This morning, as I sit down to write, my mind has already moved on to February and the Sermon Series I am preparing for the month. It’s a three-part series I call The Ways of the Lord. In this series I’m going to share what the ways of the Lord are, why they are beneficial to us, and how we can begin walking in his ways.
For too long I have seen Christians carry the ways of the world into our churches. It is time we begin to learn to live the ways of the Lord in the world around us. We do not have to constantly flow with the ever-changing tides of culture. I, myself, am amazed at how much our culture has changed in just the past 50 years and shaped the modern belief systems of the church. Old people would concur and could tell of even greater changes in our morality, as they have seen the collapse of the family in our nation.
With this in mind, and the ever-increasing flood on sin in the church, I want to devote myself to teaching the right ways of the Lord in the years to come. Believers need to know we can still live in a way that is pleasing to the Lord, no matter what the society around us does. However, that may mean more and more separation from society to prevent us from being swept away in it’s destruction. However, that does not mean relinquishing our influence on our nation.
“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world,
to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.”
1 Peter 2:11, NIV.
Yes, the time has come that we must tell our nation it is destroying itself by allowing sin to become the norm for everyday life and relationships. Yet, every time we try to tell of a different way, we are labeled as judgmental. The truth is, out of our hearts of compassion, we are trying to warn people they do not need to destroy themselves by living according to the dictates of ungodly leaders and society’s bad example.
Along with that, I need to state it is also time for our church leaders to take more of a stand in public affairs. I have often declared that the church IS the moral conscience of society. Therefore, it is our duty before God to raise our voices in the public arena. Sometimes I feel we are more like a gripe club that gathers together with people of like mind to complain about all the ills of society, but would never commit ourselves to bringing about the changes necessary to prevent the collapse of our nation. That would be like a bunch of old guys drinking coffee at a restaurant and griping about what the government is doing—it changes nothing.
Putting my efforts behind my beliefs, I want to see Calvary’s people prepared to have an impact on our community at large. Many churches are asked to care for the poor (which to many means just giving them food and money). However, we must move beyond just a handout to teach people (rich and poor alike) the ways of the Lord. God’s ways benefit us personally, relationally, financially, spiritually, and politically. There is no area of life omitted from God’s divine plan for us. We need to take the message of salvation beyond just a free ride to heaven and demonstrate that living for the Lord now is the greatest life and purpose you can have. This is for the saints and sinners alike. There is only one truth for all mankind. Jesus is the answer!
The church needs to be an influence in society once again. Of course three things have to happen to bring this to pass. One, we need to clean up our act and demonstrate the ways of the Lord by the lives we live. Two, we need to quit allowing greater levels of sinfulness in our ranks as the “way of love” for the church. Three, we need to quit all the infighting among believers and churches of a community and present a unified love and compassion for the true needs in our community.
Our community needs the gospel message. Entire families are being consumed by the wages of sin. There are even good-hearted people being swept away by sin, because no one has demonstrated for them an alternative lifestyle. I want the church to live in such a way that the unbeliever wishes he only knew the secret to our success and happiness. Sin in the camp is still the reason we cannot stand before our enemies and save our communities.
As we move further into this new year and as winter fades into spring, may we seek to live more and more in the ways of the Lord—with the intent of others seeing our lives and being drawn to the his ways. We should not present ourselves as having some innate ability or natural intellect, which causes us to succeed. Instead we need to rightfully proclaim that we were nothing before the life-changing power of the Lord came to live in us. He is what made the difference in us and others need to see it and hear it.
My heart’s cry for 2015 is that each of us makes a difference in someone’s life. It may be our children, or it may we someone we work with, it may even be the person we are married to, but we need to give it our best effort. For me it is Union City. I want the citizens of our community to see what a difference the church can make when it becomes involved in their lives. I want to see us impact our school, our local government, and all the businesses on which we so desperately depend.
“9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance
10 (and for this we labour and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God,
who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.
11 Command and teach these things.”
1st Timothy 4:9-11, NIV.
An essential part of this movement into our society is prayer. The Lord has revolutionized my prayer life (mainly because I can no longer move forward without it). He has impressed upon me that I need to demonstrate a devoted prayer life if we are ever to see prayer once again become the culture of our church. I believe God is hesitant to begin moving on our behalf until this core function of the church is established in us and is a vital part of what we do each week. I have a wonderful prayer team which surrounds Susan and I in prayer each week as we minister at Calvary. That same framework is what I want to overtake the whole church. Our Weekly Prayer Circle is the beginning of that direction. My prayer is that the circle will gain momentum this year and we will see the evidence of what it can do in our church and in our community.
Although these are deep truths, they are still so very simple and profound—pray, let your light shine, and boldly proclaim the truth to those who are lost. May God inspire us to do these things more and more in the coming months of this year. May this be the year of revival and renewal in our churches and community.