A witnessing church
A few days ago I wrote that our church is “a waiting church” (click here to read the article). We are waiting on God’s leading and directions concerning the future ministry within our church. All who are in fellowship are being encouraged to be in daily prayer regarding this, and we have a special church prayer meeting every Thursday evening. We are in awe as God is working, both in the church and in individual lives. Praise his name!
The article I’ve just referred to was based on a sermon preached recently by David A. Today’s devotional article picks up further points from that sermon. David went on to say that, not only was the early church we read about in the book of Acts, chapters 1 and 2, a waiting church, it was also a witnessing church.
A WITNESSING CHURCH
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
That just about covers every part of the world, even us here in Murray Bridge, South Australia. The interesting thing is this: while it is the church and the people in the church who do the witnessing, it is the power of the Holy Spirit which does the work of evangelising. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts each one of sin.
We are called to be witnesses to the saving power of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through friendship with those who are not yet Christians, we can testify to what Christ has done in our lives, and what he continues to do in our lives. It is then totally up to the Holy Spirit to take our faltering words, our feeble attempts at friendship, our sometimes inadequate attempts to help in a practical way that God can use. He then can minister to the hearts of our friends, neighbours, fellow workers and family, and through the Holy Spirit’s influence challenge people to accept Jesus as their own saviour.
Paul challenged young Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist.” (2 Tim. 4:5) Few people are truly called and gifted to be evangelists, but we can all do the work of an evangelist. We can all tell people about salvation through Jesus Christ which is available to all. In that way we can truly be a witnessing church, one which can have a lasting influence on the lives of many within our community and change our little part of the world.
Blessings to you all.
˄TH based on a sermon by ˄DA.