Dear Fellow Servants, Our lives, our churches, are on display for all to see. Unlike using exhibits or displays as an occasional teaching method, our lives and churches are always being used by those around us as a demonstration of what being a Christian is all about. Whether its your role as a boss or employee or in your everyday decision-making, people are watching and forming an opinion about this new life you profess. Tips from the Apostle Paul: Know you goals. Just like knowing your basic goals in managing the classroom makes a difference, so does pursuing the right objectives affect our testimony as Christ-ones. The Apostle Paul clearly knew his goal. -- I want to know Christ - yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Phil. 3:10-11) Be committed. Students quickly identify half-hearted teaching. And, they tend to respond better to fully committed teachers. So does the world pick up on those who just seem to be playing at this thing called Church. They dont have a good impression of lukewarm Christianity. The Apostle Paul obviously committed himself to his goal. -- Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. (Phil. 3:12) Put your confidence in God. Being a good testimony isnt about how we look to others but rather people seeing Christ in us. Its about Him and what He does in and through us. The Apostle Paul counted his personal accomplishments as rubbish. -- But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. (Phil. 3:7) . . . not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. (Phil. 3:9) Dont wallow in past mistakes. None of us have arrived. There will be times we fail to walk in the Spirit and consequently exhibit a poor display of what it means to be in Christ. Accept Gods grace and forgiveness. Make amends with others as needed and start anew in His strength and power. Even the Apostle Paul realized his own humanity. -- I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal . . . (Phil. 3:13-14) People are watching. What perceptions might they be forming about Christianity because of your life? Would they want what your church offers? Remember, they arent just listening to our words. Lets press on,
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 14:36:47 +0000