Wednesday, 5 April 2017

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another… A church is a kind of team. The Bible is full of sports metaphors. We are partnering together, pursuing victory. Victory over who? The devil. What is victory? Victory is obedience to God. And the victory is to the glory of God. The first question to ask is “Do you want to win?” I am convinced many Christians do not really want to win. We may be willing to go to church or go to a breakfast or SS class or small group, but we don’t really want to win. If no one wants to win, then why are we even playing? Why do we not want to bring glory to God? The next question is “Are the members of your church committed to victory for every member of the church?” Remember victory is obedience to God. Are you passionate for all of your brothers and sisters to win? A church must be men and women working together as partners, as teammates to win. Helping and encouraging each other. remember the words from Hebrews: And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds… Victory is love and good deeds. In one sense the pastors and elders are coaches and the rest of us players, but in another sense we are all coaches and players. We all must play to win and we all must encourage and exhort each other to win. The last question is “Is your church willing to do whatever it takes to win?” A team that is not willing to do whatever it takes to win, will not win. Remember victory is obedience to God. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. (1 Corinthians 9:24 ) We are to compete and run in the Christian life in such a manner as to obtain the prize. Run with that kind of passion and energy and willingness too suffer. But we must also run with others, encouraging each other. Imagine your church if all of you were committed to win together as a team? Imagine the glory for God of that united effort? By God’s grace and the work of the Spirit, such a church could win real victory.