Join us Sunday at 9:30am

Christ-Sufficient by Pastor Tony

  Posted on   by   No comments

Are you self-sufficient? That is a question that every follower of Jesus Christ must ask themselves every so often. But the answer to that question must be reconciled with the kind of sufficiency to which Christ calls us. The world tells us be self-sufficient. Scripture paints a different picture.

We, as His followers, are first-and-foremost, Christ-sufficient. We cannot stand apart from Christ. Without a true dependence upon Him, we will find ourselves walking along a path that does not coincide with His path. Spiritually speaking, we are fully at the mercy of Jesus Christ.

But our dependence is not merely of a spiritual nature. As a follower of Jesus Christ, we also have the honor and blessing of being physically dependent upon Him. You may be reading this and wondering, ‘Pastor Tony, have you gone the way of the physical health and wealth gospel?Doyoubelievethatour physical condition is a litmus test of our faith?’ To that, I would say, look to the cross and you’ll discover the opposite may be closer to the truth. But that debate is beside this article’s point. I am not talking about physical dependence in the same way our Western mind thinks of the physical. I am thinking of the physical world in the way the Apostle Paul thought of it in Romans 12.

Paul begins chapter 12 calling the Roman believers to be living sacrifices unto God. As such, our lives are a beautiful paradox. We are sacrifices (i.e. dead on the altar unto God) yet alive. To what is our offering applicable in

this world? Paul tells us in the following verses that we are to be given to one another. In other words, if you are part of the body of Christ, then we are gifts unto the rest of the body of Christ.

We are “members one of another”(12:5). If we are members of one another, we are called to be dependent upon one another – and not self-sufficient. “For as in one body we have many members… [but] the members do not all have the same function” (12:4).

We have been given to one another because we are not meant to be self- sufficient. To be Christ-sufficient is to be dependent on His body.

So, body of Christ, how are we doing in this area? Are we staying connected and allowing one another to serve one another? Or are you seeking to be self- sufficient as you “do life” on your own? Is New Life merely the place you “drop in” on Sunday mornings?

There are so many ways we can be better about engaging with and leaning on each other throughout the week. Invite someone you don’t know over for dinner once in a while. By all means – invite yourself to someone else’s house! Find out more about the gifts of the body around us.

One of the ways that we can best serve one another is to simply pray for one another. To share requests and our needs with one another is the essence of what the early church understood as being members of the body of Christ. This is the type of dynamic where the differing gifts in the body are able to be applied to the rest of the body.

One of the ways we have sought to keep in contact throughout the week is through our new web-based prayer site: New Life Connect (nlcc-connect. org). If you have not yet signed up for New Life Connect, I would encourage you to do so. If you are reading this and are lost wondering,‘What is New Life Connect?’ let me explain.

First, let me tell you what it is not. New Life Connect is not a tool that replaces face to face relationships. Nor is it a complicated public virtual world wherein you need to have a PhD in being a cool/hip Millennial (#mindblown). No. It is a simple and secure place where our community has been posting prayer requests and announcements over the last several months. It is a place where you would have learned that Dave and Angie Ziel (missionaries in Costa Rica) were recently involved in a new church plant (Praise the Lord!).

There are so many other important things that have happened in the last two weeks – burdens have been shared and all the gifts of the body are needed. We would love to have your input and your gifting represented. After all, “The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you” (1 Corinthians 12:21). We need you praying with us. New Life Connectseekstobeaplacewhereyou can freely offer prayer requests, pray for other people’s prayer requests, post announcements, or read about what is happening at New Life.

We would love to have you sign up. All you need is an email address(you don’t even need a phone). Send an email to me (Pastor Tony galatiansii20@yahoo. com) or Pastor Chandler (pastorwiley. nlcc@gmail.com) with the email you would like associated with your account and we will register you.

This is not some scheme to get your email address so that we can sell it. No, your email provider has already done that. We just want to be connected – for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Looking forward to being inundated with emails from brothers and sisters who are longing to be Christ-sufficient together.

With you, in Christ, Pastor Tony

Categories: Ministry Highlight

Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *