).
While giving thanks to God, the peace offering provided an acceptable way to slaughter a sacrificial animal for food (Leviticus 7:11-36). What a wonderful way to prepare for a time of fellowship around the table with your loved ones. The peace offering provided for a way to pass the peace on to your friends and family and invite everyone over to celebrate God’s provision.
Peace offerings provided food for fellowship, which increases well-being! Don’t we all feel better after sharing some good food with good friends?
Seize the moment and organize a time of celebration with your loved ones.
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Seize the Moment – Day 520
The Covenant of Salt!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, August 19.
Have you heard someone say that a certain person was worth his or her weight in salt?
That idiom speaks of a person having great value, as being competent and worthwhile, excellent in what they do, worthy of his or her wages.
Therefore, we need to pay special attention to Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:13a, “You are the salt of the earth.” Through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary you have entered a better and eternal way with God—the everlasting covenant of salt.
Seize the moment and live as one who has been salted with grace and truth. May you live at peace with God, yourself, and one another (Mark 9:50).
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Seize the Moment – Day 519
A Costly Sacrifice!
Are you a good gift giver?
Leviticus 1:2-4 begins the teaching on the ancient sacrificial system:
When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock. If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect; he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord. He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf.
The burnt offering was the costliest sacrifice the Israelites were commanded to make. It was to happen morning and evening. It required the burning of an entire animal carcass from the people’s herds or flocks; it could not be a wild animal. It had to be a male without defect.
These details matter because God required a costly sacrifice! King David expressed this in 2 Samuel 24:24, “I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.”
The burnt offering was not only a sacrifice for the atonement of sin, but also of thankfulness and worship to God. It was a gift given to God with the goal of it being accepted by God, who would then look with favor upon the one making the sacrifice.
While we no longer sacrifice animals, we are commanded to live so that our lives are accepted by God. Because we no longer need to go through a formal sacrificial rite every morning and evening to have atonement for our sins, we are invited to live in constant communion with Jesus Christ, the unblemished Lamb of God, who has made atonement for our sins, once and for all.
Seize the moment and give good gifts to God, starting with yourself.
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Seize the Moment – Day 518
The Veil that Separated!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, August 17.
Have you ever had a barrier between you and another person?
Exodus 40 describes the tabernacle being assembled “just as the Lord had commanded Moses.” That refrain was repeated often because the people of Israel could not have access to God outside of following the prescribed way; therefore, great detail was recorded and insisted upon in the assembly of and worship at the tabernacle.
Exodus 40:20-21 captures an important detail of the holy of holies (most holy place), the inner chamber for God in the tabernacle: “Then he took the testimony and put it into the ark, and attached the poles to the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark. He brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up a veil for the screen, and screened off the ark of the testimony, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.”
The veil was not only functional; it was symbolic—there was a barrier between man and God. It was commanded in Exodus 26:33b, “the veil shall serve for you as a partition between the holy place and the holy of holies.” While God sought to be with His people, access to Him was severely limited and highly formalized so that only the high priest could enter the most holy place once per year to make atonement for sin.
Jesus Christ came to give us direct access to the Father. Listen to Hebrews 10:19, “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus.”
This access happened at the time of Jesus’ death. Jesus’ crucifixion removed the veil because Jesus once and for all atoned for sin. As Mark 15:38 records from that day: “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”
Seize the moment and seek God’s presence. He has made a way for you through the shed blood of Jesus Christ!
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Seize the Moment – Day 517
The Work of the Lord!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, August 16.
Leadership can be a daunting task. Making decisions and feeling responsible for something can feel overwhelming, especially when the work is being done in the name of Jesus.
Exodus 39:42-43 gives a helpful overview of how to accomplish a big project: “So the sons of Israel did all the work according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses. And Moses examined all the work and behold, they had done it; just as the Lord had commanded, this they had done. So Moses blessed them.”
First, Moses spent time with God and then clearly communicated the Word of God to the people. All spiritual leaders must have healthy spiritual rhythms in their own lives to be able to separate from the demands and expectations of other people to attend to their top responsibility: to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen well. Spiritual leaders clearly communicate what they have received from the Lord so that the members of God’s community can take their next steps.
