THINKING LIKE CHRIST Todays quote: The supreme test of service is this: For whom am I doing this? Much that we call service to Christ is not such at all....If we are doing this for Christ, we shall not care for human reward or even recognition. [A.T. Pierson] Todays scripture: For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. (Gal 5:13) KJV Featured: CHRISTIAN SERVICE The early vigorous Church was essentially a working, serving, and forward looking Church. Partly because of a sensitivity to the Spirits direction and partly because of the rising tide of persecution, the Young Church did not have much chance of becoming self satisfied and complacent. It expanded and spread into all sorts of unlikely places, armed only with the Good News of the love and power of the Spirit. Throughout the New Testament letters we can see how insistent are Paul and the others that the love of God which has sprung up in mens hearts at the touch of Christ must be expressed in outward conduct towards a pagan and frequently hostile world. The early Christians were pioneers of a new way of life, and many of them plainly regarded themselves as expendable for the cause of the Kingdom. The time had not yet come for any Church to become inward looking, prosperous, or self satisfied. Sometimes nowadays one gets the impression that the Christian Churches have largely ceased to look outward. It is almost as though Christians exist in a closed circle of fellowship, with all their members facing inwards; while behind their backs there are millions who long, albeit unconsciously, for the Gospel, and for the point and purpose in life that only the Gospel can bring. If the Churches are to recover the vast power and influence of the Church of New Testament times, there must be a fundamental change of attitude in many Churches, which means of course a fundamental change in the attitude of the Churches members. We must recover our sense of vocation, our sense that we are not, as I said above, an organisation of people who have a common interest in religion, but that we are the local representatives of the God Whom we serve and of the Heaven to which we belong. [Christian Service. New Testament Christianity by JB Phillips] [christlikeminds.org] Christlikeminds International
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 06:20:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015