Waynesboro Church Of Christ
Welcomes You!
A pasted message from Matthew!
Past Message From Matthew
Posted Date: November 11, 2006
Most congregations fight the battle between being inward or outward driven. The natural desire of a congregation and humanity is to focus on the needs of the self. People tend to make choices that will benefit themselves. Christianity turns this human tendency around. Followers of Christ must force themselves to be outward driven.
The great commission shows the outlook of Christians. Jesus said “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20). Luke demonstrates this priority in Acts 1:8 where he highlights the intended flow of the Gospel. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Jesus teaches his disciples to travel through the world sharing the message of salvation.
The natural desire for the new disciples would have been to stay in Jerusalem and celebrate the new found faith in Christ. The disciples could have developed a strong fellowship and many rewarding relationships with one another. But this attitude would have gone against the desires of the Messiah. The Christians were to break out of the mold and reach out to others. Jesus modeled this behavior in Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Where is your focus? Is church about meeting your needs or you meeting the needs of others? The church is called out to serve the world. The congregation helps the world by serving, preaching, giving, and helping. Everyone must fight the desire to be inward focused instead of outward focused.