FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD May 25, 2012

  Have you heard the voice of the Lord this week?  Have you done what He said?

This past week Wallace and I had lunch with a friend of ours from South Texas.  He is a church planter and has a passion to plant more churches in the region along the Texas border with Mexico.  He has been ministering in the area for over 30 years and has overseen the establishment of several churches in the area.  With an explosion of population growth, his hope is to see churches planted along the border covering a distance of over 100 miles where the population has grown to over one million people.

During our visit, I asked him how he goes about establishing a new church.  He said, “We keep it simple.  We take several families that we have trained up in our church and who live about 20 miles from where we hold our Sunday services.  We ask them to begin to hold cell group meetings in their homes during the week.  Then we tell them to do 3 things during their group meeting.  Number 1, listen to the message that was preached on Sunday and then discuss it.  Number 2, each person share with the group what the Lord has spoken to them during the week.  Number 3, each person explain how they intend to do what the Lord spoke to them.”

We talked a little more about how those cell groups will then join together in an area and form a church once the cell members have been sufficiently discipled.   Then, in turn, this new church will carry out the commission of preaching the gospel and training disciples by sending their members (those raised up in the cell group) out to start other cell groups which will then become churches in new areas.

Our conversation that day reminded me of the principles of faith in action.  One principle is that faith comes by hearing a message that comes from God (Romans 10:17).  Another principle is that faith that produces no practical influence on our lives is dead (James 2:17-24).

There may be many different ways that the Lord leads people to start churches, but I was impressed that our friend was following the principles of faith in his endeavors to plant churches in his region.  It reminded me of how important it is to be able to hear God’s voice, whether spoken to us through reading the Bible, hearing His word from another, or hearing that still small voice of the Holy Spirit.  It reminded me of Albert Barnes commentary when he states, “Faith is not and cannot be shown to be genuine, unless it is accompanied with corresponding acts.”  And finally, it reminded me of the great commission to go preach the gospel, to teach the Word of God, and to make true disciples of Christ.

Our friend has found his calling within the Body of Christ--and has acted.  May God bless the work of his hands.

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