What Is The Work Of A Church Leader?

What is the job of Christian leadership? There may be more than one answer, but the most overlooked one may be the most important.

"We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God' service, in spreading the Gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in the faith." 1 Thessalonians 3:2,  

(To read the entire chapter of 1 Thessalonians 3, click the link for Bible gateway.)

WHO WAS TIMOTHY?
Timothy was a protege of the Apostle Paul and a core leader in the early church. He shared in the Apostle's work Paul often sent Timothy as his personal representative.

To be called a brother was a common title in the early church days, but to be called a co-worker was to receive high praise. The words in this passage are often translated as "God's co-worker."

Timothy's leadership position was more than any of us are likely to ever attain.

WHAT WAS LEADERSHIP IN THE EARLY CHURCH?
Timothy was being mentored and groomed for great things so you would think that the jobs that the Apostle Paul would assign his lieutenant would be one of organization and establishing the structure for the foundation of the Church.  He was not sent to fight the battle of culture war or set people right but something more essential.

WHAT WAS PAUL'S ASSIGNMENT?
Paul sent him on a mission but not to build a cathedral or defend the faith in a public debate;

• He was sent to encourage and strengthen others. 
• He was to meet people and prop them up.
• He was to lift up and hold up the weak. 
• He was to give courage.

ENCOURAGE AND STRENGTHEN
We should speak words of encouragement. We should help give strength to the weak. We should strive to come alongside struggling people and help lift their load.

AN EXAMPLE FOR US
Paul sent the leader he was carefully nurturing on the mission of strengthening and encouraging others. If we are called to be leaders in the church, we are called to encourage others and be load lifters.

Thank you for visiting and reading my blog. I hope this post is helpful and an encouragement.  For more like this, see the most popular post on the left sidebar or use the search box above.  

(c) Adron 5/17/14

Can You Be Worthy of God?

We are debtors to so many, but we do not respect that debt we owe, especially to Him to whom we owe our very existence.

“For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God who calls you into his kingdom and glory.” 1 Thessalonians 2:11:12. NIV.

Something worthy is valuable, commendable, admirable, laudable, or praiseworthy.

IS GOD WORTHY

Consider God. He is our creator. He knows our thoughts and cares about our struggles. He is our provider who sustains us with food to eat, shelter from the storm, and air to breathe. He loves us; even when we fail and betray Him, He is still constant in His forgiveness. He is merciful and generous. He provided our salvation by coming to earth in the body as His Son and died in our place on the cross to pay for our sins so we may have salvation by faith in Him. He rose again to give us hope and the power to live a new life. Besides eternal life through His son, He grants blessings beyond understanding, even adopting a son and heir of heaven.

ARE OUR LIVES WORTHY

But are the lives we live worthy of such a God?

• Does He approve of our lifestyle? 
• Is our image in the mirror worthy of God, or does it declare addiction to sweets, slovenly attitudes, and laziness? 
• Is the occupation of our free time worthy of God; do we spend too much time watching TV, and does the programming honor Him? 
• Do we visit websites and read magazines that are vain or evil? 
• Do we continue to practice sin, knowing it offends our Lord? 
• Do we give to the Father's work, and is my giving an expression of devotion or drudgery? 
• Do we give our time to serving Him? 
• Are our words full of praise and thanks to Him or full of complaining? 
• Do we ever read His Bible or Pray? 
• Do our actions express our gratitude, and do our activities show that we are called by Him?

BE WORTHY

No one can ever completely live a life worthy of God, but the great shame is that few of us even try. He is worth every effort. He is waiting to bless our attempt. May we take up the banner that He is worthy and hold it above our lives, living by that motto. May we measure every action by the standard that He is worthy of this deed. Let’s encourage ourselves and others to live lives that honor God.

If you want to learn more about finding salvation through Christ, follow this link: Click Here.

(c)Adron Dozat 7/30/13

Does The Bible Say Be Thankful In Bad Circumstances?

We know we should be thankful, but times are hard and our lives are messed up.  Why should we be thankful?

"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV.

THANKS
We should give thanks because it is the right thing to do. Whatever our circumstances are there are blessings we have that we should be thankful for. We may suffer loss and personal disaster but we must look for the other things in our lives we can be grateful for.

ALL
We are prone to be grateful when things are going well, but here the Bible instructs us to give thanks in all circumstances, whether those situations are good or bad.

GIVE THANKS
This is an active phrase that commands us to do something. To actively give thanks is to tell God, "Thank you." We have to make it a point to offer the prayer and the praise of thankfulness.

GOD'S WILL
Many of us wonder what God wants us to do with our lives, and we often ask, "What is God's will for me?" The answer: it is His will that we are thankful people.

