Restoring the Church From Within Pt II: Invite Others

"Then they gave money to the masons and carpenters, and gave food and drink and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar logs by sea from Lebanon to Joppa, as authorized by Cyrus king of Persia." (Ezra 3:7)
"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: . . . Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not easily broken." (Ecc 4:9,12 NIV)

Rarely does anyone accomplish something on their own. Columbus took three ships when he accidently found the New World. Magellan never circumnavigated the world, yet he is credited with being the first to do so. Neil Armstrong never would have made it to the moon without the help of others on the ground, and "Buzz" Aldrin with him in the capsule. Moses led the Hebrew people out of Egypt with the help of his brother Aaron. Daniel had three friends to help him out. Paul had Barnabas and later Silas. Jesus knew the importance of having another person with you, "Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits." (Mark 6:7 NIV). When it comes to restoring the church from within, we must invite others.
The first step to inviting others is to invite them to church with you. The people that you want to invite to church are those that are unchurched and those that are unbelievers. You want to avoid proselytizing. If they attend a church, don’t reshuffle the deck, but there is something for you to invite them to do, and that will be addressed later. Our competition is not with the other church down the street. Our competition is with Satan, and winning people’s lives to Christ.
Who are the unchurched? The unchurched are those that have at one time or another, experienced attending a church. Your responsibility then is to figure out why they no longer attend church. They will give you a plethora of excuses, and realize that is what they are. All the church asks for is money. The music is too slow. The music is too loud. They’re all hypocrites. The pastor wears purple too much. As a believer, you must somehow tear down those excuses. When dealing with unchurched people, it is still best to use scripture. Unchurched people, know that believers use the Bible, and most unchurched people still read the Bible.
One of the first scriptures you point to them is Hebrews 10:25 "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (NIV) Break that passage down for them. "Let us not give up meeting together." It is a good idea to continue to meet with fellow Christians. Why? It comes down to the strength of a group opposed to the strength of a single person. Satan is like a lion looking for the weak to devour. He seeks out those that are alone, to lead them to destruction. "Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (I Peter 5:8 NIV)
"As some are in the habit of doing." Others have already given up meeting together. They have fallen from the faith and are floundering. They have become weakened, because the cord they use is not strong. They have given into (conformed) to the world’s standards and have been tempted away by Satan. They may believe that they are saved, but does their lifestyle show it.
"Let us encourage one another- and all the more as you see the Day approaching." One of the biggest misconceptions of church is that the church is full of discouragement. Church should be one of encouragement. Many other times, scripture refers to the encouraging of others, not the discouraging of others. As brothers and sisters of faith, we must encourage each other. Help them with their problems, help them out of their jams. God did not put us on this planet to be islands, but he created us to be needful of each other.
Will all of this convince the unchurched people to attend church? If you go with God’s leading, yes it will. If you do it on your own, they may possibly show up for a while, but when something goes wrong, their logic will state, this church isn’t better than any of the other churches. The biggest thing to do, is to continually encourage one another.
I believe (I may be wrong, but this is just my opinion, based on my own experiences) it is easier to invite a nonbeliever to church than an unchurched person. Who is a nonbeliever? A nonbeliever is a person that has rarely or never heard the gospel message. They may have heard of Jesus in passing, but they have 1. Never set a foot in church. 2. Never accepted Jesus as their savior. With nonbelievers, you just have to break down their walls of ignorance. When dealing with a nonbeliever, it is best to use your own testimony. Most of the time, scripture won’t work. They don’t believe in the power of scripture, so avoid using it if you are able too. No matter how hard their heart is toward God, the one thing they can’t deny is what God has done for you. They may not accept it, but God and you know, you opened the truth to them. You planted a seed, and pray that someone will come along and water it.
What to do with other believers that attend a church somewhere? You still invite them. You may not invite them to church, but you invite them to help with the restoration. How? You invite them to help restore. There are two ways to help restore the church from within. Spiritual and physical.
Spiritually, you can invite them to pray for the church. They can pray individually for the church, or as a congregation, they can pray for the church. As Christians, if we lift up and honor other people of God, then God will bless us for glorifying His family. If we put aside our doctrinal differences and pray for the church down the street, God will not only bless our family, but He will open our hearts and our eyes to the plight of other families of God. As stated earlier, our competition is not with the church down the street, our competition is with Satan.
Physically, you can invite them to help with the changes within the building. I know a small congregation that repainted the sanctuary and removed the pews to put in chairs. The congregation would have been unable to do it, if they wouldn’t have invited another church family to come help with the remodeling process. So, one Saturday about 20 capable people, removed 16 pews, of a length of 15 feet, weighing approximately 500 pounds each. This congregation, could not have done it without the help of the other church. In turn, if a church asks for your help, either by praying or by physical labor, don’t turn them down because they aren’t your denomination. Put that aside, and help because they are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
When restoring the church from within, it is best to invite others. Whether it is in prayer, or rebuilding, invite others to help. "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven." (Matt 18:19)
Have a blessed week
Daniel G Vandenburg

