In this week’s message, entitled “The Gospel and the Church”, we examined Colossians 4:7-18. We heard how gospel ministry advances through relationships. We saw this in Paul’s apostolic ministry, regional ministry among the churches, and ministry in the local church.
To better understand this relational aspect of gospel ministry, let us consider these questions:
- When dealing with even the wayward, Paul’s ultimate aim was not
correction, but encouragement. How well would this characterize your relationships? How can you better pursue the aim of encouragement?
- How strongly would you see yourself as connected with the gospel ministry of churches in the region? How could you grown in this?
- If someone were to say to you, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord?” how would you respond? What would the further pursuit of your gospel ministry look like?
Let’s determine to pray for and encourage one another as we minister the gospel this week.
I’m away in Warm Springs, Virginia, on a study/planning retreat. One of the areas I’ve been studying is the book of Revelation. It is an enormously encouraging book, revealing a hopeful, eternal perspective that has historically sustained the church during times of adversity. I’m hoping that we’ll be able to study Revelation in depth early next year.
Liz and I are staying in a house with several units that a family kindly makes available to pastors for retreats at a very nominal cost. It’s a peaceful and beautiful area, and also has the benefit of being mid-way between Roanoke and Franklin. This affords Liz and I the opportunity to spend time with these churches on consecutive Sundays. But when I’m away I always miss being with you, especially as we gather on Sundays. May God richly bless you as you encounter Him this week!
With care,
Gene
Written by Remie Verougstraete
During my first few weeks as a summer intern at Kingsway, I was welcomed to the office with all the kindness and care that you would expect from your church staff, by having my desk pranked and half of my lunch stolen. After being assured that this was a sign of affection, I was able to settle in and Matthew got me started on my summer reading list, which was heavy on theologically rich christian classics like Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”
My work varies from week to week, but pretty regularly includes making progress on my book list, studying different issues in scripture and asking lots of questions, whether it’s to a pastor about church doctrine, or to a receptionist about how the phones work. As an intern, I’m not given total responsibility over any specific “sphere” of the church, but rather I get to come alongside and play a support role in different ministries that go on over the summer. For example, I was given the job of helping to administrate a portion of the worship team banquet earlier this summer, and I’ve been able to participate in a weekly study of the book, “Just Do Something” with Matthew and some dudes from the church. I also spent time developing and conducting a “good neighbor” survey for the neighborhood behind our building, which gave me a chance to interact with folks and see what they think about “the church down the street.”
Overall, this internship has been a humbling taste of how God’s power and grace make service for Him an experience of rich blessing and encouragement to our own souls. I thank God for His kindness and for this church. Thanks for your support, and God bless you all.
Undoubtedly, one of the highlights of the annual NEXT conference are the times of worship through song at the beginning of each main session. 
In addition to providing the fantastic messages online, the folks at NEXT have also given us another way to “take the conference home with you”. This past week, Sovereign Grace Music released a download-only live album of songs that were sung at the conference. This album has some great songs that we’ve done on a Sunday morning (such as “Oh the Deep, Deep Love” and “God Over All”) as well as some new favorites (like, “I Need You, Jesus” and “The Name Above All Names”) that help us worship the Savior through song with sound lyrics and enjoyable melodies. To download the entire album (13 songs for 5 bucks!) visit http://www.sovereigngracemusic.org/
This week’s message was entitled “Christ in the World”. From Colossians 4:2-6 we heard how we are to respond to the world around us, talking to God and talking to them. In order to better understand this call on our lives, consider these questions:
- To what degree would you describe yourself as thankful and watchful, regularly grateful for what Christ has accomplished and looking forward to Christ’s return? What serves you in this? What would help you to increasingly live this way?
- When it comes to praying for divine activity in the lives of others or for help with your communication, what tends to hinder you? How can you deal with these hindrances?
- When you heard that reading and training aren’t enough to make sharing the gospel easy, how did that affect you? How should this understanding affect the way that you pray and live?
