Welcome to this week's posting of the Weekend Sermon. I thank the Lord for the opportunity to post the sermon this week. I hope that everyone is having a very good day.
This has been an exciting week for me. I accepted a job offer on Monday. I am thankful to the Lord for this opportunity. I am still praying that everything works out as it should. I had a job that I was supposed to start in October, but that feel through. I'm not getting too happy until I'm sure all is well on this new job. I want to thank you all for your prayers regarding this.
In prayer this week, please pray for those in California who are facing the terrible fires. Many homes have been destroyed, and the fires are still being fueled by high winds. Pray that all will be safe.
Pray for those in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands who are still without power. These people really should be getting more help. Please pray for them.
Let us all pray for peace in the world. The entire Middle East needs our prayers this day. I heard on the radio that there are protests that have led to injuries and death. We need to continue to pray for peace in Yemen and South Sudan as well.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us focus our prayers on the nations of Singapore and Madagascar. Pray that many in these two nations will hear the message of Jesus' love.
There is one other matter that I would like us all to be in prayer about. In the United States, a report was issued last week that the number of homeless people was on the rise last year. Pray that people will find homes and shelter. Also, try to do whatever you can to be part of the solution to this problem.
I know that many communities are passing laws that are making life very hard on homeless people. Some places are arresting people who sleep outside or in their cars. It is not right to do this to people. Governments, churches and individuals need to come together and solve this problem. It is a disgrace for wealthy nations to have problems with homelessness and poverty.
Last week, I mentioned that we would continue with our series in Malachi this week. However, I felt that the Lord was leading me to post a sermon on a different topic. We will resume our study in Malachi after the Advent season.
Today, I would like to write a few words on the subject of finding the right balance in presenting the message of the Lord and in doing the work the Lord has called us to do. In my experience, it seems like the church goes to the extremes. When this occurs, the whole counsel of God is not proclaimed. In Acts 20:27, the Apostle Paul said that he always proclaimed the whole counsel of God. I think that that is lacking in some ways, and we need to find the right balance.
The first area where I think that we can get out of balance is in the area of the proper ministry of the church. The Lord has given us a dual mission as His followers. Unfortunately, it seems like some branches of the faith focus on one area while minimizing the other.
Let me explain. When I was growing up in church, my family went to a very fundamentalist church. They made their emphasis the presentation of the Gospel. They believed that the sole purpose of the church was to win souls to Jesus. They had absolutely no interest in helping the poor or the oppressed. If anyone even brought up the subject, they were considered a heretic.
On the other hand, one of my family members was a pastor in a denomination that placed tremendous emphasis on helping those in need and working to end systems of oppression. However, they did no evangelistic work. There was no emphasis on going into the world and preaching the message of repentance and forgiveness.
In both of these examples, we see that the whole counsel of God was not being followed. The proper balance didn't exist. It is absolutely true that we have been called by Jesus to spread the Good News that He has died and risen again. We are to proclaim that people everywhere can come to Jesus and receive forgiveness and eternal life.
Jesus also made it clear that we have an obligation to help those who are in need. We are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and care for the sick. We are to minister to the least among us as if we are ministering unto Jesus Himself.
The church needs to engage in both of these missions. This is part of finding the right balance.
Now, sometimes we fall out of balance when we speak about the love of Jesus. Jesus was the man of love. He came to save us from our sins because of His great love for us. If we do not proclaim the message of Jesus' love, we aren't proclaiming the Gospel.
The problem comes when we don't also tell people that God is holy, and one day He will judge the sins of this world. Love doesn't mean that we don't proclaim the commandments and teachings of the Lord Jesus. It is not unloving to tell others that Jesus is the only way to the Father. It is not unloving to proclaim the moral teachings of the Lord.
We need to preach both the love of the Lord and the righteousness and holiness of the Lord. This is the proper balance that we find in the Bible.
I also believe that we need to find the right balance so that we don't end up dividing among ourselves in the church and providing a bad testimony to the world. I believe that we can find the right balance and find harmony with one another.
One of the big debates that has divided churches is the issue of music in the church. Many want to retain the old hymns and traditional worship. Other want to have contemporary songs and a more modern service. Many churches are so divided over this that its almost liking having two churches in one building. There's the traditional worship service people and the contemporary worship service people.
Wouldn't it be nice if those in church could come together and find the right balance so that there was a nice mix of traditional and contemporary worship. The most important to question to ask about this isn't what we would like to have in worship. The question we should ask is what would God like to hear?
These are just a few areas were I've seen the church become out of balance in its message. We need to proclaim the whole message of the Lord. In this way, we will more effectively spread the message of the love of Jesus and help this world to be a better place for all.
Next week, I will be posting a message in keeping with the Christmas season. I will post the verses on Monday, and I will have a review on Wednesday. May God bless you all. Amen.
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