Tag: ministry

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Jesus Mindset: Are you ready to teach?

krisshetter

First published June 23, 2021 as part of the Jesus Mindset series

“So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:26-28

One of my friends has found herself with an unexpected teaching opportunity. She and her husband were active participants in a Bible study held at my house for about five years. But her husband seemed stuck in his faith journey.

A year after that study group disbanded, my friend came to me asking about starting another study group. She was particularly concerned about her husband. They were no longer attending the same church, and with the study group having disbanded, her husband was without the counsel of other Christians. We decided to start a new group, but it would include only women this time, leaving her concerns about her husband unanswered.

Over the past year, my friend has grown tremendously in her faith. Just last week, I listened as she answered a difficult Bible study question with a great analogy, making it all clear to the rest of us! I felt the same delight I had while watching one of my Girl Scouts successfully build a fire. I wanted to jump for joy at my friend’s insight. I loved it!

And God has answered her prayers about her husband. It wasn’t the answer she was expecting. You see, the teacher he needed was her. Her husband has watched her transformation with awe. She is living out the Word, and he has started asking her questions about Jesus. After church—their new church—they go to breakfast and discuss the sermon. He relies on her for further insight and instruction.

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” 1 Peter 3:15-16

My friend’s teaching opportunity was close to home. At the start of Jesus’ ministry, He, too, started close to home. The first recorded teaching by Jesus was to His cousin, John the Baptist. Jesus asked John to baptize Him, but John recognizedHim as the Messiah and tried to convince Jesus that it should be the other way around.

“Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.” Matthew 3:15

Jesus knew His audience. As a devoted man of God, John was well-practiced in what it meant to achieve holy righteousness. And so, he accepted Jesus’ reasoning.

Follow Jesus’ teaching ministry, and you see patience, purpose, and an approach tailored to the people He encountered. And that’s the joy of teaching. What we teach matters, but so does how we teach it. At first, Jesus reached out to His cousin, then to His cousin’s followers and their friends. The tipping point came after He performed quiet acts of healing and word of them spread: the Sermon on the Mount.

But even after He preached to large crowds, He encountered individuals and specifically set aside time to teach them about the glory of God and the forgiveness of sins.

To the learned, He spoke with confident knowledge of Moses and Isaiah. To the poor and lame, He taught through love and compassion. To the average man and woman, He used parables containing everyday elements such as farming and relationships. And to the disciples, He opened their eyes to the mysteries of the Kingdom. Each time, He sought the “aha” moment for which every teacher longs—the moment when the light comes on inside.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

I once led a small Bible study, and the topic of “evangelizing” came up. It usually makes people squirm. One participant said she just didn’t feel ready to talk to people about God. And yet, she had been a Christian for about 50 years. What if we erase the word “evangelize” and replace it with sharing or teaching? What if, instead of picturing ourselves standing before the Pharisees or Sanhedrin, we picture ourselves sitting with our children or a friend and sharing how Jesus has brought us peace and joy in times of trouble? That should, at a minimum, be expected of us.

My friend, whom I mentioned at the beginning, has come a long way. About a year ago, her adult son started asking her questions about God and Jesus, and she felt unprepared. She had prayed for many years that her son would turn to Jesus, and now he was asking her questions. So, what did she do? She sought instruction, prayed, and was bold. At her next opportunity to teach a family member—her husband—she was ready.

“Our lives should reflect the love and goodness of Jesus, but we should pray that the Lord would give us opportunities to share the gospel with people who come into our lives.” Pastor Adriel Sanchez, Core Christianity Podcast

Jesus didn’t want to keep His life offering among a small group of people. So yes, He lived a good and faithful life, but He didn’t stop there. He reached out to people. Through teaching, He shared the most important lessons we will ever learn. He prepared for this task. And when His time came, He was ready.

The question is, are you ready?  

Your role as a teacher may be needed right now—for your children, your spouse, your neighbor, a struggling believer, or a searching nonbeliever.

Have you worked on the other steps so you can teach, as Peter says, with gentleness and respect Have you put yourself in a position to be a humble servant and, therefore, to interact with nonbelievers in positive ways? Are you studying His Word so that, when confronted with half-truths or outright lies about God, you can stand firm like a warrior?

