October 2, 2013

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself."  Matthew 22:36-39

Two major footings in the foundation of the Faith and the Church are the Great Commission and the Scripture above, the Great Commandment.

While they are two separate significant statements of Jesus, they are really inseparable.

The Great Commission is the "what" - "go into all the world and make disciples" while the Great Commandment is the "why" - "Love the Lord your God with all your heart" and "Love your neighbor as yourself".

Put those two truths together and you realize evangelism is the mission for the Church and every member of it and love is the motivation for evangelism. 

FredWes then, exists to accomplish the Great Commission in the spirit of the Great Commandment.

That is a catchy slogan but how do we accomplish it?

The answer is found in taking this same concept a step further. Love is not just the mission and the motivation but I believe it is the "MEANS" as well!

I witness because I love God and because I want people I love to love God. I also witness BY demonstrating the love of God toward them!

That is the rationale behind our three step "Each One Reach One" strategy of: (1) Prayer; (2) Care; and (3) Share.

What is more loving than praying for someone? It is especially loving when you are interceding for their salvation.

What is more loving than caring for someone? When I spend time with someone that shows I care. When I meet needs for someone that shows I care. When I care about what they care about that demonstrates my love.

What is more loving than sharing the Good News of the Gospel with someone who has never know the joy of salvation?

Love expressed in those three ways faithfully over time becomes a powerful, almost irresistible force!

What I have described in this post is exactly what I meant when I modified our motto to "Loving you to life!"

At FredWes we want to love people to life - eternal life and abundant life in Christ! We want to do it by praying for their salvation on a regular basis. And we want to do it by caring for the person we are praying for. As a result of faithfully praying and caring God will give you an opportunity to share how they can know Jesus, too!

I was loved into life with Christ.

I have loved others into life with Christ.

Who are you loving to life?

October 1, 2013

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16

The year was 1995, the date was October 15, and the scene was the United Center arena on Chicago's west-side. What normally serves as home for the Chicago Bulls and Black Hawks, housed an overflow crowd of 20,000 plus as the Willow Creek Community Church gathered to celebrate their 20th anniversary as a church.

It was an inspiring evening of music and worship and testimonies. But the highlight of the event happened when all the lights were shut off across the arena and it was pitch dark. Shortly after the darkness settled across the vast room, these instructions came over the PA system, "If you have come to know Jesus as your Savior during this past twenty years in Willow Creek, please switch on the pen light you were handed when you came into the arena this evening."

One by one across that darkened arena points of light began to appear until glow of 20,000 pen lights pierce the darkness and illuminated the room! For a moment a holy hush fell over the arena as the significance of the light dawned on them! But then a thunderous roar arose and resounded across the room in celebration of lives transformed forever by the grace of God!

I get a chill down my spine as I ponder on what that moment must have been like!

That's evidence of a great church! A church that is great in its passion to reach lost people! A church that teaches its people how to shine their lights in a dark world.

It has been nearly 20 years since that momentous event and 20,000+ more have been reached by this ministry! 

Are you a follower of Christ?

Then you have a light! That light must shine brightly in a dark world! Let's each one reach one this year!

Through the month of October I will be sharing from a book entitled "Just Walk Across the Room" authored by the pastor of this Chicagoland church. In this book he shares the simple steps they teach and use to win people out of spiritual darkness into the light of salvation!

Let's light up this town!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

September 30, 2013

"The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!" Matthew 8:27

Fundamental life changes can happen in a moment, can't they?

It only takes a second to utter, "I do!", but it alters your life forever!

The second they hand you that newborn baby, there is an immediate transformation that happens within you!

In the moment it takes a doctor.to announce, "I'm sorry, he's gone" your life radically changes.

Such was the dramatic change that happened in the hearts and minds of the disciples when they witnessed Jesus stop the storm and still the sea with a simple sentence. They suddenly  saw Him  in a whole new light. In  a moment they went from being fearful to fearing God.

"Wait a minute, Brad! That sounds like a contradiction!"

My answer to you is, "There is fear (being afraid for your life) and there is fearing God (having a deep reverent awareness of His holiness and power)." The disciples changed from one to the other in a matter of moments!

Mark and Luke give a better insight to that in their account of the incident- Mark says, "they feared exceedingly"; and Luke, "they being afraid, wondered": they were filled with astonishment and fear, or reverence: there was such a shine of majesty, such a lustre of divine power appeared in this affair.

Want to live fearlessly? Fear God!

Consider these verse verses:

Job 28:28 "And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'"

Isaiah 11:2-3 "And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD."

Jeremiah 5:22 "Should you not fear me?" declares the Lord. "Should you not tremble in my presence?"

Hebrews 7:11 -"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."

As you walk with God today, will you ask Him for a fresh glimpse of His power and majesty so He can fill you with a holy fear of Him so you will fear nothing else!

September 29, 2013

"And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Hebrews 9:10-14

The value of anything is a function of its demand and its availability.

Also, value is determined by the price someone is willing to pay.

This is why redemption is such a highly prized commodity. Everyone would love a second chance in life but those are hard to come by. In fact, it was impossible to have a second chance until Jesus purchased it through the shedding of His blood upon the cross of Calvary. On that cross He bought back in blood what Adam had lost by his sinful rebellion against God.

Adam sold us out when he disobeyed God in Eden. God had created him especially to tend the garden and produce food to meet the needs of his family. When he allowed himself to be deceived by Satan he surrendered the power and authority given him by God. Jesus, born sinless and living without sin, He became the sacrifice for our sins to settle the debt for those sins.

