Feeding Time

Good Morning!

One of the joys of being a parent of children who have become adults is the opportunity to talk with them as adults. I am fortunate to have 5 children who have reached adulthood. It is great to hear their perspective on things.

I was talking with my oldest about church growth and in the process mentioned the folks who say they move from church A to church B because they weren’t “being fed”. His comeback was that he hadn’t had to have anyone feed him since he was in a high chair – which I think is a great response. Far too often we enter the church with the “me first” attitude that infects the world. Our expectation is that the church should cater to our needs. Somehow, though, I don’t think that is the proper expectation. Instead, we should be asking God if the church we are about to join is the place where HE wants us to be so we can do His work. Our goal should not to be fed but to feed others with the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul ran into the same problems in Corinth. People wanted to align themselves with humans and forget the task before them. Take a look at the passage below ….

1 Corinthians 2 (English Standard Version)
Proclaiming Christ Crucified
1And I, when I came to you, brothers,[a] did not come proclaiming to you the testimony[b] of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Wisdom from the Spirit
6Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9But, as it is written,
"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him"—
10these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.[c]
14The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

Footnotes:
a. 1 Corinthians 2:1 Or brothers and sisters
b. 1 Corinthians 2:1 Some manuscripts mystery (or secret)
c. 1 Corinthians 2:13 Or interpreting spiritual truths in spiritual language, or comparing spiritual

I believe that often the reason people leave a church is due to a feeling of uselessness. God has called us all to be His witness on this earth. When we are about this task, we are going to be fed … the Holy Spirit will be feeding us with what we need to accomplish the task. As my son said “I haven’t had to have anyone feed me since I was in a high chair.” And that’s true! He has been fed daily by just being in God’s Word and doing God’s work.

Have a blessed day!


Agape’


Mr. Jim

New Prayer Need:
Junior Beavers – hospitalized

Mr. Jim,

Please place the Eric Kerr family on the prayer list. He is my grandson's father that was murdered last week. He was laid to rest today.


Thanks Tamiko