PASTOR MARK MIKELS – November 2, 2008<\/p>\n
“TIME TO SHINE” – Part Four<\/p>\n
(Seeing Opportunities In The Midst of
\nCalamity)<\/p>\n
Intro … This morning for this brief communion meditation I would draw
\nyour attention to Demonstration Truth #4 …
\n<\/p>\n
DEMONSTRATION TRUTH #4 …<\/p>\n
“We are all MEMBERS of one EARTHLY BODY –<\/p>\n
we are inseparably LINKED – when one part SUFFERS,<\/p>\n
every part SUFFERS with it.”<\/p>\n
(1 Cor. 10:17; I Cor. 12:20; I Cor. 12:26-27; Rom. 12:4-5)<\/p>\n
Here are the Scriptures that underlie that “Truth Statement” …<\/p>\n
To the Believers in Rome the Apostle Paul explained …<\/p>\n
“Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members<\/p>\n
do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form
\none body,<\/p>\n
and each member belongs to all the others.”<\/p>\n
He expanded on that thought a bit in his letter to the Corinthians …<\/p>\n
“We, who are many, are one body (and) God has arranged the parts in the
\nbody, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all
\none part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but
\none body. (Now) there should be no division in the body … its parts
\nshould have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every
\npart suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with
\nit. You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.<\/p>\n
It’s easy to see how today’s Demonstration Truth has arisen from<\/p>\n
those Scriptures, isn’t it? …<\/p>\n
“We are all members of one earthly body (the church) –<\/p>\n
we are inseparably linked – when one part suffers,<\/p>\n
every part suffers with it.”<\/p>\n
It’s also easy to see how difficult times (individually or
\ncollectively) provide unique opportunities for this truth to be
\ndemonstrated.<\/p>\n
Difficult times strike the members of the Body of Christ (just like
\nthey strike the rest of society) in unpredictable and varied ways …<\/p>\n
Some have their lives virtually unchanged – their job is unaffected;<\/p>\n
they continue to pay their bills and they simply see these times as
\njust another one of society’s many up and down cycles. We rejoice with
\nthose of our group who are seemingly living “in the eye” of the storm.<\/p>\n
However, there are always others who lives are drastically changed –
\ntheir job is lost or significantly altered; they find themselves
\nstruggling to pay their bills; they see these times as a real threat to
\nthem and their family. They are suffering and the Scripture says that
\nthe rest<\/p>\n
of the body suffers with them … “feels and shares their pain”.<\/p>\n
They are the ones with whom this Demonstration Truth needs to be
\ndemonstrated … They are the very ones whose circumstances allow this
\ntruth to be demonstrated before the church as a whole and before the
\nwatching world. Without them, this truth would remain theoretical.<\/p>\n
So then … in light of the expectations of God’s Word, framed into our
\nDemonstration Truth of the day, I would share with you …<\/p>\n
Today’s Key Reality …<\/p>\n
Anyone who is part of the Body of Christ need (should)<\/p>\n
never feel ALONE … FORGOTTEN … or DISMAYED.<\/p>\n
What an incredible reality … That’s what we want the members of
\nSonlife Community Church to experience … never feeling alone, never
\nfeeling forgotten, never feeling dismayed (overwhelmed).<\/p>\n
* Never feel ALONE …<\/p>\n
It’s easy when troubles come for us to feel isolated – it’s especially
\neasy if we have been somewhat isolated already. We resist sharing our
\ntroubles … We, of course, try to work things out on our own. We keep
\nup a good front and we push on the best we can.<\/p>\n
Sonlife Community Church, being a Cell-Based Church, is predicated upon<\/p>\n
a structure that seeks to make it nearly impossible for a person who is
\nactively involved to ever feel such isolation.<\/p>\n
Especially when troublesome times come, we want our people to be in the
\nkind of trusting relationship with one another that makes it easy to be
\nopen and honest about the nature of the trouble that has come upon
\nthem. We don’t want anyone of our congregation to feel alone during any
\ntime, especially not during a troublesome time.<\/p>\n
* Never feel FORGOTTEN …<\/p>\n
It’s not easy to forget about someone’s troubles when you meet with
\nthem at least twice every week …<\/p>\n
Cell groups particularly bring people beyond the perfunctory<\/p>\n
“Hi – how are you?” relationships that can be so easily fostered<\/p>\n
in a Sunday Morning only environment.<\/p>\n
And once the Cell Group relationship exists, the Sunday morning
\nrelationship is transformed – Visitors see, in the inter-action between
\nthe members of the body, that these people really do seem to care about
\neach other. The spirit of connection is almost tangible.<\/p>\n
In the body of Christ no one should ever feel that those they know the
\nbest and care about the most have forgotten about them or the
\nparticular challenge that they face.<\/p>\n
Members of a local expression of the Body of Christ Should Never feel
\nALONE – Should Never feel FORGOTTEN and thirdly and lastly this
\nmorning …<\/p>\n
Born-Again Members of a local expression of the Body of Christ should
\n…<\/p>\n
* Never feel DISMAYED … that is overwhelmed and defeated.<\/p>\n
Troublesome times can easily generate dismay … feelings of
\nhelplessness and bewilderment. What do we do now – how do we get out of
\nthis mess?<\/p>\n
“Dismay” takes a bit of time to develop … our goal is to live in such
\nconnection with one another and to provide such encouragement to one
\nanother that “dismay” doesn’t have a chance to get a foothold.<\/p>\n
The writer of Hebrews told the early believers (who lived in most
\nperilous times) to “encourage one another daily” (Hebrews 3:13) and<\/p>\n
to “see to it that no one misses the grace of God.” (Hebrews 12:15)<\/p>\n
Now that “encouragement” can be both emotional and physical – helping
\nsomeone pay a bill, helping someone stay in their home, helping someone
\nput groceries on the table is “tangible, physical encouragement” – it’s
\n“words wrapped in deeds” and it powerfully demonstrates the truth that
\nwe are all one body and that we are all in this together.<\/p>\n
Not feeling alone – not feeling forgotten – not feeling dismayed –
\nthat’s the result of being inseparably linked to all the members of the<\/p>\n
Body of Christ.<\/p>\n
And the end result of being a True Church of Jesus Christ – the end
\nresult of seriously demonstrating our Truth of the Day is that
\ntestimonies will be generated – testimonies that the Spirit of God can
\nuse to impress the unbelieving world – testimonies that take the<\/p>\n
form …<\/p>\n
“I don’t know what I would have done – I don’t know how I would<\/p>\n
have made it through- without my Church Family!”<\/p>\n
Praise God … there are those in this fellowship, those seated around
\nyou this morning, who could stand up and say just that!<\/p>\n
Final Thot … Small enough to CARE; big enough to HELP.<\/p>\n
That’s just the right SIZE for a CHURCH to be!<\/p>\n
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