Serving the Lord Faithfully
One characteristic all healthy, growing churches have in common is a commitment to serving the Lord faithfully. Joshua told the Israelites, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." As individuals as well as a corporate body, we must be committed to serving the Lord with all of our hearts. Heartfelt service to God will require that we are deliberate, determined and demonstrative. First we must be deliberate. This means making conscious, reasoned decisions and purposeful, intentional choices. We must be deliberate in prayer for our families, our churches, our neighborhood, our communities and our nation. We must be deliberate about passing our faith on to our children. If they are to be the world changers of their generation, we must instill in them the faith that has made a difference in our lives.
Second, we must be determined. Being deliberate means making a conscious decision; being determined involves follow-through. The moment we make a conscious decision to serve the Lord, the enemy will go all out to distract and deter us. The devil fears nothing more than Christian people committed to prayer, spiritual disciplines, the Word of God and determined to serve God no matter what. We must be determined to love one another, lift up one another in prayer, encourage one another, and make ourselves accountable to one another.
Finally, we must be demonstrative. We must not be afraid to show our love for one another. If people outside the church see us who are in the church freely loving each other in godly love, they will be drawn to the church, because that kind of love is unknown in the non-believing world. We must be demonstrative in the way we stand up for what we believe and the way we put or faith into action. One common accusation that unbelievers make against the church is that it is full of hypocrites. While accusations will always be made against the church by misinformed people, we must endeavor to be genuine redemptive people. While there is no perfect church, we must nevertheless strive to be genuine.
And so, as we enter 2009, it is my prayer that we include a greater portion of God in our lives and everyday routines. It is my prayer that each of us find it within ourselves to be deliberate, determined and demonstrative regarding our own commitments to God and our church. There is tremendous excitement around Ottawa First. We are growing and we are experiencing fresh outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit. As we continue to realize that this is our time to do great things for God, we will attract more people who find themselves wanting to be a part of our movement. All of this will be made possible as we serve the Lord faithfully.