CIRCUMSTANCES
When we give thanks to God in bad dark times it is a reaffirmation that He is God.  It says God is good, wise, loving, and merciful.  If He is loving and all-powerful then He allows each circumstance for good. This is not positive thinking- it is faith.  When disaster comes we can thank Him because the God of All Good is involved.

It is not the circumstance that we are thankful for, not the loss or hurt; but the God who is in control and who is working all things out for our good.*

PERSPECTIVE
Much of what we call bad circumstances is a matter of perspective.  We see from our limited view the short focus of the immediate.

The ultimate example is the death of the Son of God, Jesus, in his prime and at the height of his ministry.  His was a life of perfect beauty and ultimate love.  What looked like disaster brought salvation for mankind for God placed our wrongs on him and gives the virtue of his righteousness and salvation to those who by faith receive it.

This principle is woven in scripture that what we think is defeat is for God is really victory.  We can always give thanks no matter how dark the situation because The God of love and all power is in control.

* Romans 8:28.

To learn more about finding salvation follow this link.

(c) Adron 7/15/13

How To Find Encouragement 1 Thessalonians 2:16

We all get discouraged from time to time. There are many reasons for it, but there are many better reasons to be encouraged.

"May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word." 1 Thessalonians 2:16-17, NIV.

SOURCE
We need a source of encouragement that is bigger and greater than our discouragement. If our encouragement is only derived from our own resolve, philosophy, or ideas, we will be disappointed and often worse off than before. We need encouragement from a higher source.

MAY
This verse starts with "May," as if our encouragement is not certain. There is a condition to our encouragement- our willingness to accept it. "May" is a word that implies allowing a permissive choice. It may be a request for God to permit us encouragement, or it may be a choice on our side to accept encouragement.

ETERNAL
God has already given us "eternal encouragement." We already have encouragement on a spiritual level. We often miss the encouragement that He has already given because we are focused on the day-to-day struggles of living. These struggles are real and loom up before our vision to obscure our view of the eternal blessings we already have.

The encouragement we already possess far outweighs our hardships here; we have an all-powerful, loving Father in Heaven who has given us forgiveness of our sins through the blood of his Son.  He has not only given forgiveness but eternal salvation with riches in Glory, we will share in the inheritance of his Son who has gone ahead to prepare a place for us in his heavenly kingdom- and that is all just the beginning.

GOD'S WILL
Our Father intends for us to be encouraged in "every good deed and word." During our worldly pilgrimage, we often need encouragement to persevere and not quit. Discouragement may come when we are not focused on serving the Lord but are busy with things that perish. God wants to encourage our hearts not only for our comfort but His glory.

PRAYER
The verses above are a prayer. If you need encouragement, go back to the "May" which begins this verse, and pray to accept the encouragement which is ours already in Christ, and request the encouragement so we may do good to others and to proclaim the good word of the Gospel.

To learn more about the plan of salvation, follow this link: click here.

© Adron 11/13/11

Who is God’s Worker? 1 Thessalonians 3:2, NIV

Does the Almighty God of the Universe just go about His wondrous divine work while all I do is earn a paycheck and watch TV? Does he need my help?

"We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith." 1 Thessalonians 3:2, NIV.

WHO WAS TIMOTHY
Timothy was the Apostle Paul's protege and an early church leader. He came to the faith through the teaching of Paul, which was built upon the foundation his grandmother taught. He had problems; in fact, he was encouraged to be less timid and care for his stomach and his many ailments. He was admonished to not allow others to look down on his youth. Timothy could sit in our church today, and you would not think him different than any other worshiper.

BUT HE WAS SOMETHING
Paul calls him "God's fellow worker." Timothy had responsibilities in the first-century church, but we have no less responsibility in our day. We are God's fellow workers too. The work of God on this earth is being done by our hands. God has a purpose, and He calls on us to fulfill that purpose; to continue the work that the Lord began in the first century of building up the church, and make Jesus known to the lost world.

God could have written the Gospel in the clouds, on the sides of mountains, or had angels proclaim it in thunder, but instead, He chose to put it in the hands of redeemed sinners.

FELLOW WORKER
A fellow worker labors beside another. We work side by side with the Almighty, laboring toward the same end. We share the same struggle and bear the same sufferings as those early saints, but we also share in the rewards and the blessings.

God did not ask us to toil alone or unaided but gave us community, gifts, powers, and authority to do the same work He is doing.

US
When we believe the Gospel and come to God through Jesus, we are God's fellow workers; it is not optional. We must not forget that we are not here to build up our own estate but to build up His kingdom.

He doesn't need us; he could do it without us, but He wants us, and that is even better.

If you have not come to God through Jesus and want to know more about salvation, follow this link to my other blog. 

(c) Adron Dozat 12/1/10