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PASTOR JOSEPH
EVANGELISM THROUGH STORMS
TEXT: ACTS 21:1-9
KEY VERSE: "And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed" (ACTS 21:5).
In ancient Rome, crowds of spectators in their thousands would gather in the Colosseum to watch as Christians were torn apart by wild animals. Paul Rader, commenting on his visit to this famous landmark, said, "I stood uncovered to heavens above, where He sits for whom they gladly died, and asked myself, would I, could I, die for Him tonight to get this gospel to the end of the earth?" He realised those early Christians lived on the threshold of heaven.
The spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ, like a wild fire, in the first century took place at a time of iron rule of the great Roman Empire. There was political tension to discourage the laid-back Christian from travelling from place to place to win souls. But that was the time Apostle Paul and his companions traversed land and sea to heed the imperative of the great commission.
Challenging times must keep Christians on the move to spread the gospel. In times like these, God empowers us with His grace and courage to preach of His love that can help man sail over the vicissitudes of life. The early church grew in the face of persecution.
The believer, in this perilous age, must not relent on the given commission. We are closer to the time of the Second Coming of our Lord; a time our evangelism should be fiery and far-reaching to the "uttermost part of the earth...even unto the end of the world." Modern technological devices should be employed to aid the spread of the gospel, thereby, winning a greater number of souls for Christ than the believers in Paul's day.
✍ THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Preach the gospel in all kinds of weather.
RAMAN KHAN
Jesus called Peter “Satan” to get Peter to realise what he was doing was wrong and Jesus called Judas “friend” to be a witness to Judas and possibly open up Judas' heart to repentance.
Matthew 16:23
"Get behind me Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."
Matthew 26:50
"Friend, do what you came to do."
In both scenarios Jesus was trying to teach something to his disciple. To Peter he was trying to make him realise that his true purpose was to come to the world and die for their sins.
Peter kept thinking otherwise though and was trying to convince Jesus that Jesus wasn't suppose to die.
This was a hindrance to Jesus and most likely was a tempting thing to want to listen to.
So Jesus told Peter to get behind him and he called him Satan to try to get Peter to realise that what he was saying was not coming from God but rather from the Devil.
Whereas we see in Matthew 16 Jesus actually says that Peter will be the rock on which he'll build his church after Peter says that Jesus is the Messiah. This makes a point that Jesus didn't really have a problem with Peter as a person but rather he had a problem with that thing Peter was saying.
For Judas, Jesus called Judas a friend, when Judas came to betray him, because Jesus knew that Judas knew what he was doing was wrong.
Jesus didn't need to point that out to him. So rather than criticizing Judas for doing something bad he instead tried to demonstrate to Judas that he still loved him.
This was in an attempt to show Judas what true love was.
Abraham was called God's friend and call Judas also His friend, both were walking with God.One walked faithfully and patiently but the other one walked unfaithfully and impatiently.
In Abraham life God fulfilled his promises and blessed his seed.
But the other one - Judas died cowardly without any promise.
RICHES BEYOND MEASURE
From: Martha Valentine
“In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you...John 14:2.”
Somewhere on the computer, I got info saying if we have a roof over our heads we are 8% of everyone in the entire world that do. I can't prove that statement is true but it really makes you think about it. If that is accurate, 92% of the people don't have the shelter we have. I have a small home with 2 bedrooms and sometimes I feel so bad because I know some people don't have a place to live and there I am with an extra bedroom. Even though I have only one bed, and use that extra room for my sewing room that is no comfort to me knowing others are doing without.
I was sixteen probably when some people took me with them to visit their grandparents. When we arrived at the house, it had a Celotex exterior and on it the people had written words in white paint that said, "Ye must be born again, and Jesus saves." I thought wow! I thought our family was poor and these people must be poorer than us. Inside there were two of the dearest people you could ever meet. They wanted to feed us something and you could just see the kindness and the love they had for each other.
Trust me it took several years before I fully realized just how RICH THOSE PEOPLE WERE, WEALTHY ACTUALLY. GOD loves family and I am sure HE was so pleased with those dear people. I love to see a BIBLE that is so worn it is falling apart and I am sure there was one there. Their house was their mansion because of the love there. Thirty years ago they moved into a mansion not made with human hands. PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME. GOD BLESS. Love, Martha
EVANGELISM THROUGH STORMS
TEXT: ACTS 21:1-9
KEY VERSE: "And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed" (ACTS 21:5).
