DIG for Tuesday the 9th of January…..relationships, that’s the real treasure in life…..Hebrews 10 v 24

I completed a rather interesting task this evening while waiting for Lydia to come out from her swimming training.

While reading a ‘self help’ book I meditated on a question from the author; what would I like people to say at my funeral and how would I like to be remembered?

I thought about this for a while and then wrote some comments.

Interestingly none of my comments were about being a success in business or career, nothing about the size of my house or possessions, or the amount of money I made.

They were all about people; how I related to them, how they saw me, and which of my characteristics and values were important to them.

This should not have been a surprise as we were created to be in relationships, with our God and with other people.

We are relational beings.

We are not meant to live in isolation.

The really important things in life are all to do with other people; with people we love and people who love us.

At the end of the day material possessions (as nice and comfortable as they make life) are not important, what we think about others and what others think about us are the vital things in life.

Relationships are the real treasures in life.

I thought about my relationship with the Lord, with my family and with my friends and felt a glow inside.

My relationships make me happy and make life worth living.

So I challenge you tonight to ask yourself the same question, what do you want people to say at your funeral and how do you want to be remembered?

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that you created me as a relational being, and thank you for all the wonderful relationships in my life”.

Hebrews 10 v 24…..And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works

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DIG for Friday the 8th of December…..not doing church is just selfishness…..Hebrews 10 v 25

I had a wonderful afternoon today, having lunch and spending some time with “old” colleagues from my previous workplace.

It was great getting together, chatting and reminiscing over old times.

I often think about the old times on my own, but it is always more enjoyable with other people.

Sitting here tonight thinking about this made me ponder church and the Christian life.

I’ve said this often (and will say it many times again); your Christian walk should not be done alone.

Church is all about people, and the Word encourages us to be with other people.

How can you be a blessing if you avoid people, if you don’t do church?

Now, there are many ways to do church, in your home for example; I do church in a theatre, but it always involves other people.

I am not talking about going to a church building; I am talking about being and doing church.

The Greek word used for church talks about the body of believers not the buildings we meet in.

The Word encourages us to do church, to consider one another, not forsaking coming together as the body of Christ, as His church (Hebrews 10 v 23 to 25).

This may cause some of you to be offended, however I’m going to say it anyway; not doing church is either selfishness (you don’t want to bless others) or arrogance (you think others cannot bless you).

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the privilege and opportunity to be church and to do church with my brothers and sisters in Christ”.

Hebrews 10 v 25…..Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is: but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the say approaching

DIG for Friday the 25th of November…..why go to church, well, to be a blessing…..Hebrews 10 v 25

“Why should I go to church” was a question I was asked recently.

I think I surprised the person asking when I replied, “To be a blessing to others”.

They had expected another answer and this one kind of surprised them.

I could have used the verses in Hebrews 10 about assembling together and in a sense I did with my answer.

In fellowship we are to exhort one another (Hebrews 10 v 25) and to provoke each other unto love and good works (Hebrews 10 v 24).

That to me sounds like blessing people.

Yes, we can learn much from attending church, we can gain of course but we can also give.

At the end of the day a born again believer who does not go to church (or attend a fellowship if you don’t like the word church) is being selfish.

Yes that is quite a blunt statement but I consider it to be the truth.

A believer who does not partake in fellowship is not sharing what they have within them, not sharing the Word, not sharing the goodness of God; and that in my eyes is being selfish.

And of course a believer not partaking in fellowship is going against the Word of God with regards to Hebrews 10 v 23 to 25.

Now before you get all upset you can go to church in your home with other believers (I am going to be ‘doing church’ tonight with a Bible study in my house), you can go to church anywhere, not just in a denominational church building.

Read the passage in Hebrews if you feel that this DIG today is not to your liking!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I can have fellowship with others and that I can be blessed and be a blessing”.

Hebrews 10 v 25…..Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching

DIG for Thursday the 14th of July…..church is much more than a Sunday occupation…..Hebrews 10 v 25

Sometimes it is just as important what Scripture doesn’t say than what it actually says; take Hebrews 10 v 25 for example.

This does not say, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together on a Sunday morning, as the manner of some is”.

The writer of the Hebrews advises us not to forsake assembling together, thus implying we can “assemble together” at any time.

I’m writing this as I wait for some of the fellowship to come round for a Bible study where we dissect, discussion and sometimes debate the sermon from Sunday.