God has already tested you in all these areas. He’s tested me. What is your report card? In what areas do you need to ask for God’s help today so you can be ready?

Bible, bible study, Christian, Christian Church, christian encouragement, christian men, Christian women, Faith, god, Jesus, Jesus Follower, prayer, religion, scripture, Uncategorized, wisdom

On Being Sanctified

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"...you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:5

What’s the difference between discipleship and sanctification?  If you’ve been justified why does any of that matter?  You might even ask what does it mean to be justified?  Is your faith a private or public matter or maybe both?  Are you prepared to hold fast to Jesus during the trials of life or are you worried that you might lose your faith when disaster strikes?  Did you lose faith when disaster struck?  And when someone sees that cross dangling from your neck or wrist are you prepared to give biblical answers about God?  Lastly, has your church, if you attend one, been at your side to help you answer all these questions?

A few of my friends volunteer with an online Christian ministry that helps both believers and non-believers find answers to some of the most fundamental questions about our faith. Of the 38 students I’ve worked with over the last eight months, nearly all identified as Christians. Yet, without fail, they all admitted that they didn’t truly know the God they claimed to follow. Sadly, this is not an isolated case. A nationwide survey found that only 1% of churches have active discipleship programs—programs specifically designed to strengthen our foundational understanding of Christianity. These programs aim to fulfill Jesus’ command in Matthew 28:19: to make disciples.

But really, what is the goal of all of this?  It’s two-fold.  The first is sharing the Gospel across our communities.  But the second, seemingly most overlooked part of the job for our churches and each believer, is helping our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ remain steadfast and on the narrow path.  In other words, becoming more Christ-like or sanctified.

I’ve gone through quite the trial these last few months and I’ve come to realize how much work, not only I had put in, but was put in to me to help me through it.  There was death, deep forgiveness, immeasurable love and patience, a church loss, joy, and tears.  Holding my hand through it all was the gift of the Holy Spirit, the teachings of God’s Word and many, many fellow believers (some who know me well and some who will never know me at all!).

When life took an unexpected turn last year, I had just finished my last series, “30 Days of Worship.”   I missed writing and missed connecting with all of you. I found myself gazing longingly at my computer.  But God whispered, “Not yet.  I’m teaching you a new thing.”  So here I am, still in the midst of my new thing.  But looking back to what I have learned, ready to do my part in discipleship.  Sharing with you the Good News and how we can hold fast to it.

I hope you join me over the next month or so as I share with you my new series, “On Being Sanctified.”  Why? Because we can all use a little help getting through the fires as God purifies our hearts, preparing us for the day we see our LORD and Savior face to face.  Please follow the blog for my posts and share with your friends!  

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A Responsible Servant

krisshetter 
Go to the ant, you sluggard;
    consider its ways and be wise!
7 It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
8 yet it stores its provisions in summer
    and gathers its food at harvest. Proverbs 6:6-8

Jack Hyles started preaching at several small Texas churches after he graduated from college in the early 50s.  Many of those congregations were small, under 100 members.  During his time at Miller Road Baptist Church that congregation grew from 44 to 4,000 members.  He eventually moved to Indiana where he took over shepherding the First Baptist Church of Hammond.  Membership grew from about 700 to over 20,000.  Along the way Hyles saw the need for better Sunday school programs and eventually, through his innovative Sunday bus program, grew a small Sunday program to one recognized as one of the largest Sunday school programs in America, if not the world.  

“A person who will not take care of the little things will not take care of the big things, for big things are but an accumulation of little things,” he once said.  You see, Mr. Hyles took Proverbs 6:6-8 to heart.  He was responsible, a good steward, of the gifts God imparted him.  He didn’t need an overseer in the church or a show of hands or even a committee to see how to build God’s kingdom here on earth.  He just did it.

I’ve spent many years volunteering in churches and sitting on committees.  It seems an unfortunate fact that many feel they need a blessing by their church to start a ministry.  You not only won’t find that in the Bible but you will find an urging to individually take responsibility for the treasure and talent you have been given.

The ant is part of a collective, yes.  But an ant also knows what its role is within the community.  To build, protect, and sustain. It doesn’t go to any one ant to get its marching orders.  It doesn’t sit around fretting about its greater purpose before acting.  It doesn’t fill out an interest survey to find out its “best suited place.” No, it just gets working.  

