"Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. - 2 Timothy 1:1-18 By Pastor Mark Thomas on 10 April 2016 at the evening service. Jesus is praying. They dream of living in the lap of luxury, and this makes them covet more silver and gold for themselves. Genesis 50:20 - But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. 10) 1 Corinthians 15:57 " But thanks be to God! In fact, faithfulness is the most important quality needed in serving the Lord. This letter exhorts us to persevere, and this profound call to draw near to God is right at the heart. Please take time to read your Bible each day, and let God speak to you through His Word. We all need it to live in this world, but we must not be owned by it if we are to be not of this world. Serving God is what we were made to do as his creatures, but our service has been corrupted by our sin and rebellion which has rendered us unable to please him. (It is not right that we give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. (ESV) We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. God created us in his own image and likeness Gen. 1:27-28. (More people to deal with, more personality issues, cultural issues and so on). Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. This will not dampen my faith or take me away from knowing Him. This helps you build confidence in faith. You can cling to its truth when life throws you a curveball. Life is full of ups and downs. No! Fear is the first item listed in Joshua's challenge to the people. God sometimes challenges us with a warning. Paul then left Ephesus to visit all the churches he had planted in Macedonia and Achaia during his previous missionary journey. Hearing from God is rooted in faith and belief. Your browser does not support the audio element. Theres really nowhere else to go, as the apostle Peter said, for true life eternal life is with Him alone. The fear of disappointment, on the other hand, says, Oh yeah, I get that relationship stuff. All you have to do is put your trust in Him. Job had three friends who came to see him when they heard about the misfortune that befell him. Everything a church does should fall under the umbrella of reaching the world with the gospel and making people into disciples. As church leaders, they needed to move into action to resolve this conflict. One of the ways we can serve God is by helping his children, our brothers and sisters, through paying a tithing and a generous fast offering. Beliefnet is a lifestyle website providing feature editorial content around the topics of inspiration, spirituality, health, wellness, love and family, news and entertainment. The suggestion to handle the ministry: (v.3) He knows about every detail of you, and has your best interest at heart. Do you remember when you first yielded your life to Christ? The world tells us, Take charge! You are the master of your own destiny, and God helps those who help themselves. This kind of advice flies in the face of the Bibles urgings to submit to God, trusting and yielding ourselves to Him (cf. Growing in Christ won't be without struggles. CBN is a global ministry committed to preparing the nations of the world for the coming of Jesus Christ through mass media. Matthew 22:37. In 1 Kings 19, we see how detrimental fear can be to hearing God. Growing in Christ wont be without struggles. Paul did not withhold any teaching of Gods Word from the Ephesians. Romans 12:1-2; Romans 6:13; James 4:7 NASB). Obstacles that we face in life are riddled with anxiety, fear, worry, anger, stress, and every negative emotion that you can think of. This helps to shift your perspective and gain the confidence needed to know you can handle it with Gods help. The writer to the Hebrews commands us to draw near to God. Hard times expose our pride, because they highlight our need for God and for others. The Lord has blessed Life Church with 66 years of service to Him. God Will Allow You to Go Through Impossible Situations to Produce a Supernatural Dependence in You. The same thing happens if one member is not fulfilling his or her role faithfully The whole church suffers! These commands, then, can seem foreign to us. (NLT). Two Obstacles in the Way But it's not that simple. When the church began by the preaching of the apostles; It was primarily Jewish, but it didnt take long for it to become more diverse. In chapter 6 Satan tried to distract the apostles from their main mission. Confess Unbelief Be honest. Paul belonged to Him alone, and so he lived to do the will of the Lord Jesus. These men were presented to the apostles who prayed and laid their hands on them. Yes, we have sinned. Here are seven ways you can rely on God to help you break down and overcome the challenging obstacles that are standing in your way: Focus on God's power rather than on the size of your problem . There's no doubt, that the Bible is full of Bible verses about struggle and perseverance. The church has faced external and internal challenges since the day it began through the preaching of the apostles. You think a person as messed up as you just isnt supposed to be close to God. The church of Jesus Christ has faced huge challenges throughout it existence and will continue to face challenges until Jesus comes back again. Thats why Christ bestowed all the spiritual gifts which the Church needs for service. He will listen