Mutual Edification

Mutual Edification!
Sounds fancy! What does it mean exactly in the Church today?

Very simply put Mutual Edification means a rotation of men in the pulpit delivering the message.
Do we NEED a full time professional pulpit preacher?
What does the Bible have to say about it.
Actually there is more evidence in the bible to support a mutual edification style congregation than there is for a full time preacher.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a full time "professional" pulpit preacher BUT that practice tends to leave everything to the preacher.
A mutual edification model congregation has the purpose of growing individuals spiritually that usually does not happen when a full time preacher is on board.

Take a look at our own congregation over the past few months. Several men have stepped forward and delivered some wonderful sermons. I have not heard a single negative comment on the content or the delivery of these lessons. All of these men have grown spiritually from presenting these lessons because they have had to spend a lot of time in the Word developing their sermons.
Even our teens have been involved. This will forever impact their lives. They did a fantastic job and we were all mutually edified by their deliveries.
1 Timothy is all about teaching others to teach others. The more involvement by our members in teaching and preaching the better. It is a wonderful way to spread the Gospel. Jesus sent out the 12 to preach and teach and they in turn taught others to do the same.

What we need to remember is this! The MESSAGE if far more important than the messenger. If we are being fed the Truth from the Word then it is of NO importance who delivers this message. That does not mean full time preachers are unimportant.
It just means the message is the most important.
It is the responsibility of our elders to lead us. That means they need to "feed" us and they need to develop our talents so that we can develop talents in others so that this Gospel message we have will be passed on from generation to generation.

If we indeed have members here in this congregation that can bring forth a good sermon from God's Word then we should take advantage of this.

Luke 12, 16 & 19 speak of being good stewards of God's blessings.


In practicing a "mutual edification" style our congregation can use God's blessings to reach out to the poor and the afflicted. We can reach out to the hopeless and spread the Gospel more effectively. Our time and God's monies can be more effectively used in the community to reach the lost.
Edifying means to build up and in the process of mutual edification, both the speaker and the listener are built up, which is unlikely to be the case when the speaker is a polished professional. I also believe that an important part of mutual edification is the mutual ministry of body through good works.

Let's talk. We all have an opinion and that is good.
I would love to discuss this with you if you so desire. Coffee? Coke Zero? Tea?

in HIM
Roland

Personal Relationship with Jesus! Is it important?

Does Jesus want us to have a personal relationship with Him? Why?
How can we develop this relationship? What is it's importance?

It’s all about the heart and always has been and always will be.
YOUR heart must be right with Jesus. It is a PERSONAL relationship that cannot be hindered by anyone or anything!

John 14:6
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 8:12
I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
Words directly from the mouth of Jesus!

The only way we can inherit the gift of eternal life with God in heaven is through a personal relationship with JESUS! So I guess that answers the question of importance.

There is no other way!

We must not allow family or friends or coworkers or jobs or careers or anything else in this entire world to come between Jesus and us. Not even our spouses.

This becomes very obvious when reading Luke 12:51-53

51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

What this means is that Jesus should be our highest priority. Why?

No one else can give us eternal life.

Read and heed carefully the words of Jesus found in Mark 8:34-38

34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.”

Strong words but also very clear.

Nothing is more important than a personal relationship with Jesus.
If you have not accepted Christ in your heart and confessed Him with your lips and repented of your sins and put Him on in baptism for the forgiveness of your sins so that you may be with Him throughout eternity then I would suggest you reread His words again. He has promised that the Holy Spirit will indwell you at baptism to help you on your journey. We must not wait until we become better people for we will never be worthy of His love. We must not concern ourselves with what others think for they do not have the power of giving us eternal salvation.

He wants us to accept his wonderful gift of GRACE now just the way we are.

Have you?

Is Matthew 18 really that important?

Let's take a look at one of the most ignored passages in the Bible.
Matthew 18:15-17
If we have a problem with a brother or sister in Christ we are told by Jesus to resolve the problem.
Why do you suppose Jesus said this?
Take a good hard look at Matthew 6:9-15
Emphasis on verse 15.
Jesus says if you do not forgive your brother then your Father in heaven will NOT forgive you.
He says it another way in Matthew 18:35 when he sums up the parable of the unmerciful servant. He says my heavenly Father will treat each of you in the same manner UNLESS you forgive your brother from the HEART.

Add it all up and Jesus says our salvation depends on our forgiving one another.
Makes sense since God has forgiven us so much more.
We do not have to like one another but we must LOVE one another and that means forgiving one another....... How often you ask?
We have the answer in Matthew 18:21-22
Every single time.

So since our salvation depends on it why do we ignore it?
Instead of resolving our differences we either split the congregation or we go to another congregation or worse yet we stop going at all.

It is hard to forgive BUT it is of utmost importance. Our eternity depends on it.

Finally we have Matthew 5:23-24
Reconcile with your brother before leaving your gift at the alter.

So the question today is.............
Have you forgiven your brother from the heart?
Whom do you need to go to?
Do it today for tomorrow may be too late.
Your eternity is at stake.

In Him
Roland G.

Jesus is our example!

This is not brain surgery!

If we truly desire to be called Christians then we must determine to follow Jesus' example.

What did his ministry consist of? Where did he go? What did he do?

It begins and ends with LOVE. We read in His Holy Word that God is Love, therefore Jesus is Love.

Jesus was constantly reaching out to the community. He was always in the presence of the hopeless offering them HOPE!

Jesus was compassionate! He was caring!

He had no patience for the indignant religious establishment that mandated adherence to the letter of the law while ignoring the spirit of the law.

This is a great big world with people who are longing for answers and looking for hope.

It is our job to point them to Jesus. Point them to Jesus in a loving, patient, kind, gentle way.

If we ram religion down their throat they will walk away even more confused than before.

It is our job to introduce them to Jesus and his message of Love and Hope and then we need to back off and let them decide. We need to nurture when needed but we should never be confrontational to the point of forcing them to make a choice.

Some people need very little time to make a decision about their eternity while others require lots of time and space to make up their minds.

Let us be more like Jesus.
May we reach out to the lost with LOVE!

in HIM
Roland Gagnon