The 5 Aspects Of A Church Member Series

THE 5 ASPECTS OF A CHURCH MEMBER

Q & A ON COLOSSIANS 3

BIBLE VERSE: COLOSSIANS 3:14-16

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

1. WHAT ARE THE KEY COMMANDS TO FOLLOW IN THIS PASSAGE?

The answer is not exact, but there are a handful that can be assimilated clearly from the Word.

A) LOVE.

B) PEACE.

C) THANKFULNESS.

D) BIBLE.

E) WORSHIP.

The crux of this lesson will be focused on the how and why of doing these things. I know we have hit these before (or at least it will seem like it), but since these key lessons pop up again we will mention them again.

LOVE:

I saw a yahoo news story this week that really touched me. It told the story of New York cop who is working for a counter-terrorism unit noticed a homeless man who had bare feet and was covered in blisters. So he went to the mall, and used his menial cop pay to buy the man a high quality pair of $100 sketchers along with a couple pair of socks. An Arizona couple vacationing saw the whole incident and took pictures of this un-named cop putting on a pair of socks and lacing up a pair of shoes for this man who the cop doesn’t even know.

In life, do you have a “serve me” or an “I’ll serve you” mentality?

When was the last time you surprised someone with a loving act of kindness?

Are you willing to give sacrificially, even if the giving may end up hurting you or your finances?

PEACE:

Here’s a random stat that really doesn’t pertain to an individual life, but is interesting if you like history. The Society of International Law in London states that during the 4000 years of recorded history, there has only been 268 years of peace in spite of all the treaties and everyone trying to stop war. In fact, during the last 3 centuries, there have been 268 wars on the continent of Europe alone.

By the way, according to The Personnel Journal that specifically studied 3530 years or recorded history, they pointed out that there were in excess of 8000 treaties, and get this…wait for it…ALL OF THEM HAVE BEEN BROKEN. Now, I don’t know how a committee judges that or evaluates that, or even if it is entirely accurate. But the truth is in almost all cases…peace just doesn’t stay.

But, just because peace really doesn’t happen between nations, doesn’t mean that it can’t happen between people or families. But if you want to know a secret, how you handle peace really depends on your expectation. In a way, when someone makes me a promise or says they will be there, I believe them. But I also understand human nature and know that at some point they are going to mess up.

So, here’s a thought…is it possible you can keep the peace by not expecting everyone to be perfect? So here’s a couple of questions for this topic…

Do you expect your friends to be perfect?

Are you a fault finder?

Are you the one who is always demanding an apology but rarely offers one?

THANKFULNESS: Thanksgiving just ended. To me, it’s one of the greatest holidays of all time (technically it’s the only American Christian holiday from the core of its roots, but that’s a different story). One of our family traditions is that we eat our Thanksgiving meal at my brother’s house, and after the meal, a lot of people take out a permanent marker and signs a tablecloth. A decade later, this tablecloth tells some interesting stories about things my family was thankful for in the past. It’s kind of cool.

Being thankful is something that comes naturally with our walk with the Lord. Personally, I have a house, food, heat, children, wife, job…and most importantly a walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. In many way, I am the richest and most blessed person on the face of the earth. But, what about you?

What were you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Was there a time during this week that you expressed your thankfulness to someone?

People with a “me me me” personality tend to lack thankfulness. How about you? Are you demanding of things or giving to others?

*Just a side note this week, something happened unique in my classroom at school. I was chatting with a loud young man in a freshmen class who can’t really keep himself quiet (he can’t, he’s tried, trust me). So I told him to try to mirror one of the other fine students in the class. When I told him that, he asked who. So I pointed out a quiet, distinguished young man who is polite to his classmates and is always giving positive nonverbal feedback during my lessons. I then went on to embellish how good he was, and as always I was over the top. Well, at the end of class, the boy came up and thanked me for noticing his behaviors and that he felt I was the only one he ever noticed. Friends, you don’t know what impact you can have.