Many probably remember how Pastor Mark began 2014 with a sermon series called the “Measure of a Strong Church” where he encouraged us to read the first few chapters of Revelation and throughout the series we were to assess ourselves – as individual Christ followers and as members of the body. I was thoroughly challenged especially since (1) I had feared reading Revelation because I was afraid, specifically of the end times, and (2) our life group had recently read through it with ambivalent results. One of Pastor Mark’s requests from the church body was to seek God as we read through Revelation and ask God to reveal to us specific things about the River Church. How did we (as the church) measure up? Which of the seven churches (or a combination thereof) did we resemble?
The
described seven churches are Ephesus (the lacking love church), Smyrna (the
persecuted church), Pergamum (the compromising church), Thyatira (the corrupt
church), Sardis (the dead church), Philadelphia (the faithful church), and
Laodicea (the lukewarm church).
Reading
through this opening part of Revelation again was different because I asked God
to open my heart and my eyes – I wanted to please God regardless of my
feelings. I wondered if our
gracious and merciful Savior knew that others would be just like me and so He
provided a blessing for those who read it: Blessed is the one who
reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to
heart what is written in it, because the time is near (Rev. 1:3). God is all-knowing! He knew I would be afraid. Part of my fear is the brilliant and
rich figures of speech; the language amazes and startles at the same time, and
honestly I didn’t position my heart to read it. I know now that the enemy was using that fear to block me
from receiving God’s blessing.
How I
completely missed being in God’s glory because I did not position myself to
hear Him! For me, positioning
myself involves several things: praying for God to reveal to me the inner
depths of my sin, to repent of that sin, and to expect to hear God’s voice
every time. I love hearing God’s
voice – from hushed whispers to thunderous booms. He is faithful every time. My part of the faithful equation is much harder to keep. I did eventually write a list of
comparisons between the seven churches and ours. As I looked at the list of qualities, I asked God what to do
with this finding. At this time,
the corporate fast was in progress so I just prayed about the list for a few
days. Then, I prayed for all the
church leaders by name and specific area corresponding to the list. Then, I prayed for the church body as a whole and then
individually. Then, I prayed for myself
to find my part in the church body.
So I did what God wanted me to do, but I did it alone (which was never
God’s intention) all year long!
Throughout the year, my desire to know God, read God’s word,
study God’s word was growing but I did it alone. I knew I was disobeying God. I asked for forgiveness. I asked for grace.
And of course, God gave it all, including favor and provision. May it be said that 2015 was a year of
revival in the River Church – and needless to say I will be part of it. So it is with great mercy that I ask
all who read this to consider joining me in a new ministry. I am calling it the Study Guide
team. Just as God revealed to that
I am not the only one who was afraid to read through the book of Revelation, I
am certain that I am not the only one who desires to know more of God through
the weekly sermons. I do believe
that God is leading Pastor Mark to guide our church so as part of the body we
need to be positioned to receive and apply God’s word. I shared my idea with Mark and Jill and
they commissioned me to move forward.
I did already speak to a couple of folks, but we definitely need more
folks involved so we will have enough on the team to rotate throughout the
month. Thus, the call out for the
Study Guide team.
WHO: All those whom God calls
WHAT: A committed group of believers who
will serve 1st and 2nd service to collectively write a
Study Guide based on that morning’s sermon
HOW: The assigned Study Guide team will
attend 1st service and take notes, and then the team will meet
together during 2nd service and type out a Study Guide for life
groups to use during the week
WHY: We our called to study God’s word
(and apply it), to fellowship with other believers, and it makes God happy
My heart is what Pastor Mark preached recently on Isaiah
58:6-8. By providing our church
body with a guide to dig deeper into God’s and apply it to our lives, we will
see the untying of “the cords of the yoke” and “light will break forth like the
dawn.” Please email with
questions: arroyoarte@gmail.com
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