Restoring the Church From Within Pt I: Include God

"Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offering on it to the LORD, both the morning and evening sacrifices." (Ezra 3:2,3 NIV)
Throughout our life, we have our ups and downs. There are some points that are really good for us and then there are the points that are really bad for us. The excitement of birth, the pain of death. The joy of victory the agony of defeat. We go through wonderful and glorious times in relationships and then we suffer through broken engagements, only to repeat the cycle, hoping that at some point the next one will be the last one. It is when we are down and our souls are weary, when trouble comes and our heart is burdened, then, it is time for a restoration.
What is restoration? According to Noah (Webster that is) restoration is: 1.the act of restoring; renewal, revival, or reestablishment. 3.a return of something to a former, original, normal, or unimpaired condition. Restoration is therefore, the restoring or reestablishment of something (or someone) to a former unimpaired condition. If we are going to restore the church from within, we have to begin by restoring ourselves. How do we go about restoring ourselves?
The first step of restoration is to include God. We must include God in everything that we do. How do we include God in everything? The first thing is to reestablish our relationship with Him. We accomplish that by repenting ( read earlier blog) and releasing our burdens upon Him. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matt 12:28 NIV). Release what you are burdened with and give it to God. Get on your knees, or raise your head, or do whatever you do when you pray and say something like, "God, I have problems, I have burdens, take them from me and You deal with it." It’s not going to be easy, it’s not going to be easy to ask for help. God is waiting for you to come to Him so He can give you rest from your burdens.
When we repent and hand our burdens over to him, we move into the second step. We must recommit to Him. We must make a commitment to serve Him, and to accept Jesus as our savior. We must commit everything in our lives to Him. "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will not fail." (Prov 16:3) We commit all phases of our lives to Him. Whether it be at work, play, (I know a softball team that before they take the field, will pray and commit the game to God) and especially in your relationships, make sure God is involved. Regardless how trivial you may think the thing may be, if you commit it to God and commit your life to God, everything that is done will help with the restoration process.
When we commit to God, we must put God first in everything. God has to be first, not second, not third, and definitely not 9,736,471. God must be first above your work, play, and your family. I know that’s a tough one to swallow, have God ahead of your spouse, and your children, for some, above your work. If you commit to God everything, first and foremost, all of your needs will be given unto you. People say, "Don’t let anything or anyone come between you and your spouse." I say, "There is one person that needs to be between you and your spouse, God." To give you an analogy (one that may appear to contradict my "put God first" statement, but doesn’t when you actually apply it) (Thanks Pa). If you put your spouse between you and God, He can reach His arm around your spouse and rest His hand on your shoulder. If you put you between your spouse and God, He can reach His arm around you and rest His hand on your spouses shoulder. If you put God between you and your spouse, He can put one arm around each of you and bring you together. Because God is between you and your spouse, He is placed higher than your spouse. Yet, God will not do anything to destroy your marriage covenant, for He established marriage.
Once you recommit and place God as your primary commitment, you must refocus your life. The primary thought process in refocusing your life is this statement from Max Lucado, "It’s not about me, it’s about Him." (Which is also the title of a blog entry of someone absolutely special to me - one who knows what patience (patients) is all about). Realize that what you do is to glorify God and not bring glory to yourself. One example of doing what would appear to be God’s will and only ends up glorifying yourself is: Protesting the closing down of a pornographic adult store, while demanding that your picture be taken, placed on the front page of the newspaper, with your name and everyone else who protests with you, so the whole county will know who is against it. The focus isn’t on God, it’s on yourself. While protesting against sin is something God wants us to do, to do it and to boast on yourself, so others know you’re doing it, is wrong. "Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven." (Matt 6:1 NIV). Remove the glory from you and give the glory to God.
The Israelites knew the importance of having a restored relationship with God. When they were allowed to return to Jerusalem, from captivity, the first thing they did when rebuilding the temple was to rebuild the altar. They built the altar, before they began to build the Temple. In today’s society that is the equivalent of building the pulpit, and then build the church around the pulpit. They wanted to have communion, with God. They wanted to feel the presence of God. So before they began any rebuilding of the Temple, the first thing they did, was to restore their relationship with God. They knew that in order to restore their "church" they needed to include God in all that they did. Let us learn from them. Before we begin anything, let us include God in all that we do.
Have a blessed week
Daniel G Vandenburg
This is a 3 part series of the message that I gave in a Sunday morning worship service on March 4th.