Rights and responsibilities: The church, the body

Acts 4:29-31 “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thine and to heal: and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they had assembled together: and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” The right for the Church, the Body of Christ, to be used by Jesus, the Head, to carry out God's plans and purposes in the earth was conferred on us by the Blood of Jesus, through the New Birth. Our responsibility is, as hands and feet in the Body, to carry the Good News of the Gospel to the ends of the earth, expecting the preaching of the Word to be confirmed with signs following.

Just as your body is helpless without your head, so the Church, the Body of Christ, is helpless without our Head, Jesus Christ. Through Him God supplies every resource needed for the Body to carry out the will of God, by the Holy Spirit's direction. Without (apart) from Jesus, we can do nothing (John 15:5).

At the same time, your head is helpless without your body. Guillotines proved that. In the same manner Jesus, our Head, can do nothing apart from His Body, the Church. The Head is in Heaven, the Body on Earth; therefore God's Will, Plans, and Purposes for mankind must be carried out through Christ's Body, the Church. It is the Church's responsibility, therefore, to cooperate with its Head, Jesus Christ, by renewing our minds to who we are, what we have, and what we can do in the earth, in and through Christ, our Head. In doing so we'll use our authority, as believers, to further the Kingdom of God.

You have a part in carrying out Jesus's Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). For more information on this and other foundational topics read my book Born To Win: A Study guide For New Believers, available in hardback through our office, and now available on Amazon's Kindle Store (see link on our home page).

Are you there?

"Are we there?" is an often asked question on trips. "There" can be Grandpa and Grandma's house, an amusement park, or other anticipated destination-a place of rest, enjoyment, and fulfillment. "There" is a place worth leaving where one is at to get to as quickly as possible, in order to get the most out of being "there". The same is true in our walk with God. Each of us has a "there" that  God has prepared. "There" is a place of contentment where every need is met in full, consistent with our continued obedience to what God is saying to us through His Word, and by His Spirit.

Elijah's "there" was by a particular brook. That's where God told him to go. By that brook Elijah's every need was met.

Where is your "there"? Where is that place of contentment God has for you? Not where the crowd is, but where God says. Not where someone prophesied you're to be, but where God says (I believe in prophecies, as long as they line up with the written Word of God and confirm what's already in my heart (spirit).

Sometimes getting "there" involves inconvenience, adjustment, and, yes, opposition (even from friends and family members). The "there" God has for you is a place of God working through your life to bring blessing to someone else, whether that be many or a few.

I heard a missionary's wife state that, at first, she didn't want to go (overseas). After willingly being there for awhile, she grew to love where she was, because she was in the place God had for her.

The same is true for you. Are you "there"? Are you in the place God wants you to be? If so, then you know the peace and contentment that being in the perfect will of God produces. If not, are you willing to go to the "there" God has for you? Ask God to show you where your "there" is, then be willing to do whatever it takes to be "there". God will always do His part, which includes helping you to do yours.

How the Truth will make you free

John 8:31,32 "...If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." What is the Truth? The Truth is God's Word, the Holy Bible. Not a truth-The Truth; however just having the truth (the Word) won't automatically make you free. If that were true every person with a Bible-even an atheist-would be free. It's the Truth you know for yourself-not the Truth itself-that makes you free.

One has to know the Truth (the Word) concerning salvation for himself/herself before being saved.The same is true concerning the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, healing, prosperity, or any other provision of God. Knowing what God has done for someone else, such as for salvation, may inspire your faith ; however what God has done in another person's life won't do you a bit of good until you hear and act upon that truth for yourself.

Hearing means hearing the Word of God for yourself. Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The faith that comes by hearing God's Word then becomes real in your life by acting upon the Word (Truth) that you've been hearing. The Truth you hear, receive, and act upon will make you free in the area (s) you have been bound in.  As a teenager I began to hear the Truth concerning salvation. On the night of August 17, 1969, I acted upon that Truth and received salvation in my life, becoming what the Bible calls a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The Truth making you free is a process, requiring time and patience. Most problems don't occur overnight. Likewise, you need to allow the Truth whatever time is needed to cleanse, heal, deliver, and make you free. Quick fixes are short-term. The Word is eternal. Fill your heart and mouth with the Truth. Take steps. Act on the Word. The Truth will make you free.

Anything worth doing well is worth taking time. Your greatest challenge is choosing to do things God's way-according to His Word. Allow God 's Word to change your thinking. Learn to think, talk, and act in line with God's Word.

You'll be made free. In thought, word, and action.

Is your life built on wisdom or foolishness?

Matthew 7:24-27 is the conclusion of Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, illustrating the importance of being a doer of the Word, not just a hearer. Many teach that the rock mentioned in these verses  is Christ. This, however, cannot be true. Although Christ is referred to as a Rock in I Corinthians 10:4, the  (lower case) rock Jesus states in Matthew 7:24,25  is the foundation of being both a hearer and a doer of the sayings of Jesus. To say it another way the person who builds his/her life on the rock of obeying (being a doer of) God's Word has a solid foundation, one that is ready for the rain and winds of adversity which come to all of us.

Jesus told us that the storms of life come to all of us, the wise and foolish. No one is immune from adversity. If Jesus faced tests and trials-and He did-then all those who follow Him today will as well.

Believing otherwise is foolishness.

How can you tell if your life is built on a rock or sand? By what comes out of your mouth when you're faced with sickness, an unexpected bill, loss of job, or other "storm". Will words of fear, anger, doubt, or denial come out of your mouth, or will God's Word?

