Tag: gospel

Kids & Kingdom: Children in the Gospels- Heirs of the Kingdom

On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn Imago Dei Class, Kids & KingdomLeave a comment

I recently heard a counselor tell parents that one of the most helpful tools in raising children is the remembrance of their own childhood. This helps the parent remember what it felt like to be a child, including both the positive and negative aspects.

For example, it helps the parent consider how little things can be huge things to kids, like the friend that hurt their feelings during recess. In our adult minds, we know it was likely a minor thing and not worth getting all worked up about. But for them, it is as if their world came crashing down on the playground.

Remembering what it felt like to be a child helps us have sympathy and compassion for children and their experience of life. It enables us to enter their world, so to speak, and comprehend the things that matter (or don’t matter) to them.

Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses as one who was tempted in every way as we are, yet was without sin. He can sympathize with children, too, because he was one. He is not just our perfect high priest, but theirs too. He can understand their world, their struggles, and their dreams. He also knows what children are capable of, even when adults can’t see it.

Let the Children Come to Me

Jesus’ disposition towards children is displayed in several of the gospels. Consider this story from Mark 10. “And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.’ And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them” (Mk 10:13-16).

Who was bringing children to Jesus? Probably their parents, siblings, or grandparents! Why? “That he might touch them” (v. 13)  It is possible that they had heard of Jesus’ power and how that power had been revealed through touch (Mk 1:40-42, 5:25-34). Maybe touching Jesus would make their children strong and healthy or wise and successful. Maybe it would even make them more obedient!

I think its more likely that they were seeking a blessing for their children. Blessings were often conveyed by the laying on of hands (Gen 48:14). So these parents probably though it would be good for Jesus to touch their children. Wouldn’t you?

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The Necessary Ingredients for Effective Gospel Ministry (Colossians 4:7-18)

On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn Colossians, Devotionals, Imago Dei ClassLeave a comment

Last words are meant to be lasting words, yet so often I am guilty of skimming over them in the Bible. I find this temptation in the conclusion of Paul’s letter to the Colossians as well. He lists several names and gives salutatory commands that may seem to amount to “Tell Barnabas I said hey.” Yet when we slow down and consider all that he’s saying in this passage, there’s a beautiful lesson to be learned. That lesson is the example of effective gospel ministry.

Paul’s ministry of the gospel was effective. It bore much fruit. You and I are more than likely believers today because of Paul’s ministry. Yet we know from the book of Acts and his epistles that he never ministered alone. There were several men and women that God called to minister alongside Paul, whether it was through joining him on mission trips, helping him escape assassination attempts, or working alongside him to plant and encourage churches.

In other words, Paul’s ministry wasn’t effective just because he was a great communicator or a strong leader. It was effective because of the things and people that made up his ministry of the gospel. We see these people and these things in full color in Colossians 4:7-18. I call them the necessary ingredients to effective gospel ministry. Here’s seven of them.

1. Gospel ministry requires the family of God laboring together (4:7-8).

    Paul begins this section, “Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servantin the Lord” (v. 7).[1] Notice that he refers to Tychicus by name and calls him first a beloved brother and then a fellow servant. The church of Jesus Christ is not primarily a team or a staff, but a family, and we labor together to fulfill the family mission of making disciples among the nations. We are not called to minister individually, but together! If the apostle Paul needed partners in the gospel, how much more do we?

    2. Gospel ministry requires intentional encouragement (4:8).

    Paul tells the Colossians his purpose in sending Tychicus to them: “that you may know how we are” and “that he may encourage your hearts” (v. 8). These are two separate purposes, but they are closely related. We recently had a missionary from South Asia come and give our church a report on the work there. By letting us know “how they are,” he greatly encouraged our hearts that God is still at work among the nations.

    However, I do think Paul is sending Tychicus to encourage the Colossians directly. The gift of encouragement is to the church what a rush of oxygen is to a struggling fire. That’s why Paul commands the Thessalonians to “encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thess 5:11). We know this intuitively. If you’ve spent any time trying to improve in some skill or area of life and someone takes note and encourages you in it, it strengthens you to continue what you’re doing. So it is with gospel ministry. We must intentionally encourage one another to keep laboring for Christ’s kingdom.

    3. Gospel ministry requires intercessory prayer (4:12-13).

    Paul names another man in v. 12, Epaphras, and describes him as “always struggling on your behalf in his prayers.” He goes on to say that Epaphras “has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis” (v. 13). Epaphras could have visited and worked in these churches, but within the context of v. 12, Paul likely has the work of prayer in view. Epaphras is a prayer warrior for these three churches. His work is regularly taking them and their needs before the throne of heaven.