Next, the people are to discern the Word from the Lord and take practical steps toward doing what the Word of God calls them to do together as members of the body of Christ. The work of God gets accomplished as the people rally together, focused on God’s Word, doing what each person is gifted and called to do.
Finally, spiritual leaders bless the people for obeying the Word of the Lord. While our greatest reward is Heaven, God calls us to speak words of love and encouragement to one another as we work together to accomplish what God would have us to do as a community.
Seize the moment and use words of love and encouragement to build up your community of faith and those around you. God’s work gets done when we each listen to Jesus and work together as the one body of Christ.
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Live Like a Champion – Week 33
The Promise of Leadership!
Presented by Reverend Mark Thompson (ABC Regional Pastor)
(The following are notes taken during the message, there may be some misinterpretations of what Rev. Thompson actually said. Listen to his message to hear for yourself.)
Ephesians 4:15:
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
Serving the Lord demolishes all of our preferences.
God exists in community (the Trinity) and He creates us to live in community.
Ephesians 4:11-16:
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
18 “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
God may be calling you into leadership.
Justified – It is “just-as-if-I’d never sinned. All the labels come off! (Good & Bad)
Sanctification – We are set apart for God’s purposes.
We think we need time to think about what God wants us to do, to make careful consideration before moving. We say something like, “I don’t know all of the things I need to know in order to do all of the things I need to do. I need to think about it.”
“God calls us to act our way to NEW THINKING, no to THINK our way to NEW ACTING!”
– Mike Mather, a pastor
Ministry takes all of us – and more!
You can listen to Mark’s message here:
You can watch the service by clicking the link below:
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Seize the Moment – Day 515
Today’s hymn focus will be “I Am Thine O Lord”
Hebrews 10:22(NLT)
“ let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”
Each day requires that we make a fresh connection with Jesus, renewing our dedication to Him. We are all faced with daily challenges that could make even the strongest of Christians be weak in their faith. That is why we have to make sure that God has His rightful place on the throne of our hearts.
In 1875, Fanny Crosby was visiting the home of William H. Doane in Cincinnati, Ohio when she wrote this hymn. The family had been discussing the blessedness of enjoying the nearness of God. Fanny was so moved that she suddenly started giving the words to this hymn, verse by verse and then the chorus, to which Doane soon provided the music.
“I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice, and it told Thy love to me; But I long to rise in the arms of faith, and be closer drawn to Thee.”
We need to wake up and begin the new day, with all of its unknown pressures and temptations, with this musical prayer on our lips “Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to Thy precious bleeding side.”
YOUTUBE:
Have Thine Own Way, Lord
I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith,
And be closer drawn to Thee.
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the pow’r of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.
O the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God,
I commune as friend with friend!
There are depths of love that I yet may know
Ere Thee face to face I see;
There are heights of joy that I yet may reach
Ere I rest in peace with Thee.
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Seize the Moment – Day 514
Build up the Next Generation!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Friday, August 13.
What is the most important legacy we leave behind from our ministry efforts?
Exodus 38 continues to tell the story of the completion of the tabernacle and all its furniture and all that it took to pull off this major construction project. Building campaigns are significant undertakings and important to the community of God’s people, but do you know what is more important?
Building up the next generation! Listen to Exodus 38:21-23 make a subtle, but very important observation of the ministry of God’s people:
This is the number of the things for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were numbered according to the command of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. Now Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord had commanded Moses. With him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and a skillful workman and a weaver in blue and in purple and in scarlet material, and fine linen.
- Ithamar was the son of Aaron the priest, who worked with Moses in the deliverance and rescue of God’s people.
- Bezalel was the son of Uri, the son of Hur, who held up Moses’ arms as he held up the staff of God.
- Oholiab was the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, one of the twelve sons of Israel.
Whether you are conducting a major construction project, hosting a church picnic, or serving the local community be sure to do it in such a way as to build up the next generation.
Seize the moment and invite the next generation to partner with you in whatever ministry task you are called to do. May all that we do equip the next generation to live for Jesus.
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