Being redeemed means you have been bought back out of slavery and into God's glorious freedom. Through the shed blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, God paid the price to ransom you from slavery to sin and death and hell. As the song declares, "He paid a debt He didn't owe to release you from a debt you couldn't pay".

When God redeemed you from slavery He didn't take you as a slave but He adopted you as a child! As a child of God you are a joint-heir of all the riches and all the authority that belonged to Jesus. So, redemption means you were set free - you were bought back from abject poverty and absolute slavery into glorious freedom as God's child! You have gone from having nothing to having everything!

"Redemption" is a term of endearment! Now you understand why?!

September 28, 2013

"When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”  So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly." Luke 19:5-6

While there is not much that is typical about Jesus, this encounter with Zacchaeus was typical of the way Jesus lead people to faith. He met them where they were, engaged them in a conversation, turned the conversation to spiritual issues and then called them to salvation.

Here it was Zacchaeus.

The last few days we talked about the man on the mat lowered through the roof by friends.

Then there was Nicodemus the religious leader who came to Jesus under the cover of darkness.

Don't forget the Rich Young Ruler who came to Jesus hopeful but went away sad.

And, there was the Samaritan woman who Jesus met by the well, changed her life and then she later saved her city.

You would think that someone like Jesus would have concentrated on throngs of people and attempt to convert them by the thousands at large campaign type rallies. But he didn't! He tended to meet people and convert them one-on-one.

Maybe if Jesus had held large tent revivals all across the country with the lute player and the most accomplished harpist to provide musical support, maybe He would have left behind more that just 120 followers.

What was He thinking?

Perhaps He was thinking about the value of each individual person He encountered.

As it turns out, Jesus picked some winners!

The Samaritan woman was so changed after she converted that most of her town!

Nicodemus later used  his influence to protect Jesus when He was being grilled by the Pharisees.

Why do you think Jesus did evangelism one-on-one rather than in multitudes?

Your guess is as good as mine but I am thinking it may have been that way because salvation is a personal and individual decision. If people did get saved in a large gathering it still had to happen individually and one at a time.

The world changes one conversion at a time. Never underestimate the importance of your witness! Don't lose sight of the power of your influence through friendship. Learn to leverage your friendships into evangelism opportunities and we can change our world!

September 27, 2013

"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'" Luke 16:22-24

The drama continues but the scene changes as well as the scenery. Both the rich man and the beggar have died, their locations have changed and their roles have reversed.

From this insightful story we learn a significant fact about our eventual destiny: Existence Is Eternal

When the beggar died he was carried by an angel into heaven. In this version of the story it was Abraham who was the central figure in heaven. I'm sure Jesus told the story this way because he was telling it to people devoted to Judaism and they revered Abraham. Also, this is prior to His own sacrificial death and resurrection which was an absolute game changer.

Later, the wealthy man passed and the news is not so good for him. He found himself in hell, still alive but extremely tormented. To add to his torment was the fact that he could look up into heaven and see what he had missed.

We believe that the Bible teaches that each of us exist for eternity. From the moment we are conceived and life begins we become eternal beings. The only question is where we will exist. 

And that is a HUGELY important question.

The nine months we spend in the womb is short compared to the length of our life after we are born. But what happens in that period is extremely important to how life happens after our birth.

In the same way, our earthly life is very short when compared to eternity, but the choices and commitments we make during that life-span is vital to where we will spend eternity.

This story that Jesus told tells us that existence is eternal. The fact that you exist is evidence that you are eternal.

Where will you spend your eternity? Will you live happily ever after?

September 26, 2013

"Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.  When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Mark 2:2-4

This is just a great story in every way!

I want to focus on another aspect of the story. I want to call your attention to the four men who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus!

Are you concerned about bringing your friends to Jesus? 

These men show how to do it!

Bringing your friend to Jesus takes a concern. These four cared enough about their needy neighbor that they came up with a plan to carry him to Jesus!

How can you say you are concerned about a friend if you don't have a plan for getting him to Jesus?

Bringing you friend to Jesus takes a conviction. These men had a strong belief that their paralyzed neighbor needed to be saved and healed. They also had a firm belief that Jesus could heal their friend if they could somehow take him to Jesus. Their conviction was demonstrated by their actions.

Do you have a friend or family member who needs to be saved? Do have a strong conviction that unless they are touched by Jesus they will perish eternally? Are you ready to act on that conviction?

Bringing your friend to Jesus takes commitment. These men had to take time and effort to get their friend's bed carried to the house where Jesus was speaking. After they carried this friend on his bed all the way across town their commitment was challenged when they discovered there was no way to get through the crowd and into the house. What now? Should they give up and go back home? No! They were committed enough to carry their need friend up the back steps and onto the roof, then tear a hole in the roof and then carefully lower the bed down into the house.

Do you have a friend or a family member who needs Jesus? How committed are you to carrying him to Jesus?

Bringing your friend to Jesus may take cooperation. These men obviously all cared about the spiritual and physical welfare of their neighbor. Each of them wanted to see their friend meet Jesus. But due to his situation and circumstances none of them could get their neighbor to Jesus by themselves. To get his man to the Savior was going to require the cooperation of all four. Because they were willing to work together their friend was healed and saved by Jesus!

Christians are not called to be lone rangers. We need each other's talents, gifts, support and encouragement. By cooperating in worship, giving, prayer and serving we can get more people to Jesus than any of us can working alone!

In part, this is what this Sunday's Pigskin & Pig-picking event is about!

Getting people to Jesus is the calling that God has given to His followers. It is the Great Commission not the good idea or the best option!

Be inspired by the example of these four men who had enough concern, enough conviction, enough commitment and enough cooperation to get their neighbor to Jesus. 

Be inspired enough to follow that example!