Tag Archive for 'Service'

Mission Trip: Around The Corner!

by Jonas Harley | August 3, 2010

Mission trips are awesome! They are life-changing! If you have ever participated in a solid, service-oriented (not one of those “youth group vacation” ones) mission trip you know exactly what I’m talking about!

Every mission trip ought to be planned and designed to glorify God (1 Cor. 10:31), function as an extension of the sending local church, serve other like-minded ministries home and abroad, encourage the Pastor or Missionary of the visited ministry, train the members of the mission team to take their next spiritual step in their walk with God, and provide “hands on” exposure to ministries throughout the world. 

Every year I prayfully select a theme that will express what we, as a team, are seeking to accomplish. In other words, if my team members were to remember one thing about that year’s mission trip, I want it to be the theme. This year’s theme was “Around The Corner” and Acts 1:8 and Philippians 1:27 were the verses that supported this theme. Allow me to briefly explain how those verses were put into practice… 

Acts 1:8 clearly commands Christians to be gospel witnesses locally, nationally, and internationally. This year’s trip focused on the local aspect, hence the “Around The Corner” phrase. We traveled about 25-30 minutes down the road to the next town to help a young church plant in Holly Springs, NC run their very first Vacation Bible School, do some mega door-to-door canvassing, and participated in their Sunday Worship Services. What a blessing it was to see 1 young girl trust Christ alone for salvation! That is one more soul that will spend eternity in heaven because of the members of this mission team caring about advancing the gospel locally. Just think if every church member faithfully advanced the gospel “around the corner” how that would transform our communities with the gospel of Jesus Christ!     

Philippians 1:27 clearly commands Christians to be “…striving together for the faith of the gospel.” Christians and Church ministries ought to be unified in their efforts to advance the gospel. Oftentimes, there is debate, envy, competition, and pride among believers which greatly hinders the work of the local church. Christians around the world and around the corner must be functioning like a team for the faith! It was awesome to visibly see my mission team helping this local church plant. We were running side by side pursuing and focusing on the same goal…the gospel of Jesus Christ! What a great lesson to learn! Take a moment to think about what would happen if every Bible preaching and believing church were truly ”striving together” in unity, what kind of impact would make on the world? 

I praise God for the wonderful opportunity to lead yearly mission teams and rejoice in the lessons that I learn through them. They keep the ministry fresh and my zeal for God hot! Now it’s time to start planning the 2011 mission trip!

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The Believer’s Payday!

by Jonas Harley | May 20, 2010

Workforce 101: The basic elements of the workforce are employer, employee, and paycheck. Simply put, the employer hires a person (aka employee) and as the employee carries out his or her job description to the satisfaction of the employer he or she receives a paycheck on payday! That is workforce 101!

Think about this. As a Christian God is your employer and you are the employee and if you satisfactorily carry out the job description (aka God’s Word) you will be greatly rewarded for your faithful service on payday! 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, weather it be good or bad.” Immediately after the rapture every church age Christian will stand before Christ to give an account on how they lived here on earth. This judgment has nothing to do with salvation. Your sin was paid in full when Christ died on the cross. This is known as the believer’s payday!

This judgment seat is commonly called the “bema” seat. ”Bema” is the Greek word Paul used to describe the judgement seat of Christ. A “bema” was a seat or raised platform where a judge sat and made his decision regarding a case (Examples in Scripture- Matt. 27:19; John 19:13). Also during the Olympic games the “bema” seat was the place where the winning athletes would receive their rewards. The “bema” seat is where God will evaluate your life and then reward you based on that, but the question that is often asked is, “How will I be judged?”

1) You will be judged by your obedience to the Bible – God will use His Word as the standard (measuring stick) to evaluate your life here on earth. God will NOT use a school’s handbook, an ethics manual, or the world’s standard of living. He will use the inspired Word of God. Furthermore, He will not evaluate you based on your experiences, traditions, or status. Paul Benware states, “The studying and application of God’s Word is a key to our rewarding.” How serious are you about hearing and doing God’s Word? See James 1:22; 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

2) You will be judged by your stewardship with the things God has entrusted to you – Matthew 25:14-30 is a great parable to read in order to grasped this concept. God has given you spiritual gifts, natural abilities, material resources, and opportunities to serve. How are you using them to magnify God? You will be held accountable for what God has given to you for your earthly life. Consider yourself a manager that is responsible for advancing God’s kingdom purposes with earthly resources. Don’t waste your life! 1 Corinthians 4:2, “Moreover it is required in stewards (that’s you!), that a man be found faithful.” 

3) You will be judged by your motives - Read 1 Corinthians 4:5. Notice the phrase, “…counsels of the hearts…”, in other words, God is not only interested in WHAT you do but WHY you do it (or don’t do it). You can do all the right and godly things and still lose your reward in heaven because you did it for the wrong reasons or motives (self-promotion, greed, fame, money, get your own way, get out of trouble, etc). If you serve God with the motive to please Him you will receive a great reward!   

