The Church

At New Life Fellowship where I serve as Lead Pastor, we have started a new series called "Ekklesia." For those who do not know, ekklesia is a Greek term that is commonly translated "church" in the New Testament. We are going through this series and examining what the New Testament has to say about the church.

I am really enjoying the studying that is going into this series. I am encouraged by our congregation because they really want to do this thing right. Pretty much all of our congregation has been part of a local church for a good portion of their lives. As we examine the Scriptures, we are seeing that the plan that God put in place is much more simple than we often make it.

It amazes me how many churches think that they have to be doing every program under the sun or they are not serving the Lord. If we (the local churches together, not just one) are the Body of Christ, why does one local congregation think they need to do it all? Where is the body? I do not have anything against programs in themselves. I have a problem when the program runs the church instead of the other way around. I have encouraged our congregation that we will have some programs going, but only those that help us accomplish our mission and no program is above being changed or even axed.

When you think about the local church, what comes to mind? How do programs help/hurt the work that your local church does in your community?

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Bookends

This past week in my Greek class, we discussed something that I had never seen before. The strange part was that this was in plain English not Greek. It had to do with bookends and the Gospel of Matthew. If you look at the Gospel of Matthew, you will see that it starts with the coming of Jesus to the earth.

"See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel" (Matthew 1:23 HCSB)>

Immanuel (sometimes seen as Emmanuel) means "God with us." Jesus was (and is) God with us. Right there in the middle of our hectic lives, crazy situations, and joyous times. God with us.

If you go to the very last verse of the Gospel of Matthew, you will see the other bookend.

"... teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:20 HCSB)

Matthew closes his gospel of Jesus with the reminder that He is always with us. Immanuel = "God with us." May we remember this as we go through the days ahead. When we have to face those difficult situations, Jesus is with us. When we get "bad news", Jesus is with us. When we receive a great blessing, Jesus is with us. Everywhere we turn, there He is standing to remind us of His love and how He has it all under control.

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Only One Messiah

As many know, I am working on finishing my Master of Divinity degree through New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.  One of the classes I'm taking this semester is Intro to Koine Greek.  This is definitely the most demanding class I have ever taken in my life... but it is so worth it.  I find myself getting kicked around by all the vocabulary and grammar stuff, but the ability to see the New Testament in its original language is just amazing.

In class this morning, we were talking about adverbs (I know, real interesting).  One of the examples of these being used to show a transition in the scene of a story led us to Luke 2.  In the Gospel of Luke, he begins by telling about John the Baptist then moving on to Jesus.  This led to a discussion of how Luke is unique among Gospel writers by spending a great deal of time talking about John the Baptist as the forerunner of the Messiah.

The reason for this emphasis is that during the time that Jesus there were many who came on the scene claiming to be the promised Messiah.  The one thing that separated Jesus from all the rest of these "imposters" was that He had what was prophesied...

⁵ Look, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome Day of the LORD comes. ⁶ And he will turn the hearts of fathers to [their] children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.
Malachi 4:5-6 HCSB

Jesus was the only person in history who claimed to be the Messiah who had a forerunner.  The interesting part of this is that this forerunner was one of the key elements of proving the real from the fake.  God has taken great care in providing for us the truth of His plan so that we might know clearly.  We can go out into this spiritually pluralistic world and know that Jesus indeed is the one true Messiah!

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