- Could you relate with the temptation to “be available”, waiting for God to drop the perfect opportunity in your lap? How about the temptation to “be comfortable”, desiring smooth conversations and relationships? How do we overcome these temptations?
Let’s pray this week for God’s divine activity in the lives of those around us, and let’s also pray that God would help us to speak clearly, graciously, and winsomely of the Savior.
Here is a quote that Gene used in his message on Sunday:
“It is not necessary to have great things to do. I turn my little omelette in the pan for the love of God; when it is finished, if I have nothing to do, I prostrate myself on the ground and adore my God, Who gave me the grace to make it. Then I arise, more content than a king! When I cannot do anything else, it is enough for me to have lifted a straw from the earth for the love of God.”
–The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
In this week’s message, entitled “The Gospel and Work”, we examined Colossians 3:22-4:1. We heard how we, as Christians, have been transferred from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son and how this should make all the difference in the way that we serve those that we work for. To better understand the difference the gospel makes in our work, let us consider these questions:
- It can be easy for us to see our jobs or our studies as simply a means to make money, and it can be easy to see our responsibilities at home as simply doing what must be done. How much can you relate to one of these views, and how has this caused you to miss opportunities to live for God’s glory?
- If in the midst of your daily tasks someone were to ask you, “Who are you serving right now?” what would your answer be? How can you better pursue having a focus of serving the Lord?
- Do you typically work with eternal rewards in view? How does this idea strike you? How do rewards relate to God’s grace?
- If you are to “work heartily” with “sincerity of heart”, how would you rate this aspect of your work? In light of this passage, how can you pray for and pursue this kind of work?
As we work this week, let’s pray that God would help us to remember who we serve, why we serve, and how we are to serve for God’s glory.
Can you relate with the disciple who asked Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray”? I know I can. I am currently reading A Praying Life by Paul E. Miller, which is helping me to better understand prayer and how vital it is in my relationship with God. I am becoming freshly aware of how very precious prayer is, and with that awareness, how vast God’s grace is. Here are a few tidbits from the book:
- “…prayer is all about relationship. It’s intimate and hints at eternity.”
- “Oddly enough, many people struggle to learn how to pray because they are focusing on praying, not on God.”
- “The only way to come to God is by taking off any spiritual mask. The real you has to meet the real God.”
- “We know we don’t need to clean up our act in order to become a Christian, but when it comes to praying, we forget that. We, like adults, try to fix ourselves up. In contrast, Jesus wants us to come to him like little children, just as we are.”
- “Many Christians haven’t stopped believing in God; we have just become functional deists, living with God at a distance… But as we learn to pray well, we’ll discover that this is my Father’s world. Because my Father controls everything, I can ask, and he will listen and act. Since I am his child, change is possible - and hope is born.”
I trust that these words are an encouragement to you. Let me know if you begin reading this book. I would love to talk of how we are learning to pray as we grow in our knowledge of grace.
This week’s message was entitled “The Gospel at Home”. From Colossians 3:18-21 we heard about what it looks like when a “new man” makes a “new home.” As we did, we grew in our understanding of God’s design for the home, for marriage, and for the family. In order to better understand God’s plan for us, consider these questions:
- When it comes to the home how have you had to put aside the pattern of the world and put on the way of the Kingdom?
- When you first heard of the instruction for wives to submit to their husbands, what was your response? How has your response changed and why?
- “Husbands love your wives.” Why does this need to be stated here in Colossians 3:19? What parallel passages give the same kind of instruction and give us greater understanding?
- Consider the motivation for obedience and the danger of provoking found in Colossians 3:20-21. How should the instructions found here affect the way that we teach, train, or correct the children in our lives?
- In recent weeks we have considered how we can be more intentional in passing the gospel to the next generation. How does our response to these passages fit with that call?
Let us pray this week that our homes would reflect the new presence, the new power, the new purpose, and the new pattern that are all found in Christ.
