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and Welcome to the Wantage Baptist Church website |
Notices - news and articlesPlease see the Church Calendar on our Home Page for details of specific events Standing on the Promises(November Message) More Message from Phil (July 2007) More God's Vision of Church (January 2004) More Standing on the Promises Standing on the Promises When God, by His Grace, saved us, he gave us “everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1.3 In fact Jesus says that He came that we might have life, and have it to the full (John10.10) We started out by believing promises. They might have been all, or some, of the following: “whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6.37) “That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10.9) “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5.24) I hope you still believe these. They are the promises of God! If our Christian experience began by believing God’s promises, why not believe them now? Where can they be found? They are in His Word. So the first thing we need to do is to make it our aim to read and listen to God’s word, and to then know the promises and believe them. This takes faith. Please also recognize that God doesn’t work to our timetable, and therefore sometimes things take time to work out. There is a helpful verse regarding the promises of God in Hebrews 13.5-6 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." 6 So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" Notice what is said here. God has said, so we say with confidence…. In this case God has said “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” We say with confidence “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can man do unto me?” When you find verses like this, be thankful for the promises, and say them to yourself confidently, with a thankful heart toward God! So often we talk to ourselves negatively. “This isn’t going to work out”, “I’ll never get out of this mess” and similar things. When we know and believe the promises of God we can speak positively and with confidence. What situation are you going through at present that is causing you difficulty or worry? Have you searched the scriptures for the verses that deal with similar situations, and found out what God says about them? When you have, you will be able to stand on the promises of God. Bob Message from Phil JULY 2007 Thank you for visiting our web site today, we hope you find it helpful. With all the violence and hatred in the world today, we could be in the last days, even if not we want to be found faithfully walking with the Lord when He comes back. Just like Enoch in Scripture, we want to be well-pleasing to God. The Christian life is a life of faith from beginning to end. We became Christians only by repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And each day we must continue to live by faith in the One who loves us and gave Himself for us. But as we walk by faith, we can also be encourage as we look forward and realize with certainty that one day we will be with Christ forever in heaven! just as this verse promises, we have an eternity of life with God to look forward to! So don't let the concerns, pressures and evils of today rob you of the joy of knowing you will one day be living with God...FOREVER! As Christians we have eternity with God to look forward to. Take time today to consider that truth...and thank God for this amazing hope! “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words” 1,Thess 4:17 God's Vision of Church God’s Vision of Church Although salvation comes to us as individuals, the Bible is clear that God is redeeming a people for himself from every tribe and nation. This new, spiritual nation is bound together by interdependence, love and the presence of the Holy Spirit. This bond is between all believers and (as it derives from God) is not limited by time or space. It is physically expressed through the local communion of believers who are able to meet and share their lives together on a regular basis. This is the local church. The letter to the Ephesians gives three pictures of the church. These are particularly helpful. Church as God's Household (Eph 1:19) Although we are drawn from many different backgrounds God has not merely made us one people. He has brought us into a household, or family. As a church we are concerned not just to meet together but also to share our lives together as brothers and sisters in Christ. This means breaking down barriers that might divide us. It also means actively seeking to maintain the unity of the Spirit that is ours in Christ (Eph 4:2-3). Church as a Temple (Eph 2:21) If the chief purpose of man is to worship God, this worship is expressed by sacrificial living (Rom 12:1). Just as our lives are shared, so then our worship is also corporate. As a church we should seek to encourage one another in worship and combine together to bring praise to our glorious King. Church as the Body of Christ (Eph 4:16) The most intimate picture of our corporate life draws us together as a single body, with Christ as the head. Each person is an essential part. A body cannot function properly unless every part is working. The church cannot achieve its potential for God unless every person is doing the work God has assigned them. Likewise, just as a body reaches maturity as a whole, so the church should grow in Christ together. Our times of corporate teaching are an important part of this process. The picture of the body is very important. It shows us that just as the eye performs a different function to the hand, we do not all play the same part within the church. Also, whilst all parts are important, there are some ministries that are particularly relevant in mobilising the church to works of service. We should not expect all these influential ministries to be found in a single individual, or indeed confined to a leadership team. We also learn that the body is "held together by every supporting ligament”. There is a distinct pastoral ministry, but a healthy church is one where every member is playing their part in supporting and encouraging its life and work. Salt & Light (Matt 5:13,14) There are two other pictures of the Christian life that are useful when considering this corporate life of the church: those of being salt and light. Salt affects the whole meal and brings out its flavour. The church should be at work in its locality (and beyond) to “season” a fallen world with God’s love and compassion. As light, we are to shine the light of God’s justice and holiness into the dark places. Jesus associates the picture of light with a city upon a hill that cannot be hidden but shines as a beacon light. As individuals, but even more so as a church, we are to illuminate our neighbourhood with the light of the glorious Gospel. By this the light of the Gospel will shine into the hearts of the lost, and those whom God calls may come into the kingdom of light. The Great Commission, (Matt 28:19) Finally, much of this work is summarised by what we often refer to as the Great Commission. Before his ascension Jesus commissioned his disciples, and through them the whole church, to “go and make disciples of all nations”. As a church, bound together in Christ, it is our task and privilege to proclaim the Gospel in our locality (and through our missionary support, to every nation). We must nurture those that respond so that we all may grow up into maturity in the body, and that we may be a pure bride for our Lord when he returns. January 26th 2004 |
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