to the pain you have filling your heart. God was Pauls confidence that the Ephesian church would remain faithful. The death of Jesus and the intercession of Jesus, then, provide the grounds by which we can have a rich relationship with God. Others have been blessed with spiritual gifts of faith, administration, discernment, hospitality, giving, mercy, or encouragement. God made it possible for you to know. (Job 10:1-4) The moral of Job's story is: It's okay to question God or the reasons for why something is happening, but there's no need for us to stay there. Its a rich relationship, not a mechanical one. There are many things, in fact, that might deter you from a rich relationship with God, but two in particular are worth mentioning: 1) the fear of judgment and 2) the fear of disappointment. God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. He said, "you cannot serve both God and money.". Fast-forward now to a time about 40 years later, and we find this commendation that Christ gave to this church in Revelation 2:2, Thus we have seen that Paul and the Ephesian elders were faithful in fulfilling their respective God-given roles. In verses 9-21 we, Dont be deceived! These verses will strengthen your faith in God. Were to make a choice to make up our mind whether to trust and serve God or not, and then act accordingly. In fact, faithfulness is the most important quality needed in serving the Lord. Let us therefore be faithful toChristin all our service. Other people of faith who are overcoming their own challenges can lift you up in spirit, remind you of Gods truth, and cheer you on as you strive for your goals. But what do we see here? No matter how many ministries a church may have, if the preaching and teaching of Gods word is not the main priority then I doubt that true disciples are being developed. Is anything too hard for me? When faced with an enormous obstacle, dont focus on how big the problem is. (Food pantry ministry). But in serving God, there will always be obstructions and hindrances. After all, God had purchased them with His own blood, as Paul mentioned in v.28 (to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood.) This of course refers to God the Son who suffered and died on the cross for our sins. He gave us the tool or prayer so that we would never feel alone. Three obstacles keep us from coming to Christ, and these are the same barriers that keep us from yielding to, trusting in, and submitting to Him on an ongoing basis. You are a Christian and no one can take that away from you unless you let them. The emotional barrier deals with bad experiences, but the intellectual barrier deals with bad teaching. They must be placed well above our own personal pursuits and interests. They had a great system going on, a great fellowship and God reminded them that though that ministry is important, it was not the mission of the church to run a food program, but to preach the gospel to those who are lost. Sign up for a CBNDaily Bible Reading Plan. Choosing our own way over Gods is always a losing option. . If we want to befaithfulto the Word we cannot pick and choose only what we love to hear from it, or what we love to think about all the time. They see the ministry of the Word merely as a means to get what theywantinstead of what theyneed. The fear of judgment keeps you from a rich relationship with God because you just cant believe that God can forgive your sin. Let us look now at three exhortations which he gave to them elders from v.28 onwards to see how we can remain faithful. This actually happened to the Ephesian church about 40 years later. You might start to lose some of your faith in God. If He leads us to it, He'll lead us through it. God's people cannot be shamed into serving God; they need to be challenged. How do we keep doing all these things until we reach the end? Obstacles that we face in life are riddled with anxiety, fear, worry, anger, stress, and every negative emotion that you can think of. The apostles would give their attention to prayer and the preaching of the word. Be willing to say yes to whatever God wants you to do. 3. This was approved by the church, and they selected seven men to take care of the ministry of food distribution. Please check your information and try again or call us at 1-800-759-0700. Through his faithful teaching, and testifying to Jews and Greeks, and preaching the kingdom of God, and warning the Christians against false teaching, the Ephesian church was firmly established on a strong foundation. During the voyage one of the ports that the ship stopped at was Miletus. