Tuesday: The Bridge
Sometimes a church will have community service outreach programs in areas of health, family, personal finance, conflict management, et cetera, and might ask: What is the bridge to bring them to the “Follow Me” stage? We rather should ask, Who is the bridge? Answer: You are! “The strongest argument in favor of the gospel is a loving and lovable Christian.” – Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 470.
Image © Krieg Barrie from GoodSalt.com
Churches that are successful in keeping inquiring visitors engaged from event to event and program to program are blessed with members who genuinely love God and are eager to nurture lasting friendships.
On the flip side, church members who are careless in their approach to visitors, or even lethargic toward them, can have a very negative impact on your church’s outreach. “The Lord does not now work to bring many souls into the truth, because of the church members who have never been converted and those who were once converted but who have backslidden. What influence would these unconsecrated members have on new converts? Would they not make of no effect the God-given message which His people are to bear?” – Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 371.
Read Luke 19:1-10. Why did Zacchaeus find it necessary to climb a tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus? What spiritual lessons should we take from this story?
Imagine what might have happened if those who were blocking access to Jesus there in Jericho had paid attention to Zacchaeus’s keen interest in coming close to Jesus and had lovingly invited this “sinner” to the feet of the Savior.
Those of us who are part of the “crowd” around Jesus must be so “infected” with His love for struggling, sinful humanity that we become “contagious” Christians. If we are deeply aware of God’s love and grace for sinners like us, we will passionately seek those outside of the crowd who are short in spiritual stature and caringly usher them to Christ.
How do you act toward new faces in your church? Do you make an intentional effort to talk to them? Or do you ignore these people, thinking that someone else can minister to them? What does your answer say about yourself and what might need to be changed?
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Jesus is waiting for the church to shed its light(Matt 5:13-14) to the world by being the bridge through which the needs of the world will be addressed.When the world is illuminated with this light then Jesus will come to claim Church as His and finally to the new abode;the new Jerusalem.
The question on Tuesdays lesson asks, why did Zacchaeus find it necessary to climb a tree? Jesus began his journey from Galilee to Jerusalem by passing through Jericho. Jericho must have been a sizable city and Zacchaeus being a tax collector must have been very familiar with the functions of the crowds on a daily basis. Two notable features that describe Zacchaeus. He was short statured and rich. Those two features prompted Zacchaeus' curiosity, to find a vantage point to see what the main attraction was in this large crowd. Word had apparently spred that Jesus was going this way. The entire story is another demonstration of Jesus's foreknowledge and purpose. Zacchaeus received an unexpected blessing far beyond any activity he could imagine. Luke 19:9&10. We are encouraged to know that Jesus will make a way for unexpected Blessings for each of us.
beautifully said Paul!
it is that sense of purpose we must pray and ask for, that would allow us to have that "...foreknowledge and purpose...", You mentioned.
And the rest would "fall-into-place", per Your last statement, that of--the rest, comfort and divine providence, that we all seek and await from Our LORD and SAVIOR!
You know, it helps me to remember the song from the K-love radio station that says, for us to "...stop holding on, and just be held"!
thank YOU very much for sharing.
Many SDA churches have been infected by the worldly value systems and so attitudes of criticism, self-righteousness, and apathy exist where attitudes of humility, an interest in others and compassion should reign. It's our human traits of being rigid and wanting to control when we should all being praying as a church to hear God and allow Him to lead.
So, Nicole, if this is so, how can we be part of the solution
Hello Inge. I personally think that some educational lectures on different populations might help if they do not over-stereotype (homeless, physically/mentally disabled, addictions, etc.) with a general focus on what the bible says vs. the world view. Of course there are a lot of secular organizations that do a lot of good and do promote an understanding of people that promotes their worth and dignity. The churches should do that too while using a biblical foundation. Ultimately in this matter everyone interested in being part of the solution needs to take a personal inventory.
Thanks for the response, Nicola. Perhaps work shops on how to reach different population groups (and these include different ages) would be helpful?