Friend, we all have been tasked with working for God’s church.  To build it, to protect it and to sustain it.  Don’t wait for the perfect time or opportunity.  He asks us to take care of the little things first.  You may find in washing a few dishes or folding programs that God has placed you right where you need to be.

Father God, use me as you see fit.  No matter where I am placed, I will work for your Kingdom.  Help me to be a good steward of your gifts imparted to me.  Amen

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Open Communication

krisshetter 
“Then Moses said to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded you to do, so that that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.” Leviticus 9:6

Holy God, it amazes me that you, in your infinite and powerful ways wants to talk to me.  That the God of the universe wants me to come to you each and every day with my needs and my fears.  Today I come to you with praise and thanksgiving that you love me so much.  Amen

I heard a description of an early  “church service” the other day.  The first half was open to anyone and featured scripture reading and the teaching of the gospel.  Then the pastor would call out, “the doors, the doors” and it was the message to those who were not baptized or confessed believers to leave.  The doors would then be closed and the second half of the service commenced.  This is when the holy gift of communicating with God began.  The church membership would have an “upper room” type meeting with breaking of bread and prayer to the Most Holy One.

What I like about this is that shows reverence to the second greatest blessing God bestowed on us (the first being Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins) – a loving, two-way path communicating with God.  A gift given to believers by Jesus and spurred on by the Holy Spirit that lives in the children of God.  I’m not suggesting only believers should pray, it’s just an acknowledgement of the seriousness of this gift we’ve been given.

In the Bible verse today, we see the seeds of God’s desire to communicate with us in the priestly ministry of the ancients.  God spoke through Moses on how to address Him through sacrifices and other holy activities.  He tells the priests in training that when they take these steps, they will see God’s glory revealed to them.  The same is true with the gift of prayer.  

“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1

The disciples, just as in Moses’ day, desired to learn how to communicate with God.  How to open up the heavens so they could see the glory of the One Almighty.  And so Jesus taught them the prayer I mentioned yesterday, what we call “The Lord’s Prayer.”  It starts with reverence, placing God in our hearts and minds rightly where He belongs.  It moves on to acknowledging God as the provider of all our needs and our submission to Him.  We then ask for forgiveness and to forgive others.  And finally for daily guidance.

The gift of prayer is God’s message to us that we are not believers of a god who is unable to do all things, or a god who can’t be trusted, or a god to whom we need to beg to hear us.  Before we pray we need to be fully informed of how we view Him.  If we don’t believe He is merciful then we might believe He will punish us if we bring our sins to Him.  Our prayers should always include a request for wisdom about Him so that when He answers our prayer – which He always does – we will understand the answer and see the glory in His ways.

Today, I want to leave you with this beautiful prayer from King David showing us how to glorify and praise God in all His magnificent ways.

Psalm 63

1 You, God, are my God,
    earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
    my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
    where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
    and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
    and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
    with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you;
    I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help,
    I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 I cling to you;
    your right hand upholds me.
9 Those who want to kill me will be destroyed;
    they will go down to the depths of the earth.
10 They will be given over to the sword
    and become food for jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God;
    all who swear by God will glory in him,
    while the mouths of liars will be silenced.
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I Will

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So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. Matthew 1:19

We left off our study of new beginnings with a cliff hanger of sorts.  There sat Jonah on a hill wishing he were dead.  And God reminding Jonah that He cares for all people of the earth, especially the ones “who cannot tell their right hand from their left.”  Thank goodness for that because there are many days I feel and act like one of those foolish people!  If left to being helped out of my fiery pit by unloving, sleepy Christians, I would surely find myself in the depths of hell.  But for God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  And those that submit themselves not only to their will but do so out of love.

So, we leave the Old Testament with many more stories of new beginnings than I have shared.  And with hope that Jonah finally grasped God’s message of works without love is empty and useless.  But here’s the thing about our guidebook for life, the Bible, God’s holy Word, there’s 1000s of connections back and forth between the ancient stories in the Old Testament and the newer history of the New Testament.  Which leads us to the first new beginning we encounter in the book of Matthew.  Another Noah.  Another servant of God who is the way maker for the world’s new beginning.  The connector from the old ways to the new.  A man who, like Noah, was considered “righteous” and faithful to God.  But first, let me share with you a modern story of another righteous man who helped shepherd in a new beginning for one small child.

