Brian Hopkins – Page 15 – Mt Freedom Baptist Church

Every believer understands the command by Jesus to “Go therefore and make disciples”, but very few strive to make evangelism part of their daily lives. When we allow our hearts to be in tune with our Savior’s, evangelism then becomes something which will flow from our mouths and our actions more naturally. It is the duty and privilege of every Jesus follower to set their life on a course which helps fulfill this great command from Jesus. Lives are at stake, and we must train ourselves for the work of an evangelist, whether we want to or not.

One of the basic considerations of our faith is that of working in cooperation with other followers of Christ. In the last thirty years, mainstream Christian denominational memberships have declined more than 20%. This should do more than just alarm us. It should motivate us into action. We have a duty to cooperate with each other, serve those in need, serve alongside other Christian churches, serve our association, our state convention, and our national convention. We must never forget that we are in this fight together! Even though Satan is the ruler of this world, it doesn’t mean we should sit idly by and let him continue his work of destroying our ministries.

Biblical illiteracy and lack of spiritual maturity is quickly becoming an alarming trend across Christian churches. God – since the moment He granted Adam dominion over the earth has always encouraged His children to pursue knowledge, understanding and wisdom. He did this because He knew how desperately we would need His laws and His structure as we daily face the trials and tribulations our current culture is forcing onto the believer. We must develop a personal plan of discipleship, we must teach the next generation about God, Jesus, Salvation, and the Holy Spirit. No longer should it be acceptable to sit at home or in the pew with the attitude of, “the church doesn’t need me anymore. They have plenty of others to do that.” God expects every believer to study and then teach someone else all that God has taught them.

We need to look at salvation and what it really means for the person who chooses God over self. Our salvation has more to do with Him than it does with who we are. Yes, we are special and the greatest of His creation, but our salvation demonstrates the mercy and grace of a loving God.

Jesus did not give us lip service. He gave us His life. On Calvary’s cross He laid it all down. He left the glory of heaven for the work of the cross. He surrendered to the agony of the cross, all for love, so that you and I could one day inherit eternal life. If He held nothing back for you, why would you hold back anything from Him? What does your stewardship say about the authenticity of your faith? What does it say about where your trust really is? What does it say about your heart?

Holy is the way God is. To say that He is holy means he doesn’t conform to a standard but is instead, THE STANDARD! 1 Peter 1:13-17 expresses a non-negotiable call to holiness, which involves a change of heart and in turn a change in life. To be more holy doesn’t mean that a person cannot sin. Instead, it means a person must, through the power of the Holy Spirit, choose not to sin. Holiness is a deliberate choice to seek wholeness in the world. We must remove old habits and develop new ones. When a person understands the truth about Biblical Holiness, it becomes the most desirable possibility in all human experiences.

Paul, in his letter to the church of Galatia lets us know; true freedom doesn’t come through putting self-first. Freedom comes when we have an authentic relationship with Jesus and through Him, we live to serve one another. It is our faith that frees us to follow the words of Christ, as repeated by Paul in verse 14. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Christian freedom means freedom together. We are better together. We are stronger together. In Christ, we are free to love others as Christ loves others.

When we pause to consider the condition of the world we live in, it’s extremely difficult to envision the things of this world as being part of God’s Kingdom. Our only hope is that people will put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. In the meantime, we wait patiently on the coming of our Lord. Till this day comes, the Kingdom of God exists within the hearts and lives of those who love Him.

Psalm 19 is one of the greatest theological writings in all the Bible. In this poem, King David did a phenomenal job communicating about how awesome our Creator truly is. His words draw us to a place where all of creation can be better understood. David also informs us, that as much as God uses creation to reveal Himself to us, it is His Word, where even more is revealed. As we’ll discover in his closing prayer, King David’s intention was not to be perfect, but rather to stand before God as one who sought purity of heart and blamelessness. His desire was to avoid the things which displeased God. We can work towards this if we trust God and His Word.

Look around you sometime. Have you ever noticed how flawed we really are? I often find myself saying, “C’Mon Man!” more frequently than I should. Unfortunately, there is a devastating trend in the local church. Men are absent. Only 1/10 men who regularly attend church will serve as leaders in the church. This staggering statistic is not God’s way. It breaks my heart to say it, but men have become lazy, they have become complacent, they have become fat, happy, and content to sit back and let the women do all the work. It makes me say, “C’Mon Man!” and makes me wonder what it’s going to take to wake us up? Doing it God’s way is a must and needs to become our priority!

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