MISSIONS MONTH

Jim and Melanie Wilson live in Costa Rica where they serve as full-time missionaries.  Though they are involved in various ministries, their primary focus is upon leadership development.  Jim was with us yesterday and shared about the work God is doing in Panama. 

To hear more about this exciting work and about an incredible trip that he and our Worship Leader Brent Hail took through the Jungles of Panama, click HERE.  

"Quote" of the Week

"And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?'"  Luke 9:23-25

MISSIONS MONTH

This week I am leading a team to Chinandega, Nicaragua to teach at a Bible Institute on the Doctrine of Man, Sin and Salvation.  Things are going well.  We have over 100 pastors and church leaders attending this week.

For more about the ministry in Nicaragua, click HERE and listen to Jim Wilson and Melvin Loza's message on the importance of mentoring.

"Quote" of the Week

“What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”  2 Timothy 2:2

To recognize that God exists, and even understand who He is, will not lead to a saving knowledge of Him. That comes only from an understanding of special revelation.  Natural revelation is insufficient to save, and merely serves to draw men to God. There is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ, “for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

For more on how God makes Himself known through His creation and through His word and through His Son, click HERE and listen to “KNOWING THE UNKNOWN GOD.”

"Quote of the Week"

“General revelation is efficacious; it is able to hold us accountable before God because it shows us sufficiently that there is a God and some things about him. His power and his divine nature are clearly made known Paul says in Romans 1. Yet general revelation is not efficacious for salvation. It doesn't give us saving truth. Special revelation provides revelation of God's grace and mercy to save sinners.”  -Bruce Ware

He [Jesus] said to him [Peter], “Feed My lambs.”  John 21:15

If Peter was going to be restored, if he was going to be a pastor, a shepherd to the flock of Christ, loving Jesus meant feeding Christ’s lambs. Let’s quickly run ahead: He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep” (vv. 16–17). 

Some have made much out of the variation in the terms here—“Feed My lambs,” “Tend My sheep,” and “Feed My sheep.” Some believe the lambs are the new converts and the sheep are the old ones, and that there’s a difference between tending and feeding. I don’t think Jesus’ words had any such meaning. I think He was simply saying, “If you want to be a pastor, a shepherd, then feed My sheep; don’t starve them. Make them your highest concern.”

We are witnessing a great tragedy in the revolution of worship in the United States. Following the model of “seeker-sensitive” worship is harming the church. The idea is that if you want your church to grow, you must design worship to meet the desires and the interests of non-Christians. I believe in seeker-sensitive worship, but not in the way most modern worship theorists define it. The Bible says in our natural state, no one seeks after God. It is only when a person’s heart is regenerated by the Spirit of God so that he is born again that he begins to seek God. That is why Jonathan Edwards said that seeking after God should be the main business of the life of the Christian.

On the night of my conversion, I went to the dorm parking lot with my best friend in college. We got in my car and I turned the engine over, then hit myself in the shirt pocket. I said to my buddy, “I’m out of cigarettes; I need to go back in the dorm.” So I went in, down the stairs to the cigarette machine, and got a pack of Luckies for a quarter. When I turned to go back upstairs, there was a fellow there who said, “Sit down.” So I did and he told me about Jesus. I wasn’t seeking Jesus; I was seeking cigarettes, but I found Jesus. Seeking after God starts at conversion; it doesn’t end there. That’s why a truly seeker-sensitive worship service is designed for Christians.

The saints, the holy ones, those called out from the world assemble together on Sunday mornings to be fed. We are to do evangelism, engage in outreach, and be involved in ministries of mercy, but Sunday morning belongs to the sheep. It is the task of the pastor and of the church to feed the sheep. If someone who is not a sheep comes in, that’s fine, but we’re not going to change the menu and give the sheep goats’ food. Worship is for the sheep.

Why did Jesus put so much emphasis on feeding the sheep? When the sheep of Christ are fed, nurtured, and filled with the strength of Christ and of His word, they become a mighty army turned loose on the world. Babies have almost no influence in a culture. Before they can turn the world upside down, they have to grow up, they have to become mature, and that happens as they are fed the Word of God. Nothing less will do.

Notice that when Jesus spoke to Peter, He did not say, “Peter, if you love Me, feed the goats.” Neither did He say, “Peter, take care of your flock; feed your sheep.” He said, “Feed My sheep, feed My lambs, tend My sheep.” He said, “If you love Me, if I make you a pastor, whatever else you do, take care of My sheep—feed them, tend them, strengthen them.” Those who are called as pastors are undershepherds, given the task of tending Jesus’ sheep.

Sproul, R. C. John. St. Andrew's Expositional Commentary. Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2009.

"Quote" of the Week

"The saints, the holy ones, those called out from the world assemble together on Sunday mornings to be fed. We are to do evangelism, engage in outreach, and be involved in ministries of mercy, but Sunday morning belongs to the sheep."  -R.C. Sproul 

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.  Ephesians 4:7

All believers have been gifted; not just pastoral staff, and elders and deacons—not just teachers and small group leaders, but all believers have been gifted for the purpose of ministry.  John MacArthur said this when commenting on this verse.  He said,

There is no such thing as a believer who is not gifted for ministry in the body of Christ.

So according to this verse, all believers have been gifted for ministry and Paul also says they have been gifted by Christ.  In other places in Scripture, we are told that God’s people are gifted by the Father and by the Holy Spirit.  Giving gifts is one of the major activities of the Godhead.  Therefore, there is nothing remarkable about us—nothing for us to brag about on our own—God has given us these gifts.

Notice Paul also makes the point in v. 7 that we have been uniquely gifted.  He says that grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.  What is meant here is that God has uniquely gifted every believer to serve in a unique and meaningful way in His church.  Paul says that these gifts have been measured out—they have been dispensed by Christ to each one of us.  In Romans 12:4-8, Paul says,

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.  Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Paul’s point here is that though we as believers make up one body—the church; we have many members each with his or her own gifting—each given by God’s Grace for the good of His church.  In other words, Paul says different believers have different gifts to meet different needs in His church.    

"Quote" of the Week

The church of Christ needs servants of all kinds, and instruments of every sort; penknives as well as swords, axes as well as hammers, chisels as well as saws, Marthas as well as Marys, Peters as well as Johns.  -J.C. Ryle