February 3rd 2019
Jesus Surrounded Himself With Members Of Mankind That He Was Training To Become Godly.
1Corinthians 12:12-13 (NIV)
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Do you regularly attend the church of your choice? If not, do you believe that attendance of a church is required by Jesus? Can you be saved and choose not to attend a church of your choice on a regular basis? If you believe you have been saved by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, why would you not plan to attend a church of your choice on a regular basis? Is it because you have found that no church, you know of offers a perfect place for you to attend? Do you believe it is NOT necessary for you to attend an organized church for you to be a good person? All of these questions may cause you to wonder, what is the big deal about attending a church on a regular basis! Luke wrote about Jesus and how He attended a church on a regular basis, when He walked on this earth. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. (Luke 4:14-16)
Note Jesus did not only attend a church, but He also participated in the worship service! Attending a church of your choice should not be considered a requirement, it should be looked at as a privilege! In many countries attendance at a church could be dangerous, as Christianity is considered to be in conflict to the security of the country as a whole. This may become the status of Christian church attendance in this country before long! Christians are no longer allowed to display declarations of our belief in the public square, such as, displaying the Ten Commandments, or have a manger scene during the Christmas season. If you were restricted from attending a church of your choice, would you revolt against such laws, or even attend in a hidden place to avoid punishment? I enjoy attending the church of my choice, and enjoy participating in the worship services, and miss going when services are cancelled, as has happened recently here, because of bad weather! I do not understand why anyone would choose to never attend a church of their choice!
Paul wrote to the church of Rome about how each church is a place where people attend and become part of the body of Christ, because they come to love the other people who choose to attend there. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (Romans 12:4-5). Can you imagine becoming part of a church community, and thus feeling that “each member belongs to all the others.” Have you ever read about Job, and how his friends came to support him, when God allowed Satan to disrupt his lifestyle? When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathies with him and comfort him. (Job 2:11). They “met together by agreement to go and sympathies with him and comfort him.” Church members still do such things today! I know from experience, do you?
Some people say times change and they do not believe churches always help people who attend there, as they once did. Solomon in his wisdom had something to say about how some things do not really change very much, if at all! I know that everything God does will endure for ever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. (Ecclesiastes 3:14). God is in control of this universe and He upholds it. As Solomon puts it, “God does it so that men will revere him.” If you remember the story, Solomon asked God for wisdom, instead of asking for earthly wealth, and God gave him both. James the brother of Jesus wrote for us about being able to ask God for wisdom, so we can determine the correct things to do in our earthly lifestyle. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5). James says you can ask for wisdom from God “who gives generously to all without finding fault.” James tells us we can ask God for wisdom, and He will not fault in us for asking!
Jesus gave all of mankind the option of choosing the follow Him or not to follow Him, as we have a free will. However, if we choose to not follow Jesus in this lifetime, then we will spend eternity in hell separated from Him. Because of this terrible loss, Jesus gave all those who choose to follow Him a command to tell other people about Him and the salvation He offers to all of mankind. This is because Jesus/God does not want anyone to go to hell when they die. Jesus gave us who decided to follow Him a command to tell people about hell, and the Way to avoid going there. He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15-16). Even though all Christian churches are imperfect, because people run them, they still offer the best place for all those in the body of Christ to congregate and thus to allow sharing the power of God and telling people how to avoid going to hell when they die. Surely, you want to be a part of that!
