Ezekiel 20
Death by Meetings!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, June 25.
There are certain human realities of religious life that appear to have remained true over the millennia, such as death by committee meetings. As I began my third decade of pastoral ministry last year, I can attest that most of the time I do not like attending church meetings as they often prove to be the bane of my existence as the pastor of a local church. While meetings are necessary and can be beneficial, they often feel useless in the accomplishment of our mission and counterproductive to my mental and emotional health as a spiritual leader. Ezekiel 20:1-3 describes how this forty-nine-verse chapter was an impromptu elder’s meeting and how God responded to them calling yet another meeting:
Now in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Do you come to inquire of Me? As I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will not be inquired of by you.” ’ ”
Yet again, God told the elders of Israel – repent and live! While God is infinitely patient, there does come a time where the meetings must stop, and the people simply need to be faithful to their God. What’s the purpose of your church meetings? What active steps can you take to work with your pastor and leaders to equip, encourage, and empower people in their daily Christian lives, to include delegating to them the ministry work that needs to be done to meet the diversity of needs of a group of people who are managing resources and living on mission together.
Seize the moment and transform your church meetings into spiritual encounters with God, focusing you and your congregation on obeying God to fulfill the purposes of the church of Jesus Christ.
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God bless you!
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YOUTUBE:
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