Epworth’s Children’s Home received this first-hand account from a foster parent in 2017 about his experience in becoming a foster father:

“Our family has been fostering a boy since October 2017. Yesterday our foster child had a court hearing to determine what step to take as far as his custody goes. I haven’t shared a lot about the whole foster experience because I have been afraid, to be completely honest. Afraid because fostering has been a lot harder for me than I thought it would be. Not because the child is difficult – it has been hard because of my heart. Ever since he came into our home, I have been terrified of becoming too attached and having my heart broken when he would eventually leave our home. I have been terrified of giving him all of my love, my energy, my grace and my compassion. I was sitting in the courtroom listening to the different parties discussing and debating the best course of action for the child’s future, when I started shaking. I began to realize this is the moment! The moment I decide to completely expose my heart to the potential of pain, or keep my walls up. It was absolutely terrifying! I started hearing a small voice inside that I could no longer ignore, and it was telling me to fight for this child. I realized I was willing to do anything for him.

“My walls started to crumble around me. Then I heard the judge call my name. He wanted to know if I wanted to adopt this child. I wanted to scream “Yes! He is my son!”, but I think I said something a little less dramatic like, “Yes sir, we are working on becoming licensed for adoption for this child.” I then heard the judge say that he is ordering termination of parental rights and opening this case for adoption. The weight of this decision is not lost on me, but it was one of the most powerful experiences that I have ever had.”

But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. Matthew 1:20

Joseph was our Lord’s foster father.  As a devout follower of the Mosaic Law, he had every right to not only publicly shame Mary for her “adultery” but also to have her stoned to death!  Before the angel even spoke to him, however, love, kindness, compassion took over and he decided to quietly divorce her.  Think of how Jonah would’ve responded.  Surely God would’ve had to intervene to save Mary’s life from Jonah’s anger.

After Joseph obeyed God’s urging to complete his marriage vows to Mary, his troubles surely were not over. Like Noah, he would’ve faced public humiliation.  The knowledge of Mary’s pregnancy in the small village of Nazareth would have spread like a wildfire.  And yet he stayed the course.  He stayed faithful not only to Mary but to God.  He didn’t, by all accounts do it begrudgingly like Jonah.  He took up the mantle of “foster father” and protected his family, raised his son as his own.  His new beginning was as father to someone else’s son.  An earthly role model.  A shepherd, like Noah, for what was to be all of humanity’s new beginning.

Joseph and the unnamed servant girl who helped Naaman (2 Kings 5:3) also have a lot in common.  They were faithful.  They had a heart for God.  They stepped up to help when they could’ve taken a different path.  Their small steps were a gift to many.  And they both are but a few lines in our history.  Joseph’s last mention of him doesn’t even use his name.  Jesus is 12 years old, immersed in the teachings at the temple and his parents are frantically looking for him.  His mother chastises him and says, “Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you!” (Luke 2:48)  After that, Joseph fades away.  Most likely, he passes before Jesus begins his adult ministry.

And yet we remember him each Christmas for his shepherding, protecting, and faith.  We should all add a bit of thanks to Joseph each day we pray in Jesus’ name.  Because like so many faithful servants of Christ, He obeyed out of love.  He didn’t ask or require that “thanks.”  He didn’t harbor ill will for having to endure hardship.  He put his head down, his hands out and his heart lifted and said to God, “I will.”

I want to share with you the rest of the letter written to Epworth Children’s Home by the foster father:

“I will end with this. This is especially for you guys and fathers. If you feel God tugging at your heart to become a foster parent, listen! There will always be a reason to not become a foster parent, but if your main reason is that you are scared your heart will be broken, then you especially need to do it. Foster children need someone who will be heartbroken over them. They need someone who is going to stick by them when things get hard. They haven’t experienced that. They need someone to love them and be gentle with them when they come over and hit you in the face with a maraca and break your glasses (not that I have ever had that happen, that is completely hypothetical, of course!). They need someone who is going to be faithful to them and strong for them in their weakest moments. I am by no means perfect in any of those, but I am strong in my faith, and it provides me the love, strength and grace that I need. Fostering has made me more dependent on God, in everything, and that is good. Ultimately, I am a foster child who was adopted into His family, and I am fully loved.”

Amen.