Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The Church and New Believers
The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.
—Proverbs 11:25
I remember the first time we took our granddaughter Stella to Disneyland. It is so fun to go to Disneyland with kids, because when you go with adults, it is a different experience altogether. We tend to start whining right off the bat. Either the lines are too long or we are tired or hot. We see things differently as adults. But when you go to Disneyland with a child, everything changes, because you see it through their eyes.
It is the same when you spend time around young believers and see them discover, for the first time, what it means to know Jesus. It can revive you. The Bible tells us that "those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed" (Proverbs 11:25). Spending time around new believers will replenish you in your walk with Christ.
The early church had new believers constantly coming in, and we need this today as well. I make no apology as a pastor for emphasizing Bible exposition, worship, discipleship, helping people who are in need, and the preaching of the gospel. This is the way God wants the church to be.
There was regular, even daily, growth in the early church. Their evangelism was not an occasional or sporadic thing; it was happening all the time. They were engaging in continual evangelism, and that is what every church ought to be doing. Every week, we should be giving people an opportunity to come to Christ, not just doing a periodic event here and there.
Show me a church that doesn't have a constant flow of new believers coming in, and I will show you a church that is stagnating. The church needs new believers to remind us of what it is all about. And new believers need the church to stabilize them.
Copyright © 2009 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
and
to listen to Greg Laurie's daily broadcast on OnePlace.com, click here.
SPECIAL OFFER
Hope for Hurting Hearts
In times of tragedies and trials, certain things become evident:
- This life will have its sorrows
- God loves us
- Jesus weeps in our times of pain
- God can be glorified through human suffering
Hope for Hurting Hearts, Pastor Greg Laurie's new book, examines these truths, revealing God's love and care for us, and shows how we can find hope, even in the midst of the most unbearable pain and sorrow.
You can have your own copy of Hope for Hurting Hearts by Greg Laurie in appreciation for your gift to Harvest Ministries this month. 