Tuesday: The Church – A Source of Life
“Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish . . .; where the river flows everything will live” (Ezek. 47:9, NIV).
Ezekiel’s prophecy illustrates that where the river that comes from God’s church flows, there is life. Ezekiel 47:10 adds to the amazement of it all. What a strange sight that would be: a body of water known as being without fish because nothing can live there suddenly becomes a place where fishermen will be casting their nets and catching many fish.
The whole point is that through the power of God working in His people, life can exist where before there was none.
Image © Educational Concepts from GoodSalt.com
“Where God is at work there is no hopeless situation, no group of people who are beyond redemption, no heritage from an unhappy past which need condemn us to a future delivered over to despair.”-The Interpreter’s Bible, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1956), vol. 6, p. 328.
God’s amazing grace does amazing things-for anyone who will accept it. Here again, we have the message of the gospel. God, through us, can give hope to those who are discouraged, despondent, dry, and dying, both spiritually and physically.
Compare Ezekiel 47:12 with Revelation 22:1-2. What do these two passages tell you about the ultimate destiny of those who are healed and made alive by Jesus through His church?
Someday God’s people-including community members God has healed and made alive through the selflessness of church members-will be in the new earth, where there is another river, one flowing from the throne of God. There will be no deserts, dryness, or death there.
In the meantime-while we wait for that blessed reality-God wants His churches to be places from which flow healing and abundant life to the community. He wants to work through us to revitalize and transform the deserts, depressions, and Dead Seas in our territory, bringing them abundant life in Jesus (John 10:10), which is the wholistic Adventist message in a nutshell.
| The prophet Amos presents a similar picture to Ezekiel 47:1-23. Read Amos 5:24. How does this picture compare with the role of your church in your community? In what tangible ways is your church a healing river there? |
(24)
Our church is losing its relevance and significance in the communities we live in.for example people who visit the church,once they arrive in the community where our church is,they struggle to get clear directions from residents and arrive in church on a sabbath.the reason being most adventists are active only on sabbath.
We commonly do not serve the community around our church that's why we are not known.love salvation and service are passwords that only are theories recited from our pulpits and discussions,therefore we somehow have ceased to become a source of life in our communities.
It may not be happening in your church however,its becoming an epidemic plague that adventists are people of powerful theories that are never put into action.it is not surprising that we have thieves breaking and taking church property because during the week the church is monument.no activity that serves the community.
May we revive,the Community Services departments in our churches,home-health ministries,etc and get into our communities on a daily basis and serve it,God will work through us in a powerful way.
Prayer warriors out there who are able to read this, let's all take Victor's church to God in a very strong way, as well as the 22 (at least) others who agreed with his testimony that the Holy Spirit will come upon them and that there will be great revival, inspiration and outreach within their communities and the surrounding communities as well. Is it not AMAZING! that when Ezekiel merely spoke to the dry bones, God did all the work of waking them and building them back together and placing the muscles and skin upon them. Again when Ezekiel merely prayed to the Holy Spirit, the breath of life, He came upon them and did the great work of giving them Life! When we become overwhelmed by the additional task of sharing God in our communities and serving him, it so helps me to remember that HE is the one doing the work, I simply need to show up.
Similarly Jericho fell, and all the Israelites did was walk around it - God's mighty hand did all the work. The disciples caught no fish after struggling all night long, but when they simply threw a net in the water - on the side where scientifically no fish should be by the way - God had brought the fish to them!! Again, God is the one doing the work! I pray that all Adventists will seek Him in prayer daily and find it joyous to be a part of the communities in which we are living, seeking to at least see God's hand in their current lives, that they may be inspired to assist Him in doing even more.
God is truly amazing to us! Today I have seem God's mighty hand in my life. When I looked back and see how the Lord has filled the dry grown in my life and has allow new life to grow again, I cannot help to shout "I serve a mighty, loving, just God! Bless be his name for eternity! Amen!
Esther
I wotship with a very active group, that is still a branch to a church. We meet in a lower middle class community that is plagued by poverty and drugs. We reach out to the community through a soup kichen, literature distribution, and vacation bible school for kids. We are currently enrolling interested people for bible lesson corespondence.
Almost very Sabbath afternoon we are on the streets where we return with amazing testimonies. I waa once touched by an encounter from one of our small groups. They entered a home where there was a mother and her grown-uo son. The pair accepted the offer of orayer, then agreed to register for bible lessons. Then the son indicated that, the Adventists were the only church that had orayed with him since his wife passed on a few months earlier. So, the prayer that was offered by the group happened to be more than 'tradition', but provided comfort to a grieving young man.
The group started meeting in 2013, with only 3 members. It has since grown to about 30 baptised members. We have been greatly encouraged by the work of the Holy Spirit in the community and in our lives. God bless.
Amen for your outstanding work in the community
That's Jesus method for our example He moved amongst the people so He could help them
We can't stay in the church and not reach out to people
We'll be like a stagnant pool
My church made a borehole and brought a tap outside the church premises for people to fetch freely. Testimonies were coming and God's name was lifted. later, another church administration removed it. The question now is why? I thank God that the issue was brought for the church to revisit the kindness. The church is living both for its members and others. There are certain goodies that the church can do and will not spend money conducting public evangelism.
Time has come for God's children to sit up. A story was told of a group where a poor man complained of lack of money to pay his house rent. A rich man among them was eager to commit this man in prayer when his son told him, Dad, you can help this man. That there is no need to pray on that matter. That was how the man was helped out of that situation. God won't come down from heaven to help others around us but has commissioned his church to do so.
We who are called by God should always bear in mind that our ultimate purpose is to give hope to the despondent, discouraged, dry and dying both physically and spiritually. The church is a special community within a community with a purpose of assessing the needs of the community it is in and responding appropriately. Responding to the temporal needs of the community can give an excellent opportunity for the introduction of Christ as compassionate and loving. When limited resources prohibits satisfying the temporal needs of the community, their spiritual need must never be neglected because Christ ultimately wants to save them in His kingdom.