Ask the Pastor...
Each month the pastor will answer a question. It may be about a verse of Scripture, a problem issue, or a matter related to everyday life. If you have a question, you may simply mail it to the churchoffice or send it to jwheeler@brooksidebaptist.com. You can remain anonymous.
"Is the worship service on Sunday morning for those who are already believers or is it for those who need to be reached?"
Great question and the answer is … yes! The worship service is for both groups of people.
For the believer, worship is just as vital as having air to breathe. We come together with other believers to express our praise and adoration of God. We celebrate His greatness. We do so because we were created by Him and for Him. (See Col. 1:16) Worship is an essential element in the life of the believer. Out of the experience of worship, we are inwardly refreshed for a new week of investing ourselves in ministry to others. Without worship, we become spiritually depleted.
For the person who’s not yet a believer, the worship service should offer a setting in which he begins to experience the reality of God’s love and is introduced to the truth of God’s Word. Being welcomed and made to feel cared about by those who are believers already gives tangible expression to the message of God’s grace. The worship service should serve as an opportunity for the unbeliever to process what he hears and for the Holy Spirit to work in drawing that person to faith in Christ. It should be such that believers regularly invite unbelieving friends to come with them as they’re seeking to bring their friends to Christ.
The worship service on Sunday morning is just as much for the believer as it is for the unbeliever … and vice versa. It’s for every person who walks through the door!
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“I understand that as a Christian I’m supposed to share Christ with others, but I just freeze up at the thought of talking with someone about matters of faith. What can I do?”
First, let me assure you that most believers share some degree of uneasiness about discussing something as important as a person’s relationship with God. Much of that can be alleviated by realizing it isn’t our responsibility to bring someone to faith. The Holy Spirit is the One who does that. Our part is to simply tell our story and rely upon the Holy Spirit to use us for His purpose.
Be prepared to tell “your story” of how your relationship with God began and the difference that Christ has made in your life. This needs to be brief. In fact, you should aim at being able to tell your story in about a minute and a half.
That will mean you will need to think it through and probably write it down. Think about how to say what you want to say in terms that a person with no church background would be able to understand. By all means, avoid “churchy” language.
Commit “your story” to memory and then prayerfully watch for God to open a door for you to share it. Remember: the Holy Spirit is the One who does the work in a person’s heart. He’s the One who brings an unbeliever to faith. You’re simply telling what happened in your life … that changed everything!
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“… the Scripture says Job was righteous in God’s sight. So I am hoping you will address this quote of Job either in the Connection or in one of your sermons regarding fear. In Job 3:25, Job says: “For the thing which I greatly fear comes upon me, and that of which I am afraid befalls me.”
Job was a man of immense integrity whose aim was to honor God in every dimension of his life. The thing to which he was most adverse … and which he “feared” most … was that he might in any way compromise his walk with God. With the terrible calamities that had befallen him, he was at a loss to understand what had happened. Based on the premise that suffering was the result of wrong-doing, Job’s suffering left him bewildered. What had he done? His “friends” (if they are to be called that) also wanted to know what he had done. However, Job’s state of anguish was not a consequence of sin. He had not brought his suffering upon himself – which made his valley of affliction all the more inexplicable. The Book of Job plumbs the depths of human despair and reaches out to understand what is beyond human understanding. In the end, there is a remarkable commendation given to Job. God describes him as a man who has “…spoken of Me what is right.” (42:7-8) Having said all of that, let me simply re-state the steps to freedom from fear that I have shared in the sermon series. I believe these are absolutely essential. Face the fear. (We’re never free from fear until we have faced it.) Retrace the fear to its root in your soul. (Fear is always an issue of the soul. Trace it back to where it started.) Let God displace the fear by filling you with His indwelling Spirit. (Remember, fear and love cannot co-exist. As 1 Jn. 4:18 tells us: “Perfect love casts out fear!”) Let God erase the fear as only He is able. When we consistently apply these steps, we will experience the freedom from fear that God desires for us.
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I believe that Jesus was actually raised from the dead just as the Bible says, but how do I respond when someone just laughs and says it never happened?
The historical evidence for the Resurrection is enormous. One of the most remarkable evidences was the radical change in the disciples. They went from hiding behind locked doors to fearlessly standing in the streets of Jerusalem and declaring: “Christ has risen from the dead!” What could account for such a difference other than the truth of what they were saying? Added to that have been the countless testimonies of believers through the ages that a personal relationship with the living Lord had changed their lives. The consistency of these stories is too great to be discounted as merely coincidental.
Ultimately, of course, the greatest evidence of the Resurrection is your own experience. What you know to be true from your own relationship with Christ is the one thing that cannot be disputed or denied. You will not argue anyone into believing, but the Holy Spirit will use the difference that Christ has made in your life to point others to Him.
Each month the pastor will answer a question. It may be about a verse of Scripture, a problem issue, or a matter related to everyday life. If you have a question, you may simply mail it to the churchoffice or send it to jwheeler@brooksidebaptist.com. You can remain anonymous.
