Focus

The church can focus on many things and do a lot of activities. How do we decide where our time, energy and money should be spent. The chief reason that man exist is to glorify God, so every activity or ministry must bring glory to God. When we begin to look at the life of Jesus we realize that the entire reason He came was to reconcile us to the Heavenly Father and that in doing so the Father was glorified. So one of the most important functions of the church is to introduce people to Jesus. This requires the church to be intentional about developing relationships with lost people and sharing the good news of Jesus. We have to be willing to share our lives and how Jesus has transformed our lives. As we do this we will grow in our spiritual lives. Our prayer lives will grow. The earnestness of how we pray will grow because we are praying for something that has an eternal impact. Our need to be able to answer questions will drive us into God's word. As we see people that we have invested our lives in come to faith, our excitement grows and this impacts the church. I realize that there are other areas that the church must be involved in, like caring for members and leading in worship, but it is essential that reaching lost people always be a primary goal. If the church is not leading people to Jesus we are failing to fulfill the call on our lives. Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8 are clear about our marching orders. So let's get to work in this new year and lead people to Jesus who transforms lives.

Matthew 28:18-20

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Acts 1:8

8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”