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window). they did not let this issue distract them from their mission. The writer tells us . Three obstacles keep us from coming to Christ, and these are the same barriers that keep us from yielding to, trusting in, and submitting to Him on an ongoing basis. And that's hard to do. The punishment has been paid. There are obstacles in our way. Proverbs 8:17 love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me. This was a great thing happening. Christian author A.W. 6. The Bible has scripture for every one of your needs. Psalms 119:1-127 - ALEPH . Focus on how strong Gods power is. Get to know others seeking Gods guidance and wisdom for life. Seven times in the book of Hebrews, the author captures the heart of Christianity in a simple, wonderful command: draw near. Look at what he said in v.33,34I havecoveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. As we now enter into our 67thyear, let us resolve to give Him thefirst and central placein all that we do as a church, so that we may be faithful to Him. Obstacles Serving God's Purposes? Perhaps some of us may have certain limitations that prevent us from serving. When I started cultivating a relationship with God, there were obstacles I had to overcome; barriers that suppressed my motivation to seek God as He calls us to. The church needs your effectual fervent prayers! You inevitably will be faced with moments in life that seriously challenge you. He is not a Father running to meet you, but one waiting to punish you. In the following paragraphs, I have listed 10 common things that can interfere with our walk with God. sign me up! Following Jesus as our Lord and Savior not only means that we . Committed to Loving God and Loving People. Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.". Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.(1 Thessalonians 5:23-24) May we all be greatly challenged through this to serve faithfully, by remaining Faithful to the Lord, Faithful to fulfill our God-given roles of service, and Faithful to the whole counsel of God, until our Lord Jesus Christ returns! Stephen was murdered, Philip and the rest had to leave. Michael Chriswell. Notify me by email when the comment gets approved. According to 2 Timothy 3:16All scriptureis given by inspiration of God, and isprofitablefor doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.All scripture is profitable not just some of it or most of it, but All of it. As in all things, God's ultimate purpose for us is to grow more and more into the image of His Son ( Romans 8:29 ). This is mentioned in vv.26,27 where Paul said,Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. These feelings can keep us paralyzed from dealing with the obstacles correctly. This doesnt happen automatically. Thats why his discourse ends by saying, If Christ has purchased His Church at such great cost to Himself, do you think He will leave its fate to be determined by the changing hearts of men? God rewards faithfulness. No matter what problem is in your way, God is right beside you walking you through each step. Obstacles expose our weaknesses and increase our dependency upon Christ. Submit yourselves therefore to God. They were responsible for the spiritual health of this new community. The most of men are careless and indifferent to then heavenly King; they remember all things else except the God who made them. This was his role in serving the Lord, and he devoted himself to fulfill it faithfully wherever he went. Unfortunately many would rather listen to a message that makes no demands on them at all, but offers them all the blessings of God they could ever wish to receive, like good health and wealth. The spiritual obstacle. Rejection and betrayal are part of life and help us grow closer to God when we realize our weaknesses are actually strengths. Meditate on Scripture and you will know everything is going to be OK. Contributing financially to God's work is a great way to serve God. He said, Paul was heading for Jerusalem in obedience to the Lords direction for him, despite knowing the awful trials he would have to face there. Giving up our ways and will isn't easy but that is what moving into a . To recognize and prepare for these common obstacles can be half of the battle to overcome them. Although the Lord Jesus commended them for guarding the flock well against false apostles, He also rebuked them:Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, becausethou hast left thy first love.(Revelation 2:4) Let us ask ourselves this question: Have you left your first love? But its not that simple. Please do not think that there isno rolefor you at all in Gods kingdom. The river was flooded and nearly impossible to cross. We imagine that if God is putting us through something, he expects us to accomplish his will. Thats why his discourse ends by saying,And now, brethren,I commend you to God(v.32a). The sinless Savior died and he ever lives and pleads for me. Were on a mission to change that. They see the ministry of the Word merely as a means to get what they, There is always a temptation for those who serve the Lord to get so busy and involved with serving that they neglect their own walk with God. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. Thus we have seen that Paul and the Ephesian elders were faithful in fulfilling their respective God-given roles. (7) Faithfulness to the Lord demands this attitude in our service:He must increase, and we must decrease., It is sad that many who serve today arenotinterested in decreasing. It is acceptable to have feelings of anger at God when hard things of life happen. In the earlier chapters of Acts we had seen that some are called to serve as deacons, some as evangelists, and some as teachers. There is one good way to know whether you are spiritually well or not. "If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there will My servant be also. Which way are you turned? The answer is simple, but not necessarily easy. It can be frustrating to give up control of your life, however to be a follower of Christ it must be done.