Words are the building blocks of life. God's Words are words of faith, peace, and assurance. You can have His Word come out of your mouth, as Jesus did in Matthew 4, verses 4, 7, and 10. How? By putting God's Word into your heart on a daily basis. This includes hearing and hearing (and hearing) the Word, especially the epistles (letters) written to believers, the Church. What God says about his Church is for you, individually. What's Truth for all the Church  is Truth for each person, each follower of Jesus Christ.

Discover who and what you are, what you have, and what you can do through Christ, as God's child. Hearing, believing, speaking, and acting on God's Word is building your life on wisdom-actions which will enable you to stand when rain, winds, and floods test your life.

Framed, by whom?

Paintings come in many sizes. Some are large, others quite small, with most of just average length and width. While most people focus on the painting, how many take time to notice the frame? What does a frame do? It defines the boundaries of the object inside the frame. The painting, which holds our attention, can never exceed the limitations of its frame, without changing frames. How does the relationship of frame to painting relate to our lives? Hebrews 11:3 tells us that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. The word framed, as used here, means to complete thoroughly; to repair or adjust. The physical worlds were completed thoroughly, repaired, or adjusted by God's own Word. In our personal lives our world-how we see ourselves, others, and even God-is framed by our words. Whose words are you being framed by? What kind of words are framing you? Are they words of faith-what God says about you- or are they words of doubt, fear, sickness, and yes, even suicide? Who are you allowing to frame your life-the picture people see when they think, see, or talk to you? Is it friends, co-workers, relatives, neighbors, or someone at church, including the Pastor? Why not  you be the main person who frames your life with the words you say, from God's Word, about yourself? Remember, it's not what others-even Christians-say about you that determines the painting you present to the world. It's what you say that ultimately frames your life, your world if you will. By whom are you being framed?

Flannel Graph Music

No one invented music. God, who created music for His purposes, has enabled many to write vast numbers of compositions, varying in style, sound, and, arguably, substance. There is, it appears, something for everyone. But is there? Years ago, many a Sunday School teacher used flannel graphs as a means of illustration. Bible stories came to life using characters and scenes made from felt. Children's attention (admittedly many years ago) was kept by the teacher through both words and flannel graphs placed on the easel. Those days are pretty much gone.

The same is true for Christian music. The days of God's amazing grace never end; it is as much needed now (or more) than ever before. Songs of amazing grace-and other life topics-are in danger of a lesser audience. Not because grace isn't needed (by grace you are saved-Ephesians 2:8), but because the ones we're trying to reach are not going to, for the most part, respond to a style of music foreign to them.

I like (some) classical music. I appreciate the discipline required to perform with excellence. Having played the piano since being in kindergarten, I admire those who have a passion for this style of musical expression. Not all would share my view. Some were raised on jazz, blues, country, bluegrass, folk, and even contemporary Christian music. The 70's and 80's brought names like the Gaithers, Andrae Crouch, the Imperials, 2nd Chapter of Acts, and Janie Grein, to name a few, into our lives. Their songs-and styles-gave rise to contemporary Christian music.

As much as I loved the music of many a yesterday, we have a new audience. They're hungry for God and long to know Him, in part, through hearing the Truth in the music they listen to. Not every musical style causes me to want to worship God (I don't need music to get into God's Presence to worship Him). But if this present generation of children, teenagers, and early twenties is going to be reached, the songs of old need a makeover-extreme in some cases. We see this with Amazing Grace and many of our Christmas songs. Same words; a more relevant style.

It's time to replace our "flannel graph" music with styles which relate to today's audience. Change need not be synonymous with compromise. The message of God's amazing grace (and the rest of the Bible) is timeless. So, too, is change, if the Church is going to stay relevant in reaching this generation for Christ.

The Real Church

Who is the real Church? On what basis was it founded? Many religious groups claim that they-and they alone-are the one, true Church. Upon whose authority is the true Church founded? Who's right? Finally, once the Church's true identity is established, what are its responsibilities to a lost and dying world, in desperate need of answers? By what means will life's answers be shown and given to those who are in need-spiritually, physically, financially and materially? The Bible-the only Book God ever authored-gives us the answer in Matthew 16:13-20. When Peter was asked by Jesus who he believed Jesus to be, Peter responded, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God". Jesus then told Peter that His Church would be built upon this rock (confession). God built His Church on Jesus Christ-no one or nothing else. On Jesus Christ, the living Word. And on no other person or thing.

As the Church, the Body of Christ, we represent Jesus to a lost and dying world. We are the hands and feet which God, by Jesus the Head, uses to bring salvation (including healing and deliverance) to those without Christ. Mark 16:17-18 says that we (believers-the Church) are to lay hands on the sick and they (the sick) shall recover. God supplies the healing; we supply the hands, as well as the willingness to lay hands on the sick. God is the Healer; we are the "hands" God operates through.

God has all the power, whereas the Church, the Body of Christ, has all of the authority. God can’t do anything in the earth apart from us, His Body. Jesus gave us-His Church- His authority, about 2,000 years ago. When the Church, gives God permission to work His plan in this earth, things happen.

Remember that God needs us, His church, as much as we need Him. What can God do in the earth apart from his Body.? And what can we, the Body of Christ, do apart from God’s power? Nothing, in both cases. God and we are a team, working out His plans for His purposes throughout the earth.

To Him be all the Glory.

© Hubert Gardner Ministries 2013-2024