Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Keeping first things first”
Our Bible verse for today: “Now I urge you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction. For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers, by members of Chloe’s household, that there is rivalry among you.” 1 Corinthians 1:10-11 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “We must not allow small things to become big things.”
We have been commissioned by the Lord Jesus Christ to be salt and light in the world, to be “fishers of men”. But there’s an old adage about this which is very true. It says, “When fishermen don’t fish, they fight.” It’s true of fishermen and it’s true of Christians.
Our primary purpose in the world, as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, is to be on-mission in the world helping to build His kingdom. We are to minister to people in need and share the Good News of the Gospel. That’s the main reason Jesus left us here after He saved us. At the moment of salvation He could have immediately whisked us off to heaven, but He didn’t. He left us here on earth to carry on His work for Him. We are to minister to others, tell them about Jesus, and draw them into the kingdom too. Jesus called it being fishers of men.
But if we don’t stay focused on our primary task, we end up focused instead on frivolous things which don’t really matter and which don’t deserve our attention. Sadly, just like those fishermen, when Christians lose sight of what they’re really supposed to be doing, they inevitably find things to fight about.
It’s disturbing how many churches fight and ultimately split. There was another one in our town just a couple of months ago. I think that makes five in the last five years (and we’re a very small town). The fights are seldom over things like “Why aren’t we baptizing more people?” More often it’s about the color of the carpet, or who ate the last piece of chicken at the potluck, or some equally inane nonsense.
A church fellowship is a fragile thing and can be easily broken if it isn’t properly cared for and handled gently. Some of you reading this right now are members of churches that have split, or are in danger of splitting, or are currently fighting about something. It’s all too common.
All this month we’re going to talk about the importance of keeping first things first, and how we can avoid allowing small things to become big things.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 