And one of the most blessed times I’ve had this week so far was a meeting with some of the men of the church in Costa to have a wee “Bible study lock in”.

I love my Sunday mornings in church, however I enjoy “doing church” throughout the week as well.

We need to be reminded sometimes that the early church met daily, in the temple and in homes, showing us their commitment to one another (Acts 2 v 46).

When we assemble together we do more than just meet; the word assemble to me talks of building something and enlarging something, like assembling a Lego model.

It is no coincidence that when we meet some people need to be encouraged and some are ready to encourage; some are feeling a bit low and some are feeling rather excited.

We are here to encourage, edify and exhort one another, to help each other through this walk we call life.

Life, even the Christian life, cannot be done alone; we all need others to help us and we also all need others to help.

Speak this out today…..”Lord I thank you for my brothers and sisters, for Christian fellowship”.

Hebrews 10 v 24 and 25…..And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much more, as ye see the day approaching

DIG for Thursday the 26th of May…..the benefits of Christian fellowship…..Hebrews 10 v 25

The Grace and Faith conference has started and I am being blessed already, so the DIGs for the next few days will probably be either what Duane or Andrew or Wendell has been saying!

I know the teaching will be good, that is one of the main reasons for coming to a conference like this, however the other main reason is for the fellowship.

At a gathering like this you come together with like-minded people, all sharing one thing in common, that is faith in the mercy, compassion and goodness of the Lord.

When Nunsy and I started out in what is known as “the grace message” we did not have many like-minded people in our church and it was conferences and minister’s meetings where we met people with the same doctrine as we had.

They encouraged us, built us up and helped us in our walk; this was ten years ago now.

The wonderful thing is that we met up with some of those same people in the conference last night!

The other great thing for us is that we now have many people of the same view in our local church.

But it is still great to meet those who guided us in the early days.

The point I am trying to make is that we all need encouraged, edified and exhorted and that is done when we meet up with men and women of God, as a group that we call church.

We may be at conference (on a Saturday morning now), but we are getting ready to go to church.

We are getting ready to be blessed.

I pray that you are in fellowship with like-minded people, if not you need to find some.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for Christian fellowship”.

Hebrews 10 v 25…..Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching

DIG for Sunday the 20th of March…..we all have a part to play in church…..Hebrews 10 v 24 and 25

 

We had a wonderful service at church today, with many people involved.

One elder opened, another received the offering and a different one led us in communion.

My wife Nunsy led us in worship, while numerous people shared, prayed and ministered one to another.

We had a sister singing in tongues and then bring us a great message from the Word and had words of love and encouragement from the Lord through another sister.

And what you may ask was I as pastor doing while all this was going on?

Well, I was sitting in a comfy chair at the back of the church being ministered to!

Church never has been and never should be a “one man show”.

Yes, a church should have a pastor but they are not the most important person in the fellowship; we are all ministers, one to another.

Everyone can minister; we can all encourage, edify and exhort each other, that is what Hebrews 10 v 24 and 25 says to us.

We can pray for each other, build each other up and go to one another for help.

And this should be happening in church.

I was so happy as a pastor this morning to see the fellowship minister as a body; it was wonderful to see.

Yes, you should all go to church in order to receive, however at the same time you should go with the attitude of wanting to help, give and bless.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the local church, thank you that you set this in place for our encouragement, edification and exhortation”.

Hebrews 10 v 24 and 25…..And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching

DIG for Thursday the 19th of November…..so why do you go to church…..Hebrews 10 v 25

I have just listened to a wonderful message around why we go to church (by Pastor Jacob Sheriff).

The key verses were of course Hebrews 10 v 23 to 25, however there are many other verses that tell us why we should meet as a body of believers (or go to church).

Many of these verses use two key words and these are “one another”.

Church is all about people, how we can bless them and how they can bless us.

Church is all about being with people, giving help and being helped.

Church is about caring for one another (1 Corinthians 12 v 25).

Church is about loving one another (John 13 v 34).

Church is about forgiving one another (Ephesians 4 v 32).

Church is about stirring one another in order move into love and good works (Hebrews 10 v 24).

In other words church is for you, meeting with other believers for mutual blessing and encouragement is for every single Christian and is essential.

If you do not go to church you are missing out and so is the church; you can bless others and you are missing out on the blessings from them.