In conclusion, it is God’s desire to reward you at the Judgment Seat of Christ! Think about this…God cannot wait to reward you for your work here on earth!!! Why? Because that brings honor and magnification to His name! You serve a God who wants to honor you only if you biblically honor Him!

The Believer’s Payday is coming, are you ready?

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Are you a Faithful Servant? (Part 2)

by Jonas Harley | February 16, 2010

Here are the other 3 features that Timothy models as a faithful servant of Jesus Christ from Philippians 2:19-24. . .

4) A Faithful Servant is Trustworthy (v.22a) – When studying other New Testament passages about Timothy you find that he verified (“proved”) his faithfulness. In other words, he came through on the task. He was tried and tested. Timothy did not just say he was a servant, but proved it in his action. Are you a trustworthy servant?

5) A Faithful Servant is Sacrificial (v.22b) – Timothy served side by side with Paul in advancing the gospel throughout the world. Timothy’s profile of a faithful servant reveals that he was willing to cancel any personal plans that he may have had for his life because he loved serving Jesus Christ.

In game 5 (part 2) of the 2008 World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays a loyal Phillies fan by the name of Dan Clark from Marlton, NJ tailgated in a lot behind center field in sub-40 degree weather with his 32-inch, high-def TV next to his white F-150 with 80-100 other fans anxiously waiting for the Phillies to win their long-awaited World Series title.

The reason he and others made time and the decision to bear the elements was because they were willing to sacrifice whatever it took to see their beloved Phillies win the title in person. Do you have this kind of sacrifice when it comes to being a faithful servant of Jesus Christ? Are you willing to leave your comfort zone? Are you willing to lay aside any personal dreams? A faithful servant of Jesus Christ terminates anything that gets in the way of advancing the gospel.           

6) A Faithful Servant is Available (v.23) – Finally, in this verse Paul again states that he will soon dispatch Timothy to Philippi. Timothy was available to do anything to serve God at anytime. Are you joyfully available and willing to serve God in any place at any moment? 

Timothy is a great model of what it means to be a faithful servant of Jesus Christ. The encouraging thing about this profile is that Timothy was a real person with a real sin nature and he was used greatly by God because he had the mind of Christ (Phil. 2:5). That means you can too if you are willing to submit yourself to God’s service.

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Are you a Faithful Servant? (Part 1)

by Jonas Harley | February 9, 2010

A conductor was once rehearsing with a large orchestra and hundreds of singers. The piccolo player felt that amid the thunder of the organ, the roll of the drums, and the music of the other instruments that he didn’t need to play, so he stopped. But the great conductor threw up his arms and shouted, “Where is the piccolo?”

Sometimes in the Christian life it seems like that. You look around at your church and it seems that everyone has a role, and in some cases, a large role and you begin to compare yourself to them and think that you aren’t important and stop serving and then God shouts, “Where is the faithful servant?”

Take a moment and turn to Philippians 2:19-24. In this passage you will find a crystal clear example of what it means to be a faithful servant of Jesus Christ from a man named Timothy.

Here is a brief overview of the context. Paul expresses his desire to personally visit the Philippians (v.19), but he is unable to do so because he was under house arrest in Rome. Therefore, Paul reintroduces Timothy (see Acts 16:1-4) and informs them that Timothy would be his representative. Timothy was always ready to go and willing to serve anywhere. For that reason, Paul often sent him on missions (see 1 Cor. 4:17; 16:10-11; 1 Thess. 3:6). A faithful servant is always prepared to serve. Are you ready and willing to go and serve God and others?

After Paul presents Timothy he informs the Philippians of Timothy’s solid character and conduct (v.20-24). Timothy models 6 features of a faithful servant.

1) A Faithful Servant is Humble (v.20a) - Paul states that Timothy is equal-souled, of kindred spirit, of one mind, the same heartbeat. Timothy esteemed others better than himself. He consistently had a low view of his own opinion and rights. Simply put, he put others first! The reason Paul and Timothy were likeminded was because they both had the humble mind of Christ (look at verse 5). The more you are likeminded with Christ and Scripture, the more you will have friends that are of the same heartbeat and mindset. Because of our selfish and proud nature it is very hard for us to be humble and put others first, but God commands and always honors humility (James 4:6-10).  

2) A Faithful Servant is Caring (v.20b) – Timothy sincerely cared about the spiritual condition of others, in this case, the Philippians. His care was not fake or manufactured. God always uses those who have an interest in others.

A man went by the White House to see Abraham Lincoln shortly after his inauguration. The President’s young son told the visitor that the President was absent, but that he could probably be found at the railway station. The gentleman explained that he would not even know the President if he should see him. The boy answered, “If you go the railway station and look out for a tall, homely man who is helping someone, you will know that is my father.”

God always uses those who have an interest in others. How can you increase your commitment to actively care for others that you do now?

3) A Faithful Servant is Focused (v.21) – Timothy had a single minded goal, which was to remain loyal to Christ. Timothy did not spend time pursuing his own interest and desires. A faithful servant never chases his own interests. Are you exclusively dialed in on the things which are Jesus Christ’s?  

Stay tuned for Part 2 on how to be faithful servant of Jesus Christ.

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