The Fellowship of the Gospel

Next week begins our church's annual Missionary Conference. We set aside part of the last week of September each year to focus on our responsibilities and commitments to global missions. Jesus Christ has commanded us to "go into all the world and preach the gospel" (Mark 16:15). Obviously, we as individuals cannot go into every part of the world to share the gospel. However, we still have the responsibility to be a part of that huge endeavor.
We can obey our Lord's command by partnering with those who are going to the ends of the earth. In Philippians 1:3-5, Paul thanks God for the Philippian church, and specifically for their "fellowship in the Gospel." He prays, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now."
The Philippians had partnered with Paul in the fellowship of the gospel. When we studied the book of 1 John, we discussed what the word fellowship means. It is a partnership, something we have in common. Paul and the Philippians shared a desire to see the gospel go out to those who had not heard it. Because the Philippian church wanted this to happen, they actually helped Paul financially in his missionary efforts (cf. Phil 4:14-18).
This is what it means to be a part of the "fellowship of the Gospel." Not only are we giving the Gospel to our friends at school, people in our neighborhoods, and relatives, we also are supporting others who are doing the same thing across the globe. We can support them by giving money, by encouraging them with letters, cards, or even our personal contact, or by helping them in many more ways.
When our missionary Stuart Waugh spoke here in May, he made this statement:

"To publish the Gospel, and to strengthen the publishers— that is our work in the fellowship of the Gospel."

This week we will have a special opportunity to strengthen those who have made it their life's work to publish the Gospel. You can have a part in that fellowship: you can be a part of the Faith Promise program, you can talk to and encourage the missionaries, and you can consider how God might use you in the future on a missions trip. You can be a partner in the work of the Gospel.

Influence and Leadership

An English poet named John Donne once wrote, "No man is an island" (Meditation XVII). His poem expounds on the idea that each one of us affect one another. There is no one whose life does not influence other people.
Some Christians want to think that their life does not matter to anyone but themselves. They are not accountable to anybody else because "it's their life." They can do (or not do) whatever they want, because "it doesn't matter one way or the other."
However, Romans 14:7-8 gives a little different picture. "For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s." In the context of Romans 14, some Christians were arguing that it didn't matter what they did because it was just between them and God. Paul agrees that we are individually accountable to God (Rom 14:12), but that doesn't excuse us from the responsibility we have to others.
We do not live in a vacuum; our thoughts, attitudes, and actions affect those around us. Instead of living for ourselves and thinking that what we do doesn't affect others, we ought to live for the Lord. Our lives belong to him, and our goal should be to please him and affect others in a Christlike way.
You may be wondering what this has to do with you. When we talked about leadership in youth group a few weeks ago, we said that leadership was really influence. Each one of us influences those around us to do or say certain things. You may be thinking, "I'm not a leader because I'm not old enough, or popular enough, or outspoken enough." But you do exert influence on those around you. You either encourage others to do right by your example and words or you influence them to do wrong, but you are affecting others.

What Makes You Happy?

What makes you happy? Is there something that you like to do so much, just thinking about it makes you feel happy? I love to eat, so when my wife tells me we are having one of my favorite meals, it picks up my whole day! Maybe there is a person who just makes you laugh, and whenever you think of them, a smile comes to your face. There are a lot of things that make us happy.
In Acts chapter five, we find the apostles very happy. However, to look at their situation, it doesn't seem there was much over which to get excited. They had just been arrested and imprisoned (v. 18) because the religious leaders of Jerusalem were a little put out with their teaching. However, an angel of the Lord miraculously released them from prison (v. 19) and commanded them to return to their preaching in the temple (v. 20). They probably thought it might have been more prudent to lie low for a few days until things cooled off, but they obeyed and went straight to the temple first thing in the morning (v. 21).
Imagine the looks on the faces of the religious leaders when the reports came in that the disciples of Jesus were once again preaching in the temple! They arrested the disciples once again (v. 26) and called them in, asking why they dared to disobey their command. Peter, speaking for the apostles, was frank: "We ought to obey God rather than men" (v. 29). He proceeded to once again affirm the deity of Jesus Christ, the guiltiness of the Jewish leaders in his death, and salvation through Christ alone.
After some deliberation, the religious leaders decided to beat them and then release them. In verse 41 we read, "And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name." Did you get that? They had just been arrested twice (in as many days), beaten (for doing nothing wrong), and then released and told not to preach about Jesus Christ anymore. And they left rejoicing!
They were rejoicing because they had been counted worthy to suffer. They were pleased that God had entrusted them with the privilege of suffering for him. Not only were they willing to suffer shame and physical mistreatment for Jesus Christ, they were pleased that God had considered them worthy to suffer.
I think our values are considerably skewed from those of the apostles. We feel like martyrs if somebody thinks we are weird because we go to church! These men were beaten and thankful that God allowed them to suffer for him. Would that make you happy?