In the meantime, we can each reach out to those with whom we regularly come in contact. 🙂
When we see someone seeking Jesus the way Zacchaeus was, we ought do as Jesus did and take notice. We are to meet that person's need which is to lead them to the One who came to "seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). Just as "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents”, there ought to be joy in the house of God when we see new faces in our church. And like our Good Shepherd, we ought to reach out to them in love.
We were saved to serve and meet the needs of others. This will not be possible in our churches unless members take it as their daily duty of life. What jesus did to Zacchaeus was the object lesson to us who claim to be his followers.
Much of our church identity is centered around the couple of hours that we spend together on Sabbath. And much of what we do on Sabbath is essentially liturgical and somewhat self-centered. We sing, pray and listen to a sermon that we judge largely on how much we agree or disagree with it. Further, our concept of reaching others is often about how to make them behave like us.
I'm going to be radical here: we really need to change the focus of the church from ourselves to others. If we are thinking about how we can help others, rather than selfishly satisfying ourselves, we will have a whole new perspective on the Gospel. Here is a suggestion: how about running a program like CHIP on Sabbath morning, not for church members but for community members. I often make the point that we do little to share our Sabbath with others. We selfishly keep it to ourselves. If our brand of Christianity is going to be meaningful to others we have to make it something more than just shifting the day of worship back from Sunday to Sabbath. It has to be a meaningful shareable experience. Adding value to the life of others by sharing our rest with them is one way of worshiping God on Sabbath.
Hello Maurice and Jeffrey,
Thank you for your comments.
Maurice's suggestion, "running a program like CHIP on Sabbath morning, not for church members but for community members", is a program that some people may conduct, but not others, since we have to be sensitive to our own conscience. In the past, I have worked with many CHIP programs and know they take an extraordinary amount of work to conduct.
Before I was a SDA, I would work 6+ days a week. When I became a SDA, I raised a son alone for 10 years, worked 6 days a week and homeschooled him until he went to college. Back then I needed the Sabbath's for family and church fellowship time.
And in all the years since, I've still worked 6 days a week, but mostly in the home, sometimes teaching food and nutrition out of the home, sometimes taking care of grandchildren and sometimes doing volunteer work. So I still need the Sabbath church experience and the rest.
After church, we've encouraged church fellowship, by opening our home for potlucks. If we didn't do that, we would hardly get to know any of our members. People in America are over committed or want privacy so just getting members out for one potluck a month can be a big deal.
So I agree with Jeffrey Barrier: on Sabbath we need to take time to sing praises to the Lord, have personal and communal convocation with God through prayer, study together the Bible in Sabbath school, and listen to an inspirational sermon.
Our current pastor is the best, and every Sabbath school he attends and every sermon he preaches, brings us into more understanding of the scriptures, and he always makes practical applications. Every Sabbath, whether the pastor attends or not, I leave the services with more wisdom and understanding and I am encouraged and happy. It is usually the only time, during the whole week, that we connect with church members.
So I agree with Jeffrey that God expects and deserves glorification on His sanctified and Holy day and it is a day of worship and rest.
Thank you Maurice for helping us think outside the "box".
I totally agree that we are often too self-focused, and we would all benefit on being more other-focused, as Christ was.
However, knowing how much work goes into a CHIP program, I would suggest holding the CHIP program on week days and sharing the Sabbath as a weekly mini vacation which relieves stress and thus contributes to heart health. Then invite CHIP participants to our services which should include a supervised potluck. (i.e. Someone should be "in charge" to help to ensure that there is a healthy variety of dishes brought and it won't be a Sabbath of mainly desserts, as can sometimes happen. 😉 ) The whole program for the Sabbaths during the CHIP program should be designed with these visitors in mind, and, hopefully, members will continue to be sensitive to the needs of such visitors.
Holding the actual CHIP program on Sabbath might not provide a good example of the rest God intends us to find in the Sabbath. 🙂
I am well aware of the work involved in running CHIP and I am not insensitive to the issues of working on Sabbath. But I do want to raise the level of discussion about how we make our Christianity meaningful to others. I like Sabbath and the concept of rest and renewal that it involves. At the same time I am acutely aware of how selfish we can be about our status quo. We need to rethink church and its activities seriously. Dare I say it; that in the perception of unchurched folk, we are the same as other churches except we have this curious notion of going to Church onSaturday. Surely we have something more than that to offer.