Christianity has never been a solo occupation and it never will be, if you think this you are being selfish!

Selfish as you think you can walk without other believers and selfish as you don’t want to bless others.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the institution of the church, the vehicle you put in place for encouragement and edification of believers”.

Hebrews 10 v 25…..Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is: but exhorting one another: and so much more, as ye see the day approaching

DIG for Friday the 23rd of October…..we all need fathers in the faith…..1 Timothy 1 v 2

I was led to read from the start of 1 Timothy this morning and stopped when I read verse 2.

Paul spoke about Timothy being his son in the faith and that led me back to a conversation I had at conference recently.

A dear sister I met there was talking about the need for people to have a “father in the faith”.

Now you may be thinking, “But Vic, we have a Father; Father God”, and that is true but I am talking about father as in the way Paul was writing.

He said Timothy was his son in the faith, and that implies that he was his father.

As a pastor I have been challenged the last couple of days about being more of a father to those believers who will keep hearing what I preach and teach.

I have also been greatly encouraged in the last few days by those that I believe to be my fathers in the faith.

We all need fathers and many of us can be fathers; we can be a son and father at the same time.

We are all on a journey in this Christian life, all at different stages in the understanding and expression of our faith, and those “older” than us can encourage us and at the same time we can be an encouragement to “younger” saints.

I thank God for my fathers in the faith, and I also hope and pray that I can be a better father to those I have been commissioned to lead.

Have you thanked God for your fathers lately?

Have you looked for the opportunity to be a father in the faith?

One of our roles in church is to encourage and exhort, that sounds like the role of a father in the faith (Hebrews 10 v 24 and 25).

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for my fathers in the faith and thank you for the opportunity to encourage and exhort others”.

1 Timothy 1 v 2…..Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our God

DIG for Wednesday the 7th of October…..don’t be a pootie all your life…..Hebrews 10 v 24

Up here in the north-east of Scotland we have a rather unusual name for a baby bird, we call it a “pootie”.

A pootie just sits in the nest all day with its beak open, squawking to be fed; they eat and eat, draining the resources of the parent birds, giving nothing back.

I have to be honest and say we seem to have pooties in the church as well!

Some people come and receive and receive, and never give anything back.

Yesterday I wrote about living out James 5 v 16, saying that Christianity is not a solo occupation; I am continuing on the same thread toady saying it is also not only about receiving but about giving.

Church fellowship is a two way process; yes it is there for us to receive, but it is also there for us to give.

We are here to encourage one another, to provoke each other to love and good works (Hebrews 10 v 24).

We are encouraged to gather as church (a body of believers) in Hebrews, we are encouraged not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Hebrews 10 v 25).

We go to church to be blessed, I agree with that, but we should also have the mentality that church s a place to go to bless others.

Staying away from church is silly, but it is also selfish; it is silly as you will miss out on blessings but it is selfish, as you will also miss out on being a blessing to others.

Next time you gather as church, be it in a church building or house or wherever, consider how you can be a blessings as well as being blessed, ask yourself how you can give as well as receive.

What I am trying to say is consider not being a pootie!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that you set in place the local church as the institution where we can go to be blessed and be a blessing”.

Hebrews 10 v 24…..And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works

DIG for Saturday the 28th of March…..you do not have to go to a church…..Hebrews 10 v 24 and 25

Meditating for the message this week I came to a bit of a revelation; as a believer you do not have to go to a church.

Now that may seem a crazy statement from a pastor running a church.

Well, let me explain this to you.

I said that you do not have to go to a church, but I do believe that you should go to church; did you spot the small difference in those statements?

Church is not a building or a place; it is the body of believers.

Church is a group of people not a set location.

Church could be in a building, with a group of people, meeting every Sunday morning (I do that).

But church could also be meeting a couple of friends in their home to discuss the Bible and pray (I do that too).

And church could even be meeting brothers and sisters in Christ for breakfast and then going for a walk along the beach (I really love doing that).

Church is about fellowship with fellow believers and I do believe that we should all be doing that, no matter where or when we do it.

Meeting together in fellowship is for exhorting one another, to build each other up, to provoke each other into love and good works (Hebrews 10 v 24 and 25).

Church is about being blessed but also about blessing others, and I highly recommend it to you.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for your church, and thank you for my brothers and sisters who bless me and who I can bless in return”.

Hebrews 10 v 24 and 25…..And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching