The Lord’s Prayer
Welcome back!
Christ’s disciples could see clearly through the life of their Master that prayer was critical in His life. They asked him to teach them to pray. As always, our Lord taught.
Lk 11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
We will resume our discussion here. This is the point where Christ taught them a specific prayer – the Lord’s Prayer. This is without doubt the most widely known passage in all of the Bible.
Mt 6:9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“ ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
Praying this special prayer as presented in Matthew is very good. At times when you struggle for your words to pray, this is excellent, the perfect prayer to start with. Because this prayer is so well known, it is often used in church worship services.
To me, it is most valuable as a model.
For our next posting, we will explore the Lord’s Prayer as a powerful model that we can follow in order to have very special prayer time with God.
Blessings,
Larry
| Merry Christmas 12/21/2009 11:59:39 AM Link 0 comments | Add comment
We thank you for your participation in this new blog during the final months of 2009. It will be great to resume our discussion following Christmas.
We will continue our talk about prayer, with the Lord’s Prayer as our starting point.
For now, from the team at Advanced Team Concepts, we wish you a very merry Christmas. We join you with great joy to celebrate the birth of our savior.
Christ truly was the most marvelous gift the world has ever known.
Let’s continue our learning with Jesus as our model.
Warmest wishes of this blessed holiday,
Larry
| Prayer
In the next few posts we will begin to discuss prayer. This is one of the most important elements of our Christian life. It is our personal time to talk with God. We will focus on private time in prayer for now. Prayer together is powerful, and it is appropriate. However, let’s begin with our private prayer time.
First, a question – why should we pray?
As I have mentioned in earlier posts, my favorite advice when a question is asked is to think about another question – What did Jesus do? In this case, what did our Lord demonstrate and teach us about prayer.
- The answer to “What did Jesus do?” is that He prayed.
- He had a habit of frequently praying to God the father. If it was important for him, the Son of God, to pray, my conclusion is that it is very important for us to pray.
Christ prayed at many important events, both before and during the event. He prayed blessings before he worked great miracles. He prayed in his most difficult moments – on the cross.
Let’s simply let the scriptures create this image for us – our Lord in prayer to the Father.
Prayer time alone was very important to Christ. Most days he was surrounded with great crowds of people. He would find time alone, early or late, so that he could go to the Father in prayer.
Mt 14:22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
At times his private prayer time was more important to him than sleep.
Lk 6:12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
Although private prayer time was clearly important to Jesus, there were times when he took some of his closest disciples with him.
Lk 9:28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.
Time just before his crucifixion was without doubt more painful and difficult that we can imagine. At those difficult times Christ prayed with great intensity.
Mt 26:36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 8 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Christ’s disciples saw how important prayer was in the life of their Lord. They asked him to teach them to pray.
Lk 11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
And this is where we will return with the next post.
Blessings,
Larry
| More Roles of our Local Churches
This entry will include three additional functions of our local churches. Each is very important.
Evangelism
The church is a center of work for evangelism. It is clear—Christ’s mission for the church is to reach the world with the Gospel.
Mt 28:18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
It is our mission, and it is wonderful that He promises to be with us always as we work toward his purpose.
Helping the needy
Churches are critical to charity within communities. In Romans 15 we read about members of the early gentile church family sending offerings to Jerusalem to aid the poor. We see many wonderful examples from today’s churches. Each year offerings are sent throughout communities to help those in need. This is especially evident in times of crisis. In recent years, a notable example was in the months following hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the southern United States. It was the church families that opened their doors to assist and care for the many people escaping from the regions destroyed by the storms. Similar examples can be seen every year around the world – Christians reaching out to help those in need.
Ro 15:25 Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
Stewardship – Giving
The church is where we can live out stewardship of our resources according to God’s will. God has an expectation that we share a portion of the resources and money he has blessed us with. The local church provides a focal point for our giving. It enables our offerings to serve the Kingdom.
Paul at times reminded the local churches of this. He encouraged them to keep an attitude of love as they gave their gifts to God.
2Co 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
It is in through our local churches that we can participate in God’s work. These basic functions of the church enable us:
- Worshiping
- Growing in the Word of God
- Fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ
- Praying together
- Working in evangelism
- Providing to those in need
- Giving – following God in our stewardship
Many blessings,
Larry
| Basic Functions of the Church
In this and the next posting we simply list basic functions of our church and connect them to scriptures. We talked before about two formal ordinances of the local church – baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Now we look at scriptures that remind us of additional important work of the local church.
The church serves God in many ways:
Worship
It is a place where we worship, which is to glorify God.
Eph 3:10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
In this worship, He is glorified, and we praise him because we belong to God.
1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
God’s Word
The church is where we can receive preaching and teaching from the Word of God – the Bible
This is critical. We see in Paul’s second letter to Timothy how Paul placed great importance on teaching and preaching. He was commanding Timothy to “preach to Word.” We all need that instruction so that we can grow in Christ and have positive direction in our life for God.
2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
Fellowship
It is our location for fellowship with God and other believers. This was true in the early first century church, too.
Ac 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Prayer Together
Our churches provide a powerful center to bring our prayers together. We see it in the verse above, Acts 2:42. Christ taught his disciples of the power of asking of him together in prayer.
Mt 18:18 “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”
Next time we look at more works that our local churches serve:
- Evangelism
- Charity
- Stewardship
Blessings,
Larry
| Benefits of Church Attendance
Attending church is a true blessing. From attendance at our local churches we receive many benefits.
First and most important, Jesus promised to be with us when we are meeting together.
Mt 18:20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”
Size of the church is not the important issue. What is important is that we come together to worship our Lord.
In addition, the following are some of the benefits we receive when we attend church with our brother and sister Christians:
- Opportunity to worship
- Fellowship with other believers
- Lessons from the Bible are preached and taught to us
- Lord’s Supper
- Prayer with and for each other
Each of these can be a powerful source of encouragement that we receive from our church. In addition, and perhaps more important, the church is a place where, through these activities, we can be a blessing to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
These and more are basic functions of the church. We will summarize them with related scriptures in the next post.
Many thanks,
Larry | The Local Church—The Body of Christ
The founder of the church was Jesus himself. The passage that most feel connects to the specific point when Jesus did this is Matthew 16:18-19. Jesus made the statement in response to Peter’s robust answer to Christ about who Jesus is (Matt. 16:15-16)
Mt 16:15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Mt 16:17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Jesus made it pretty clear that his church was built to last.
His church represents “his body.” Paul describes this well as he instructs the believers at Colosse about the supremacy of Jesus.
Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
We are meant to be in community. It is not good for us to try to walk the Christian life alone. Jesus prayed prior to his death that we would be united.
Jn 17:20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
When we meet together, Jesus promised to be with us. Next time we continue with that promise and other benefits from attending our local church.
Blessings,
Larry
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