Mostly agree Maurice, and I like the idea of some of our service being about community outreach. But I have to strongly disagree with the notion of people who enjoy singing praises to the Lord, having personal and communal convocation with God through prayer, and listening to an inspirational sermon (without being judgemental) as self-centered. Being a good example for the community is not the same as expecting everyone to behave like us. Scripture and Mrs. White make it clear.
Ministering and good works are a wonderful way to spend SOME of our Sabbath. But let us not forget that God expects and deserves glorification on His sanctified and Holy day. It is a day of worship and rest. But the Sabbath lasts for 24 hours. That leaves plenty of time for God, rest, and good works. God Bless you my Friend !
Indeed Maurice, why not- or even on Sabbath afternoon???
We generally think of "bridges" on the horizontal plain. But ultimately the bridging link between earth and heaven, is that vertical "bridge" which we might normally call a "ladder".
Jacob dreamed of this ladder, upon which the angels of God were ascending and descending (Gen 28:12) - ascending with tasks completed, and descending again with fresh commissions from above. For the angels, the travel to and fro is literal. But for us, who gain access to the throne of God above, and then "return", setting about to do His bidding on the earth, our ascent and descent is by faith.
Stewart, if we only think of ourselves going up and down such a ladder by faith, I think we are missing the point of this lesson - which is that Christ designed that we, as members of the body of Christ, should be this ladder or bridge that connects the inhabitants of this world to our Creator God. We are to fulfill the mission of Christ on this planet. That necessitates that we look beyond our desire for salvation and ask to have the mind of Christ in us - the same mind that moved Christ to give His life as a sacrifice for our salvation.
Moses is an example of one who had the mind of Christ. He desired the salvation of the people of Israel before his own salvation?
What will it take before we desire our neighbors' salvation more than our own?
Inge after reading the input from the posts of Maurice and Jane and Stewart, and yourself, I have to plead ignorance to what the "CHIP" program is. Obviously a slogan for something that involves a credible program of sorts. The variety of suggestions might make implementing them all, a bit of a challenge. Over a number of years many have become comfortable with business as usual, so to speak. New fresh ideas are for the energetic younger generation. I remember Sabbath afternoons were a challenge for our 5 small ones. The question that comes to mind is, What activities are appropriate now, but 30 or 40 years ago were not. It usually ends up as an individual preference. The goals are much the same on paper. The need is still there, maybe to different degrees. To do something is better than nothing,and may not be earth shattering news, but we might just make a worthwhile difference with a determined effort. A lingering question is, who is we?
CHIP (Complete Health Improvement Program) is a public program run by the SDA church in quite a number of counties.
Maurice, some of us who are no longer involved with CHIP remember it as Coronary Health Improvement Program. And yes they have changed the name. Because it was complete. Also everything learned for the heart in this program enhanced the complete body. Total vegetarianism, with going for natural carbs, fats and proteins, more water, freshair, plenty of sunshine, which one can get with daily outside exercise, rest, and a healthy relationship with Christ.
Paul, you can find out a little more about the CHIP program on our Health Resources Page.
Once upon a time there were two brother's who each inherited 4000 acres. They had grown up like friends, quite close. Their properties were adjacent each other with a stream dividing them. As the years went by the busy life of ranching drew them apart. Soon they were not on speaking terms, fights broke out when cattle crossed the stream. Then one day a carpenter came to town, brother Charles said, "I have a job for you, all the materials are over there. I want you to build a fence along the stream over there. I will be gone for a few days on business." When Charles came back to his puzzlement there was a beautiful bridge across the stream. "I thought I told you to build a fence, carpenter." The carpenter said, "I am in the business of building bridges, and repairing relationships. See up there on the bridge, there is brother Ben." Charles dropped every thing in astonishment ran up to meet his brother. "Charles what a nice bridge, now we can peacefully bring our stray cows home across the bridge, share tractors when one's in the shop, and visit each other even when the flash floods come." Charles turned to the carpenter and said Ben and I have have other jobs for you. The carpenter said, "I must be running along, I have other bridges to build."
Happy Sabbath All