Welcome to God’s Word to You
God’s Word to You today is found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all He appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Paul gives a pretty good summary of the Gospel here. I will suggest you go and read the whole chapter for more of his words and explanation. But the bottom line is that he is sharing a summary of what he taught to those who would listen and hear and believe.
What he shared is what is important. Yet time and again I see those who are saved adding to it. And you know the worst? There are those who add personal preference to it that unfortunately lead others away from church.
Sadly I don’t think it is all intentional but the problem is what they promote isn’t biblical. An example is type of worship. I saw recently, and had to respond, a post about how certain worship styles and music are leading people away form Christ. It was an article by someone I don’t know but re-posted by many people I do know. I also know they are to my knowledge loving people who are saved.
But the problem is they have a mind set of what church should be. Now to their defense I will add they grew up in a church, are used to that type of church, are used to a certain type of music, a certain type of service and a certain type of preaching. There is nothing wrong with that.
What is wrong is when we choose to say our type of church is the right one, our type of music the right one and our denomination the right one. Yes there are exceptions but that is for cults or non-Christian ones.
The problem with the article I read was it was first judgmental, second judgmental and third, you guessed it, judgmental.
See, I have been in a church for over 14 years that had the same problem this article talked about, that not everyone in church sings on Sunday, and that church didn’t have the style of music that was challenged. I also over the last 14 years have seen worship in other countries and cultures that differ from many of the churches here and yet can be similar to the loud types or services here.
We also just joined one of those “loud” types of churches and form what I have seen it allows people to worship as they wish, singing aloud or listening, has a biblical strong message and best of all, baptisms almost every Sunday. This church isn’t about getting people from other churches to join, though many like us do, ti is about loving people and making disciples.
Now I know that is the statement for many churches but here is what is different. This church does it. How? By choosing to love people no matter where they are from and no matter what speed they are growing.
And that dear ones is my message today. Love is a verb. It is not a mushy emotion. It is something you do not just feel.
Whatever type of worship you choose make sure it doesn’t put other types down but rather builds up the Kingdom of God. Make sure it doesn’t compete with others but builds up the Kingdom of God. Make sure it honors and glorifies Him not a building or group of people.
if it does then don’t be surprised if is grows. If it isn’t growing maybe go back to the scripture and make it simple and then do it.
me n’ God love ya
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I’d love to know how God is working in your lives and get to know you. Please feel encouraged to send any comments and thoughts.
Email me at Chuck.Acts420@gmail.com
in His service,
Chuck
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