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May 2018

 
 

paSTOR`S PAGE

May 2018

 

May 6

 

Evangelism is the primary mission of the Church, “Go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). Evangelism justifies the existence of the church and its success brings glory to God and fulfills the interests of His kingdom. John the Baptism and the Savior Jesus began their missions by evangelizing “Repent, for the kingdom of God is near”. Both proclaimed this message their entire lives, and both died for this message. The Apostle Paul said, “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel” … God sent us to reach people, not just to wait for others to come to us. When the Church no longer evangelizes, it proves disobedience to the command “Go….” Manifesting the lack of vision, lack of interest, comfort, and fear. The book of Acts explains the evangelism of the Church in 32 countries, 54 cities, and 9 Mediterranean islands. Over 95 evangelists are mentioned, the most frequently mentioned being Peter, Stephen, Philip, Barnabas, James, Paul, Timothy, Titus, Aquilla and Priscilla… In this context, 3000 people were converted at the hearing of Paul’s sermon in Jerusalem, the minister of finance in Ethiopia was converted, the congressman Saul on a road to Syria, Cornelius the officer in Caesarea, Lidia, and one of the police officers who worked with Filip in the prison.
When the Church evangelizes, it needs to avoid potential risks
1. Trying to adapt to every category of people through a theology that is relative, adaptive.
2. Presenting the benefits of the Gospel without mentioning the responsibility.
3. Believing incorrectly in a faith where God does everything, or the Church does everything, but you personally need to do nothing.
4. The compromising of quality over quantity.
5. People appreciate the healing of a body more than the saving of a soul, even though everyone pretends to love heaven more than earth. Most people seek help in a church, they don’t seek truth. The vast majority of people who came to Jesus asked for healing, not salvation.
In trying to evangelize the world, the church risks confronting certain obstacles:
1. Delaying “Don't you have a saying, 'It's still four months until harvest’?” (John 4:35)
2. Unavailability: „I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me’” (Luke 14:19)
3. Materialism: „I have just bought a field and I must go see it. Please excuse me’ „ (verse 18)
4. Entertainment: „ I just got married, so I can’t come”. (Verse 20)
Every generation has the honor and responsibility to take up and then to present the mantle of a completed mission. Christ is with us, the Holy Spirit is in us, we have the Bible, the Church surrounds us, but the unbelieving are in the world. Christ has sent us to them, in order to bring to them the message, to bring to them the model, to present Him.

 

   May 13

        When man has a problem, God has a solution. No matter how great man’s problem is, God has a solution that solves it.
I. Hannah’s characteristics
1. A wise wife – in relation to her husband, Elkanah: she was quiet and did not impose her handicap upon her husband.
2. A peaceful wife – in relation to her rival, Peninnah: “her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat”. (1 Samuel 1:7)
3. A respectful believer – in relation to her priest Eli: “’ Not so, my lord,’ Hannah replied, ‘I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer… ’ “ (1 Samuel 1:15)
4. A prayerful believer – in relation to God: “Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up… in her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly.” (1 Samuel 1:9-10)
5. A grateful believer – in relation to God: “After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD at Shiloh”. (1 Samuel 1:27)
6. A prayerful believer – in relation to God: “And they worshiped there, before the Lord. And Hannah prayed and said, ‘My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high”
II. The Crisis in Hannah’s Life
1. Unhappy with her handicap – Although she was barren, Hannah loved God, respected people, and had a beautiful character.
2. Despised by Peninnah – Hannah’s child became the prophet Samuel, but Peninnah’s children are not even mentioned in the Bible.
3. Misunderstood by Elkanah – Elkanah did not fully understand the difference between the mission of being a wife and that of being a mother.
4. Rejected by Eli – Eli the priest believed that Hannah was drunk because she prayed and wept before the Lord in her prayer.
5. Heard by God – “The Lord remembered Hannah”
III. Hannah’s Victory
1. Hannah asked God for children
a. Her desire to be a mother “Hannah prayed to the Lord with a bitter soul”
b. Her responsibility to procreate
c. The need to serve by bringing children and a servant to the Kingdom.
2. Hannah raised the child for God. Until a certain age, Hannah raised and educated the child at home, and then she weaned him and brought him to the temple, giving him to the care of Eli the priest. After she dedicated him to the Creator, by bringing him to the house of the Lord, Hannah visited there annually, bringing him a cloak to dress with.
3. Hannah gave a child to God. The Bible mentions that Hannah had three more sons and two daughters: “to replace Samuel, whom Hannah gave to the Lord”.
When we wish for prophets like Samuel, we need to pray for mothers like Hannah.

