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Refocusing the flock during Covid

 
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pastorlois



Joined: 02 Feb 2021
Posts: 5

PostPosted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 10:25 am    Post subject: Refocusing the flock during Covid Reply with quote

2Sam.7:5-7 p103 As a Shepherd, want what God wants, not what you want for God. David had been blessed by God to be prosperous and have rest from all the enemies around him. In his contentment and desire to honor god, he wants to provide God with a great house. God respond to David “did I ever say to any of their rulers [or tribe’s] whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”
In an effort to do for God shepherds are not doing what God wants, but what they want for God. Does the “prosperity Gospel” fall into this category. When we teach on the goodness of God, do we overemphasize the material goodness of God? So much so that the flock starts to believe that if a material good that they prayed for was not received, they begin to think they didn’t “believe enough”;or if someone who passes away after everyone has continuously prayed for healing, they begin to question whether God really is true to his word.
David wanted to build God a magnificent temple because he had a beautiful home…something that after being in the pastures with sheep, he could truly appreciate. I understand his thinking that “how can I have all of this and I not make the something even better for my God to show him how much I worship him?” God’s further response was what he is truly after…a spiritual home, a spiritual kingdom that He establishes and will continue forever.
God is a spirit and those who worship him must do so in spirit and in truth. So our most important quest is to lead the flock to the spiritual high ground of oneness with the Holy Spirit. Although much work can be done through the spaghetti dinner or the prayer shawl ministry or gaining enough pledges to repaint the church inside and out; it can never supercede or consume more time and resources than the actual prayer, study and worship of God and his word.
Many churches today want to honor God and have been lead to believe that they are serving God’s highest goals through providing goods and services but have no evangelistic outreach, a weak prayer effort and do not teach the need for developing a living personal and corporate relationship with God.
Though God commands us to provide goods and services, we are no different than any secular organization if we are not leading people to accept Jesus as their Lord and savior and teaching them the necessity of spiritual disciples in order to mature as disciples.
Yes, God did prescribe a temple that Solomon would build and where he would dwell, but we see in the end, that temple was destroyed and we have returned to God’s original intent which was direct relationship with him as we are now the temple of the Holy Spirit. If nothing has taught us the disconnect between the church building and the true church, it has been Covid-19. Congregations have hopefully grown to a better understanding of the true mystery of the church and the true spiritual nature of the church as many churches have chosen to worship virtually for about a year now.
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