Combining Resources – Part 2: Hard Times
No one should have to go through hard times by herself, or by himself. Adults shouldn’t have to. Certainly children shouldn’t! It’s during tough times that we feel the need for other’s support most intensely.
Christians especially shouldn’t be left in the position of having to face difficult days with little or no help. After all, we belong to what should be the most loving family in the world. God forgive us if that’s true only doctrinally. With the vast resources available throughout the body of Christ, believers should never end up bearing their pain in isolation.
I don’t believe they do, most of the time. I thrill to the many examples I hear about the family of God embracing those of its own who are hurting. These kinds of deeds include:
- Preparing meals
- Giving money
- Meeting transportation needs
- Offering temporary shelter
- Providing child care or foster homes
- Teaching English to immigrants
- Finding jobs for the unemployed
- Helping hurting people locate trained counselors
And the list goes on and on.
All around the world the church has been exemplary. To overlook that fact would mean we were incredibly naive. Time and again it’s been the body of Christ that has compassionately asked, “Are you OK?” The truth is, “places in the heart” can easily be found among the people of God.
Through the centuries it’s always been this way, even in the early days of the church. Acts 2:44-45, records that “all the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.”
This is another unusual group, isn’t it? It’s much larger than a household of five. The church at this time already had several thousand members.
These verses come two chapters later, in Acts 4: “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had … There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need” (vv. 32, 34-35).
I’m not asking that we in today’s church match what’s described here in Acts. The pressures we’re under in our society don’t even begin to compare to the tornado winds of change ripping through the lives of these New Testament people. The Son of God had recently been crucified. Fifty days later, the Holy Spirit had fallen on the church. The Jewish religious world was in a state of stubborn reaction, and the apostles were literally being beaten. It wouldn’t be long before the Romans would destroy the temple and Jerusalem itself.
This passage in Acts just makes us aware that in the future we may have to come together even more than we have to date. We may need to love each other more, trust each other more, contribute more of what we have to give as individuals, if we want to survive.
I believe that when we learn to combine resources in God’s family, we banish the fear of having to face the unexpected all alone. That may sound attractive to you, but the idea of combining resources may also be a bit scary. Praise the Lord that on a larger scale, church leaders are setting a marvelous example in many communities. They’re saying the power of the enemy will never be challenged unless we learn to stand together more in our towns and cities—Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Nazarenes, Presbyterians, Salvation Army, Assemblies of God, and so on. At the very minimum we can pray together.
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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.