In ancient Rome, crowds of spectators in their thousands would gather in the Colosseum to watch as Christians were torn apart by wild animals. Paul Rader, commenting on his visit to this famous landmark, said, "I stood uncovered to heavens above, where He sits for whom they gladly died, and asked myself, would I, could I, die for Him tonight to get this gospel to the end of the earth?" He realised those early Christians lived on the threshold of heaven.
The spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ, like a wild fire, in the first century took place at a time of iron rule of the great Roman Empire. There was political tension to discourage the laid-back Christian from travelling from place to place to win souls. But that was the time Apostle Paul and his companions traversed land and sea to heed the imperative of the great commission.
Challenging times must keep Christians on the move to spread the gospel. In times like these, God empowers us with His grace and courage to preach of His love that can help man sail over the vicissitudes of life. The early church grew in the face of persecution.
The believer, in this perilous age, must not relent on the given commission. We are closer to the time of the Second Coming of our Lord; a time our evangelism should be fiery and far-reaching to the "uttermost part of the earth...even unto the end of the world." Modern technological devices should be employed to aid the spread of the gospel, thereby, winning a greater number of souls for Christ than the believers in Paul's day.
✍ THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Preach the gospel in all kinds of weather.
RAMAN KHAN
Jesus called Peter “Satan” to get Peter to realise what he was doing was wrong and Jesus called Judas “friend” to be a witness to Judas and possibly open up Judas' heart to repentance.
Matthew 16:23
"Get behind me Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."
Matthew 26:50
"Friend, do what you came to do."
In both scenarios Jesus was trying to teach something to his disciple. To Peter he was trying to make him realise that his true purpose was to come to the world and die for their sins.
Peter kept thinking otherwise though and was trying to convince Jesus that Jesus wasn't suppose to die.
This was a hindrance to Jesus and most likely was a tempting thing to want to listen to.
So Jesus told Peter to get behind him and he called him Satan to try to get Peter to realise that what he was saying was not coming from God but rather from the Devil.
Whereas we see in Matthew 16 Jesus actually says that Peter will be the rock on which he'll build his church after Peter says that Jesus is the Messiah. This makes a point that Jesus didn't really have a problem with Peter as a person but rather he had a problem with that thing Peter was saying.
For Judas, Jesus called Judas a friend, when Judas came to betray him, because Jesus knew that Judas knew what he was doing was wrong.
Jesus didn't need to point that out to him. So rather than criticizing Judas for doing something bad he instead tried to demonstrate to Judas that he still loved him.
This was in an attempt to show Judas what true love was.
Abraham was called God's friend and call Judas also His friend, both were walking with God.One walked faithfully and patiently but the other one walked unfaithfully and impatiently.
In Abraham life God fulfilled his promises and blessed his seed.
But the other one - Judas died cowardly without any promise.
RICHES BEYOND MEASURE
From: Martha Valentine
“In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you...John 14:2.”
Somewhere on the computer, I got info saying if we have a roof over our heads we are 8% of everyone in the entire world that do. I can't prove that statement is true but it really makes you think about it. If that is accurate, 92% of the people don't have the shelter we have. I have a small home with 2 bedrooms and sometimes I feel so bad because I know some people don't have a place to live and there I am with an extra bedroom. Even though I have only one bed, and use that extra room for my sewing room that is no comfort to me knowing others are doing without.
I was sixteen probably when some people took me with them to visit their grandparents. When we arrived at the house, it had a Celotex exterior and on it the people had written words in white paint that said, "Ye must be born again, and Jesus saves." I thought wow! I thought our family was poor and these people must be poorer than us. Inside there were two of the dearest people you could ever meet. They wanted to feed us something and you could just see the kindness and the love they had for each other.
Trust me it took several years before I fully realized just how RICH THOSE PEOPLE WERE, WEALTHY ACTUALLY. GOD loves family and I am sure HE was so pleased with those dear people. I love to see a BIBLE that is so worn it is falling apart and I am sure there was one there. Their house was their mansion because of the love there. Thirty years ago they moved into a mansion not made with human hands. PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME. GOD BLESS. Love, Martha