    Effective gospel ministry in a church requires intentional prayer of every member. As Spurgeon once said, a prayerless church member is like a decaying tooth in the mouth that does not contribute to the work of the church. Each member should pray for the ministry and health of the church. It is necessary work, and it is good work, but it is work. In other words, it doesn’t just happen naturally. We must make time for it, and commit to it. Let us be members who, like Epaphras, work hard by praying for our churches and their ministry of the gospel.

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    How to Share Christ Effectively (Colossians 4:2-6)

    On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn Colossians, Imago Dei ClassLeave a comment

    As Paul moves towards the conclusion of his letter, he asks the Colossians to partner with him in his life’s calling: proclaiming the mystery of Christ. He invites them to play their role in God’s mission by praying for and supporting him in his mission field (now prison), but also by engaging in their own mission field. He writes in Colossians 4:2-6,

    “2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; 3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; 4 that I may make it clear in the way that I ought to proclaim it.

    5Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. 6 Your speech must always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” (NASB)

    There are two primary commands in this section. The first is to pray for opportunities to witness and the second is to take advantage of those opportunities. I use “witness” here as the term to define any opportunity we have to share Christ with those who do not know him. Let’s consider each of these commands in turn and consider how they apply to our lives.

    We Must Pray for Witnessing Opportunities

    It is important to note that Paul begins this section by encouraging prayer. And not just any kind of prayer. Paul encourages the Colossians to missions minded kingdom expanding prayer.  He doesn’t give them a list of his physical needs, but asks them to pray that he (and they) will be effective in reaching the lost. Effective evangelism always begins with prayer.

    Paul asks the Colossians to pray for God to open up a door for the word. In Acts 14:27 and 1 Corinthians 16:9, God is the one who opens the door for the gospel. He does this through providing opportunities to share Christ and opening the hearts of those who hear. Paul, now in prison, asks for the Colossians to pray that God will continue opening doors for him to preach Christ.

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    Why Did Jesus Turn Water Into Wine?

    On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn Messages1 Comment

    Why did Jesus perform His first miracle at a wedding? And why was that miracle the turning of water into wine? Was He simply demonstrating His power, helping His mother and friends out, or was something greater going on here? Could this seemingly insignificant miracle set the stage for His life and ministry? Listen and find out!

    Here’s my notes from this talk:

    Jesus Stories- Jesus Turns Water to Wine (John 2.1-11)Download

    Why Disciple-Making Must Begin with the Gospel

    On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn DiscipleshipLeave a comment

    Today we launched a new discipleship group on my back porch at 6:45am. In our first meeting together, we carefully explained and studied the core message of the gospel. We began with God and His character, considered man’s need because of his sin, Christ’s righteous life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection, and the need for responding in repentance and faith. We discussed our individual experiences hearing, believing, and living the gospel. Though it may seem basic, starting any disciple-making effort must start with the gospel. Here’s why:

    1. The gospel is the entry-point into life with God.

    A disciple is someone who is following Jesus. Someone who is walking with God. The gospel is the message that brings us to God. The content of the gospel- Christ’s life, death, and resurrection- is the power of God to save (Romans 1:16). By believing it, we become sons and daughters of God, and begin a new life with God. We must start disciple-making with the gospel because it is quite literally the starting point of our lives with God.

    2. The gospel is the foundation of walking with God.

    Not only is the gospel the starting point of life with God, it is also the foundation of the believer’s future walk with God. We never outgrow our need for the gospel. Every day we are sinners in need of God’s grace. Every day we are recipients of God’s grace in Christ. Every day God sees us, not in our sin, but in the perfect righteousness of the Son.

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    How to Build Your Life on Christ

    On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn Miscellaneous3 Comments

    Too often I walk away from corporate worship without giving thought to what God has taught me and how I should apply it. Yes, even pastors can be guilty of going through the motions. I am not disengaged; I will note an interesting point in a sermon, re-listen to a worship song, or pray for someone that I had a conversation with, but rarely do I give sustained thought and prayer to what God has taught me and what He wants me to do with it.

    Therefore, I am starting a new blog series on Monday mornings where I will think and write about what God taught me on Sunday. Lessons may come from messages, songs, conversations, or Scripture readings. Not only will this give me an avenue to think, pray, and write, I hope it will also encourage you to think and pray through what God taught you as well!

    This Sunday, we considered Matthew 7:24-27 and Jesus’ instruction to build our house on the rock. “House” is a metaphor for our lives and the “rock” is a metaphor for Christ. We can build our lives on Christ, the rock, or on the shifting sands of the world. Storms will come and beat against our houses, but only those whose house is built on the rock will stand.