Paul wrote to the church at Philippi to inform them to try and think about eternity and not just concentrate on the present time. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:19b-21). He told them, and us, to not devote all our time to earthly pursuits by having “their mind is on earthly things.” Then Paul reminded them about making sure they override these earthly thoughts and include time for thinking about heaven because of salvation given to us by Jesus, thus “our citizenship is in heaven.” So, we should be looking forward to meeting Jesus there, at which time He, “will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” Do you have time to attend a church on a regular basis? Jesus found time for it when He lived on this earth. Is your faith stronger than His was? Jesus surrounded Himself with members of mankind that He was training to become Godly. Are you trying to become more Christ-like every day, if so, then you need to be surrounded by likeminded people, at least every Sunday! Even more often would be to your advantage! Don’t just attend, participate!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
1Corinthians 12:12-13 (NIV)
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Do you regularly attend the church of your choice? If not, do you believe that attendance of a church is required by Jesus? Can you be saved and choose not to attend a church of your choice on a regular basis? If you believe you have been saved by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ, why would you not plan to attend a church of your choice on a regular basis? Is it because you have found that no church, you know of offers a perfect place for you to attend? Do you believe it is NOT necessary for you to attend an organized church for you to be a good person? All of these questions may cause you to wonder, what is the big deal about attending a church on a regular basis! Luke wrote about Jesus and how He attended a church on a regular basis, when He walked on this earth. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. (Luke 4:14-16)
Note Jesus did not only attend a church, but He also participated in the worship service! Attending a church of your choice should not be considered a requirement, it should be looked at as a privilege! In many countries attendance at a church could be dangerous, as Christianity is considered to be in conflict to the security of the country as a whole. This may become the status of Christian church attendance in this country before long! Christians are no longer allowed to display declarations of our belief in the public square, such as, displaying the Ten Commandments, or have a manger scene during the Christmas season. If you were restricted from attending a church of your choice, would you revolt against such laws, or even attend in a hidden place to avoid punishment? I enjoy attending the church of my choice, and enjoy participating in the worship services, and miss going when services are cancelled, as has happened recently here, because of bad weather! I do not understand why anyone would choose to never attend a church of their choice!
Paul wrote to the church of Rome about how each church is a place where people attend and become part of the body of Christ, because they come to love the other people who choose to attend there. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (Romans 12:4-5). Can you imagine becoming part of a church community, and thus feeling that “each member belongs to all the others.” Have you ever read about Job, and how his friends came to support him, when God allowed Satan to disrupt his lifestyle? When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathies with him and comfort him. (Job 2:11). They “met together by agreement to go and sympathies with him and comfort him.” Church members still do such things today! I know from experience, do you?
Some people say times change and they do not believe churches always help people who attend there, as they once did. Solomon in his wisdom had something to say about how some things do not really change very much, if at all! I know that everything God does will endure for ever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. (Ecclesiastes 3:14). God is in control of this universe and He upholds it. As Solomon puts it, “God does it so that men will revere him.” If you remember the story, Solomon asked God for wisdom, instead of asking for earthly wealth, and God gave him both. James the brother of Jesus wrote for us about being able to ask God for wisdom, so we can determine the correct things to do in our earthly lifestyle. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. (James 1:5). James says you can ask for wisdom from God “who gives generously to all without finding fault.” James tells us we can ask God for wisdom, and He will not fault in us for asking!
Jesus gave all of mankind the option of choosing the follow Him or not to follow Him, as we have a free will. However, if we choose to not follow Jesus in this lifetime, then we will spend eternity in hell separated from Him. Because of this terrible loss, Jesus gave all those who choose to follow Him a command to tell other people about Him and the salvation He offers to all of mankind. This is because Jesus/God does not want anyone to go to hell when they die. Jesus gave us who decided to follow Him a command to tell people about hell, and the Way to avoid going there. He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15-16). Even though all Christian churches are imperfect, because people run them, they still offer the best place for all those in the body of Christ to congregate and thus to allow sharing the power of God and telling people how to avoid going to hell when they die. Surely, you want to be a part of that!
Paul wrote to the church at Philippi to inform them to try and think about eternity and not just concentrate on the present time. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:19b-21). He told them, and us, to not devote all our time to earthly pursuits by having “their mind is on earthly things.” Then Paul reminded them about making sure they override these earthly thoughts and include time for thinking about heaven because of salvation given to us by Jesus, thus “our citizenship is in heaven.” So, we should be looking forward to meeting Jesus there, at which time He, “will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” Do you have time to attend a church on a regular basis? Jesus found time for it when He lived on this earth. Is your faith stronger than His was? Jesus surrounded Himself with members of mankind that He was training to become Godly. Are you trying to become more Christ-like every day, if so, then you need to be surrounded by likeminded people, at least every Sunday! Even more often would be to your advantage! Don’t just attend, participate!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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