READINGS – Part 3

Christians privileged to live in the last decade before the year 2000 face a historic opportunity.

The number of Christians worldwide is growing at unprecedented rates. A shrinking global village and new technology make it easier to get the message of Christ to those who have never heard. Growing agreement on both the urgency of evangelism and the importance of a holistic approach encourages optimism. And historic political changes have opened more doors to the Gospel. The last decade of the second Christian millennium is a breathtaking time to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Global Christianity is on the move. Considerably more people have become Christians in the twentieth century than in any previous century. In 1900, there were about 558 million Christians. In 1992, there were 1,833 million. Experts predict that in eight years-by the year 2000-there will probably be 2,130 million.

One must quickly add that this explosive expansion is almost exactly parallel to the total global population growth. There are also vastly more non-Christians today. In 1900, Christians represented 34.4% of the global population. Christian statistician David Barrett estimates that Christians will be 34.1 percent in 2000 A.D. There is still much to do. The ratio of committed Christians to non-Christians, however, offers real hope. Barrett estimates that the number of committed, “Great Commission” Christians is growing at 6.9% a year-more than twice as fast as the total world population. Precise statistics are not available, so one must be careful. But Ralph Winter probably correctly identifies a significant trend when he suggests that in 1950, there were approximately twenty-one non-Christians for every “Bible-believing” Christian. By 1980, he says, there were only eleven non-Christians for every “Bible-believing” Christian. And by 1992, the ratio was less than 7 to 1.

Pentecostals and charismatics today are the most successful at evangelism, and their numbers are growing at explosive rates. In 1970 there were seventy-two million. Twenty-two years later (1992) they had increased more than 500% to 410 million. Barrett estimates that by the year 2000, Pentecostal and charismatic Christians alone will number 560 million.

The tremendous growth of the church in the Third World is another reason for joy and hope. In 1900 at least 75% of all Christians were white folk living in places like Europe, North America, and Russia. By 2000, 56% of all Christians will be Third World Christians living outside those traditionally “Christian” countries. The number of Christians in Africa, Asia, and Latin . America will have increased 1300% in 100 years to almost 1.2 billion people.

It is extremely significant that the number of Third World missionaries is increasing at an astonishing rate. By 1990, there were 49,000 Third World missionaries spreading the Gospel in countries other than their own. By the year 2000, there will probably be 100,000. When one remembers that in 1900, the total number of all foreign missionaries was only 62,000, one can see the magnitude of the huge body of Third World missionaries.

The wonderful privilege of sharing the Gospel cross-culturally with people of a different language and history is no longer a “Western” or “White European” activity. Africans are coming to evangelize in Europe and North America. Native American Navajo Christians are sending missionaries to European Laplanders, and European Gypsies are spreading the Gospel in the African country of Madagascar!

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One-Sided Christianity, Ronald J. Sider, Zondervan, pages 187-89.

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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Allow me to write briefly about a skill that I believe is vitally important for a minister to master. To my knowledge, it’s not taught in most seminaries, and it would be hard to find a rationale for it in the Bible. Nevertheless, it can make a big difference if it is learned and learned well. What I’m referring to is the art of giving a good introduction of someone.

In today’s world, it’s not all that hard to find the information you need regarding a great speaker. So your introduction should make your congregation see themselves as honored to have such a person as a guest.

Also, a pastor often has the opportunity to introduce someone from the congregation who will give a testimony, lead in prayer, head a committee, whatever. Don’t assume everyone already knows who this person is. Visitors won’t, and neither will a healthy percentage of the regular attendees. Words like, “Let me tell you a sentence or two about Pete and why I asked him to take on this responsibility…” are always appropriate.

“Pam has been in charge of our church kitchen for a number of years. But did some of you newcomers know that six years back, her blueberry entry won First Prize in the national Crisco Pie-Baking Contest? We are indeed fortunate to have such a person serving us like she does!”

Well, you get the idea. Anyway, pastors, set an example for the church of how a good introduction is made.

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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READINGS – Part 2

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

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“Be Still My Soul,” by Jean Sibelius.

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

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READINGS – Part 1

It’s time for the lambs to roar.

What I’m calling for is a radically different way of thinking about our world. Instead of running from it, we need to rush into it. And instead of just hanging around the fringes of our culture, we need to be right smack dab in the middle of it. Why not believe that one day the most critically acclaimed director in Hollywood could be an active Christian layman in his church? Why not hope that the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting could go to a Christian journalist on staff at a major daily newspaper? Is it really too much of a stretch to think that a major exhibit at the Museum of Modem Art could feature the works of an artist on staff at one of our fine Christian colleges? Am I out of my mind to suggest that your son or daughter could be the principle dancer for the Joffrey Ballet Company, leading a weekly Bible study for the other dancers in what was once considered a profession that was morally bankrupt?

I don’t think so. In fact, I believe it has been the pessimistic vision of the church that has prevented generations of young people from venturing out into the culture-shaping professions of our world. I’ve always wondered why we could be so quick to sacrifice our children to become missionaries but stand in the way of their becoming broadcast journalists, film and television actors, photographers, and painters. It’s almost as if we believe God is strong enough to take care of his own only as long as they stay within the safety of the Christian ghetto. And yet, the Bible gives us countless examples of people like Joseph, who not only served as an advisor to the “president” of his day but also used that position to influence the entire land.

Can’t we do that today? Shouldn’t we be encouraging and equipping our sons and daughters to become Josephs too? A friend of mine told me about a conversation he had with a member of his church. The two were talking about their frustration over their church’s inability to have any impact on their community. It was a relatively small church—about 150 members—in an upscale suburban Midwest city. Included in the congregation were a leading surgeon, several business executives, a department head of a prestigious public school, as well as a number of lawyers, teachers, and sales reps. But, my friend observed, we’re just sort of treading water. Things are getting worse in our community, families are breaking up, our kids aren’t even accepting our faith, and we seem to waste so much time fighting with each other.

My friend then recalled the response of his fellow church member: “Don’t you know, Jim, this is as good as it gets.” That church, like so many others, is filled with lambs who’ve lost their voice. Not only have they failed to penetrate their community with their values, they have come to accept their failure as inevitable.

I believe it’s not only possible but absolutely necessary for Christians and Christian values to become a vital element in the overall moral and cultural discourse of our nation. Without our strategic involvement in the culture-shaping arenas of art, entertainment, the media, education, and the like, this nation simply cannot be the great and glorious society it once was. If we are to be obedient to our Lord’s call to go into all the world, we will begin reentering the fields that we have fled. Are you ready to roar?
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Roaring Lambs, Bob Briner, Zondervan, pages 31-32.

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.

Share and Enjoy