  May 20

 

The celebrations on the Hebrew calendar, similarly to other cultures, were determined by the natural cycle of the seasons, and also by certain historical, memorable events. Pentecost was the celebration of the harvest season in fall, the celebration that reminded the Jews of the first Law of Moses on Mount Sinai, three months after the liberation from Egyptian slavery. For this reason, in the synagogues during the Pentecost Celebration, the Jews read the 10 Commandments and the Book of Ruth. The Israelites had three main celebrations: Passover, Shavuot (The Festival of Weeks), and Sukkot (The Festival of Harvest) (Exodus 23:17). All men over the age of 13 celebrated these three holy holidays through pilgrimages to the Temple in Jerusalem, where they worshiped, brought sacrifices, and sang songs of thanks in the Honor of the Lord. After 40 years of journeying through the desert, the Hebrews entered Canaan and gave new meaning to their celebrations, according to the agricultural seasons.
Approximately 1200 years later, these holidays are celebrated during the great events of God’s plan of Salvation through Jesus Christ. And so the Savior is captured, condemned and crucified during the time of the celebration of Passover, when the harvest was beginning and the heads of grain were cut down. Fifty days later, the Holy Spirit of God comes down into the renewed hearts of the disciples during the celebration of Shavuot. During the events of Pentecost, Peter preaches to the Hebrew masses gathered to see the miracle of God, saying to them that this is the fulfilling of the long-awaited prophecy of Joel (Joel 2:28-29). It is easy to see that Peter, hidden due to the fear of the Jews during the crucifixion of Jesus, now confronts them in public, receiving through the Holy Spirit (which had just come upon the apostles), a supernatural courage. Guided by the Holy Spirit, he preaches the Gospel, explaining how to enter the Church of God:
1. Repentance: “ ‘Repent’, Peter said unto them”.
2. Water baptism: “each of you should be baptized”.
3. Baptism through the Holy Spirit: “then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”.
In looking at the report presented by Luke in the book of Acts, we see that he precisely explains the mission of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of the apostles:
1. Empowerment: “you will receive a power”
2. The time of the empowerment: “when the Holy Spirit will be poured out upon you”
3. Purpose: “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem…. And unto the ends of the earth”.
The pouring out of the Holy Spirit transforms the apostles, as they go to the Jews to preach the Gospel, and it transforms the Jews, as they come to the apostles to receive the Word. Pentecost is the celebration of the applications of Salvation of God. Pentecost is the Judaic celebration of Shavuot (the Festival of Weeks) (Exodus 34:22) or the Sukkot (the Festival of Harvest) (Exodus 23:16). Seven weeks after the resurrection of the Savior, the Comforter came down upon the apostles in Jerusalem, beginning the Great Harvest.

 

  May 27

We live in a world haunted by confusion, frustration and unhappiness. Because most people have forsaken God, they no longer can find their place in the world, they no longer have peace and quiet in their souls, they are frustrated and they can no longer find themselves, other than in sin. Many have become dependent on thrills, violence and erotic behavior. They have lost their sensitivity, compassion, altruism, shame and common sense. The governments of the world defy and persecute the majority for the sake of the minority, trying helplessly to normalize the abnormal.
In general, people are divided in terms of Christian morality into several categories:
1.The world. These people deny the existence of God; for them there is no God. Although they deny Christianity, paradoxically, they are very religious, confirming the religious pluralism of our times. They are a generation of drifters from the spiritual and moral point of view. The tendency toward uniformity betrays the globalist agenda that uses the methods of multiculturalism and relativism. In this way, everyone is against everyone. A world that is divided, without culture and ethnic identity. A world without parents, without church, without God, with no past, and no future. In this world, children grow up without authority, without moral guidelines, and become state property. The trend of the sexualization of children’s innocence will destroy the family and the church, the only bases of moral education and the formation of conscience. Mother’s careers and the absence of grandparents from the lives of children will only accelerate the irreversible drift.
2. The religious. Although they accept the existence of God, they don’t know God because they are looking in the wrong places, using wrong methods and attitudes. They are like the people of the world, the non-religious.
3. Immature Christians. They believe in God, they know Him, but they do not obey him. Their lifestyles, priorities and values are fulfilling their own wishes and interests. The best place for a man is in the center of God's will, not only in the Church. They were accommodated in the kingdom of God, they have been integrated into it, but they were not assimilated into it. Materialism subordinates the spiritual, which is more at the theoretical level than the practical. Abraham did not meet any sodomite near the mount where he built altars. The supremacy and interpretation of the mass-media controls the population. Two types of messages govern the media: violence and eroticism; violence therefore replaces love, mercy and compassion in the hearts of children. Carnival-type music cultivates emotions and distractions, and electronic games have replaced spiritual disciplines. The big problem with electronic games is that they implicate the user, therefore becoming the reality in the mind of the user.
4. Mature Christians. For them God exists, they know Him personally and live in obedience to His will revealed in the Scriptures and joyfully serve with sacrifice, investing the resources entrusted to them.
Today is all we have, it is all we need, and it is all we can use. A life dedicated to God with joy and hope.