|
| |
| Section: Basic Christian Living:
courses for new Christians |
|
Beginning with God |
|
10. Something
to Offer: |
|
|
Serving in
the Church |
Acts 2:42-47 '[The
believers] devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled
with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling
their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day
they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in
their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God
and enjoying the favour of all the people.'
|
| The
joy of togetherness
These verses describe the love
and commitment in the early church. Today, we want to recapture
the quality of fellowship enjoyed by those early Christians.
You have a part to play here. Your attitude will
determine whether you become a source of encouragement to the
church, as the Lord desires-or a drain on it. Let's look at some
aspects of your life that matter in this respect.
|
 |
| Private
life
Your private life affects your
church life. If someone claims to be a Christian yet acts in
an unchristian way, their non-Christian contacts will soon learn
to despise both the Lord and the church. That's why in your personal
life God wants you to 'avoid every kind of evil' (1 Thessalonians
5:22).
If you're married he wants
you to live in harmony with your partner and get on well with
your children. Also, you're to be a good worker, whether in education,
in a job or running a home (Colossians 3:18-22). The Lord also
wants you to be honest in financial matters and respectful to
the authorities (Romans 13:7).
None of us is perfect in these
matters, but at least we can aim in the right direction with
the Lord's help—which he promises (Philippians 2:13).
Personal devotions
Ephesians
2:20-22 '. . . with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In
him the whole building is joined together and rises to become
a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built
together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit'. |
 |
Jesus is the
cornerstone that binds together the other stones—that's
us—into one building. If we, as individual stones, lose
our grip on him, the whole church is weakened. So keep close
to Jesus.
|
If you meet him regularly in
private, feeding on his Word and engaging in prayer, then your
times with other believers won't degenerate into idle talk and
criticism. Instead, they'll be moments for the unleashing of
spiritual power and blessing.
|
| Unswerving
loyalty
Philippians
2:4
'Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but
also to the interests of others.'
The Lord expects us to be loyal
to our fellow-believers. We are not to 'slander one another'
(James 4:11). Determine that you won't gossip about a fellow-member
or relate any matter of specifically church concern to an outsider
(1 Corinthians 12:24-27).
|
 |
| If you have a grievance with
a fellow-Christian, Matthew 5:23-24 and 18:15-17
explain how to deal with it. Trust no other way. Once division,
rivalry or gossip begin, the church is liable to become a laughing-stock
to the world and a source of grief to the Lord.
Being
together
When Jesus appointed the Twelve,
he chose them first of all to 'be with him' (Mark 3:14-15). Being
together remains the basic ingredient of fellowship. God
doesn't want you to come to a meeting, sit through it and return
home without having had any real communication with your fellow-Christians
(Hebrews 10:24-25).
Group activities make fellowship
easier, but seek the company of Christian friends outside of
meeting times-just to get to know each other more deeply. Remember,
church is not where we go, it's what we are!
Acts
2:44
'All the believers were together.'
Your friendliness will break
down the differences of social background, personality, upbringing,
colour, education and so on.
|
| Using
your home
As far as circumstances allow,
open your home to other Christians, especially to those
whose own homes offer no Christian warmth and comfort, such as
students in lodgings and young people with non-Christian parents.
It's a privilege to use your home to provide a meal, a bed, a
room or even just an hour's relaxation for a fellow-believer:
1 Peter
4:9
'Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.'
|
 |
| Don't be too concerned about having the
house spotlessly tidy, or feel that every meal you offer has to be of cordon
bleu standard. The essence of hospitality is your welcome and your
willingness to share what you have, be it much or little.
Serving the body
a. Practical
service
Like every Christian, you have
some ability you can use to 'serve one another in love' (Galatians
5:13). Here are a few ideas—there are many more:
|
| Home decorating |
Creche work |
Tape-recording |
| Baby-sitting |
Flower-arranging |
Letter-writing |
| Coffee-serving |
Transport |
Bulletin |
| Accountancy |
Stewarding |
Car repairs |
| Gardening |
Visiting |
Word processing |
| Housing advice |
Music |
Electrical work |
| Catering |
Labouring |
Singing |
| Children & teens |
Banking |
Administration
|
|
 |
'It is more blessed to give than to receive,'
said Jesus (Acts 20:35). As you contribute your time, effort and skill,
you'll be greatly blessed, as well as being a blessing to others.
|
| And remember, the aged Christian
praying at home and the girl babysitting to let a busy mother get to a
meeting are both as important to the church as the person who preaches.
b.
Spiritual service
1 Corinthians
12:7
'To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given
for the common good.'
1 Corinthians
14:26 'When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word
of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.
All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.'
|
|
| Come ready
to participate—especially in small-group meetings, where
contribution is less daunting. The Lord doesn't want you sitting
back and becoming a spectator. Be open for him to prompt you
to bring a prayer, a tongue or interpretation, a testimony, an
exhortation, a Bible passage that has been a blessing to you,
a prophecy, a vision, a song-or whatever.
As the Holy Spirit leads, he'll
draw contributions from this person, then from that one, in such
a way that everyone is uplifted and blessed. If you're the shy,
quiet kind, the Lord will help you to overcome your reticence.
When that happens, your contribution will be a particular blessing.
c. Financial
responsibility
Giving extends to money.
According to The New Testament, money is important in the kingdom
of God—though greed is condemned (1 Timothy 6:10). Your
giving should be:
|
 | In proportion
to your means. A bank
manager will obviously give more than a student: |
2 Corinthians
8:3
'They gave as much as they were able, [NASB 'according to their
ability'] and even beyond their ability.'
|
 |
| With cheerfulness. Better not to give at all than to
give reluctantly. |
2
Corinthians 9:7 'Each man should give what he has decided in
his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God
loves a cheerful giver.'
| Systematic. Aim to plan ahead rather than give
haphazardly.
1 Corinthians
16:2
'On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside
a sum of money in keeping with his income.'
|
A baseline
for giving
Some Christians believe we
should give a 'tithe', a word meaning 'tenth', that is, one tenth
of our income. In the Old Testament, Israelites gave a tithe
for the support of their religious leaders, the Levites, and
some hold that Christians should give a tithe to support Christian
ministers today.
But the fact is that tithing
is not taught in the New Testament, and our present economic
system is vastly different from the agricultural economy of
ancient Israel.
|
 |
If
we insisted on tithing today, the less well off could end up
crippled, while those on high salaries would have it easy—they
should probably be giving a good deal more than a tenth. Strictly
speaking, God has a right to all we possess! But since
it's helpful to have some pointers to distinguish what, out of
that 'all', we give specifically to the Lord, tithing can be
a helpful baseline—as long as it does not become a legalistic
practice.
|
Those who do tithe need not stop
at that. Giving over and above that level is traditionally classified as
'offerings'. Some of these may be given on a regular basis, while others may
be only occasional, to meet special needs as they arise.
|
This church,
like most others, needs finance for the support of full-time
ministers in the church, gifts to Christian workers overseas
and visiting speakers and helping the needy in the church. In
addition, we need to spend money on evangelism, maintenance of
church premises, gas and electricity, printing, stationery and
postage—and much more.
|
 |
|
The church's accounts are kept
with scrupulous accuracy. They are open to inspection and are
audited by an accountant.
Jesus said:
Matthew
6:21
'Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.'
In other words, when we give
financially to the church—and thus to the Lord—we strengthen
our commitment both to the church and to him.
|
Be a giver—of yourself, your time, your gifts, your
skills, your insights and your finance—and experience the blessing of God,
who 'so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son' (John 3:16).
--------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