    But what does it mean to build our life on the rock that is Jesus? Two things. First, to build our life on Jesus means to have Him as the foundation of our life with God. We must recognize that there is no foundation other than Him that can reconcile us to God and keep us in intimate relationship with Him. Nothing and no one other than Christ can deal with our sin debt or provide us with the perfect righteousness that we need to stand before God.

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    Grace for the Humble- 1 Peter 5:5-11

    On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn MiscellaneousLeave a comment

    Once again, I have been tasked with teaching on a passage and topic that I have neither mastered nor have begun to gain proficiency in: humility. Some of you may have just breathed a sigh of relief. You’re already pretty humble- so you think- and so you’re poised for a nice pat on the back! But once you think you have humility, you’ve lost it. So I am here to help you regain it. For others, you may have groaned, because you struggle with pride, and now find yourself blessed to sit through a sermon on humility.

    Most are somewhere in between, wondering what in the world I am about to say, but here’s what I can promise you: we all have something to learn today. Not because of what I say but because of what God says. We all have the opportunity to sit before God’s Word and to hear Him speak to us about a virtue that is absolutely necessary for His people.

    So what is humility? It is an attitude of mind that realizes that we have no reason to be distinct, special, or important in God’s eyes. It is the recognition that without God, we are nothing. Even in comparison to others, in the grand scheme of things, we are all the same- creatures that are completely dependent upon God for life, breath, andevery good thing.

    1 Peter 5:5 commands us to put on humility, “Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’.” After exhorting the elders in verses 1-4, Peter encourages the entire church, “all of you,” to clothe themselves with humility. Why? Because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

    Thus we see the necessity of our subject this morning. God opposes those without it. The word oppose conveys the imagery of being set in battle array. God opposes the proud as if He is a battling army. Thus we are commanded to clothe ourselves with humility, a rare verb that refers to a slave putting on an apron before serving, as Jesus did before washing the disciples’ feet.

    So, what do you want this morning? Do you want God to oppose you? To set His face and His power against you? Or do you want God to be gracious towards you? What determines whether we receive God’s opposition or His grace in our lives? Humility.

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    The Necessary Attitude of Sunday Expectancy

    On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn MiscellaneousLeave a comment

    What should our attitude be towards Sunday worship? I’ve been pondering this question as I prayer walk around our church campus this morning. Unfortunately, one of the attitudes I sense the most is one of reluctance. People don’t really want to be there, but they know other people expect them to be. They believe that good Christians should go to church, and so they go, doing the bare minimum while they’re there. This attitude often leads people to be there physically without being engaged spiritually.

    Others may not have an attitude towards Sunday worship at all. They just go. It’s a habit. Like robots carrying out a programmed task, they wake up, go to church, shake some hands, maybe even give an offering, and return home. No negative attitude, but not necessarily a positive one, either. Status quo. Go with the flow. Whatever it may be, wrong attitudes (or lack of right ones) do not glorify God, lead to spiritual growth, or bless fellow believers. Therefore, we need to fight for the right attitude towards Sunday worship. I believe one of those attitudes to be an attitude of expectancy.

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    Mere Evangelism- The Stirring of Uneasiness

    On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn MinistryLeave a comment

    Do you want to hear the bad news or good news first? Have you ever been asked this question? Are you a good news first or bad news first kind of person? Whichever camp you may fall in, when we share the gospel of Jesus, we have to share the bad news first. Why? Because without the bad news, the good news isn’t good news.

    So what’s the bad news? And how does it make the good news good? How can we stir up the uneasy feeling that the bad news creates and prepare people not only for good news, but the best news in all the world? In C.S. Lewis’ words, how can we open wounds so that we can heal them with the gospel? That is the heart of this message, The Stirring of Uneasiness.

    Partiality & The Gospel

    On By Jarrett Ray FletcherIn Miscellaneous1 Comment

    We are currently preaching through the book of James on Sunday mornings at our church. Our text for this past week was James 2:1-13, where James encourages his readers to avoid the sin of partiality. The chapter begins with the following admonition,

    My brothers and sisters, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.

    James 2:1

    This passage contains one of my favorite aspects of the Bible: God often calls us to simply imitate who He is and what He has done for us in the gospel. It makes sense, considering His call to “be holy as I am holy” (Lev. 19:2). Everything that He asks us to do compels us to be more like Him. And we become more like Him by imitating, as far as we are able, who He is and what He has done for us. Let me explain.

    We are told throughout the scriptures that God does not show partiality (Rom. 2:11; Deut. 10:17; Job 34:19; Acts 10:33). He does not show favoritism. He treats everyone equally, regardless of nationality, physical appearance, talents, position, family, etc. Thus, if we want to imitate God and be holy as He is holy, we should refrain from showing partiality. But what does that look like?

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