Christian Churches Care for People

 The church of Jesus Christ is a community of people who care for people. We care for people because God loves and cares for everyone, believers and not yet believers.

For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 The Living Bible, Paraphrased

The pagan culture in New Testament times was brutal. The husband in Greek and Roman culture was the absolute ruler. He could order his wife to keep a male baby but to leave a girl baby outside to die of hunger or cold.

Slave traders would harvest female babies and raise them to be prostitutes. Christians in the early church would rescue abandoned female babies and raise them as daughters.

Christian churches are called to care for people.

Churches in my city provide free evening meals to people in need. Some churches collect surplus bread from bakers and shops and offer them free to neighbours in need.

The motto of my church is to reach, raise and release.

We reach needy people with free food and not for profit food shops.
Churches in my city have schools for teenage high school dropouts.

Our pastor reaches teenagers by teaching jujitsu. Before that we had a pastor who played basketball with neighbourhood kids. Some of them then came to church and he played basketball with them in the church hall after the service. 

We team up with churches in India and Africa who reach out to their communities with practical help and sharing the gospel of salvation.

We reach people and care for people, raising them up with encouraging counselling and bible training.

We release people into ministry, sending teams on mission trips to Africa, India and other Asian countries.

Social Justice. Social Gospel or Antisocial Gospel

 Some Christians preach a social gospel. 

• They are mainly concerned about helping the poor, the sick and the disadvantaged. 

• They support progressive political parties. 

• They want laws that give women equal rights and equal wages. 

• They want to help refugees and racial minorities.

  On the other hand, they are often rather vague about the afterlife. They avoid talking about the eternal judgement of God.
  
  Then there are some Pentecostals, conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists who focus almost exclusively on biblical teachings about eternal judgement, personal salvation leading to eternal life, biblical teachings on sexuality, marriage and bearing children.
  
  Do I believe the Bible comes from God? Yes.
  Do I believe Jesus is the Son of God who paid the penalty for my sins on the cross? Yes.
  
  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV
  
  For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us! 2 Cor 5:21 The Living Bible, Paraphrased
  
  Do I believe in a social gospel? No. The Good News of Jesus is eternal life.
  
  Where will you spend eternity? This is the most important question to answer.
  
  Do I believe in a social gospel? No. But I also do not believe in an antisocial gospel.
  
  Jesus taught that we need forgiveness of sins to go to heaven, but He was also intensely concerned about caring for suffering people in this life.
  
  Jesus healed sick people because he felt such compassion, that it turned his stomach. He did not demand that they repented of sins to be healed, but of course he was grieved when they were healed but did not repent of sins.
  
  Conservative Christians who only care about eternal salvation and strict moral codes are partly right but also seriously wrong.
  
  Progressive Christians who care for people in need are partly right but often also partly wrong.
  
  Jesus taught the essence of the Law of God in two commandments.
  
  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
  
  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mk 12:30–31 NIV
  
  If you love other people as Jesus does, you will want them to believe and go to heaven, but people will not believe you love them if you do not care about their earthly needs.
  
  When people see conservative Christians only talking about moral codes and eternal judgement, they often conclude that Christians only talk about love but don’t really love.
  
  Christian missionaries in India preached to a community about salvation for years, but without result. When the Christians organised a project the provide the community with clean water, many Hindus became Christians.
  
  When Christians support huge tax concessions for very rich people but oppose government programs to provide affordable health care, many people conclude that conservative Christians should not be taken seriously.

Just do it!

 A life without a clear goal is like a ship without a rudder. No matter how virtuous you are, your life goes in circles, leading to no fulfilment. You will be frustrated and stuck.

David prayed in a psalm:

“LORD, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. Ps 39:4 NRSV

What are the secret dreams in your heart of hearts?

Your dream could be the key that opens the door to your destiny.
But your dreams will lead to nothing without God.

On the other hand, we all need order in our lives. We all have duties that we have to fulfil. Without discipline, without routine, life becomes chaotic. Without order, your dreams permanently remain just dreams.

If you have a goal, you have to act, you have to do something.
If there is no order, can a family or a business function?

A football team needs a strict training routine. Everyone has to be on top form. Daily discipline is absolutely essential.  

But what is the goal?
Fitness? Punctuality at training sessions? Always obeying the trainer?
No.
    - Your goal is to win football matches.

And what is your goal as a team member? To be a good footballer? Partly for sure.

A champion team never consists of eleven good footballers.
You need first-class midfielders, defenders, strikers and goalkeepers.

But even that is not enough. You need fitness coaches, physiotherapists, sports psychologists and, in today's world, computer technicians.

Are you a Christian?
Do you want to be a good Christian? What does your routine look like?
Are you faithful and reliable in prayer and Bible study? Are you punctual and regular in meetings?

There's nothing wrong with that.
But what is the goal in your Christian life?

Are you a midfielder or a goalkeeper? Are you a fitness trainer or a sports psychologist?

We need to win people for Jesus, but what is your role and where is your mission field?
Are you gifted to evangelise on the street or blog on the internet?
Are you called to serve as a nurse in a mission in Africa or as a social worker in California?
Are you called to work in an office and pray for your colleagues with genuine love?

What is your thing?

• Some fast a lot and pray for hours in intercessory service.

• Others help the homeless, asylum seekers or prostitutes.

• Are you a housewife or a retired widow?

• Maybe you have a mission as a friendly neighbour and intercessor.

• Our cities need friendly neighbours.

What's your thing?
If you're not sure, you can still start doing something.

• You can ask God to give you direction.

• You can pray every morning, ‘’Dear God, what is on your heart?

• You can pray, ‘’Who should I contact today?

• Or ‘’How should I pray for my family or friends today?

• Or ‘’What is your priority for my life right now?

When you get a clear impression, don't push the thought aside.

Don't let yourself be distracted. Do something.

If you have a goal, you have to act, you have to do something. But if you act without a goal, you will remain stuck despite all your efforts.

If you don't have a goal, you probably won't achieve one.

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Jer 29:11 NRSV

Don’t be distracted.
Ask God for wisdom and then ... Do something.

Help for the Lonely

 I know a half-blind widow in our neighbourhood. Christian neighbours visit her and help her from time to time. Another neighbour takes her for a walk.

Another neighbour is a very elderly widow. A Christian woman visits her and stays for hours because she is very lonely and depressed.

There are lonely people all around us.

• Many drink because they are lonely.

• Others are addicted to porn because they are lonely.

• Some visit brothels because they are lonely.

• Others become obese because they seek comfort in food, but other people look down on them and they become even lonelier as a result.

• Many men and women desire sex with many partners, but this does not satisfy their loneliness.

Even in the church there are often very lonely Christians. Some pastors have no close friends.
A good pastor knew about a woman who was very active in a large church. She sang in the choir.

One day she went home, took a gun and shot herself.  

There are so many substitutes for real companionship..

There are thirsty people in poor countries who don't have fresh water. They drink dirty water and get sick.

You probably sometimes see a Muslim woman with her head covered. What do you think?
Many Europeans react very unfriendly because they feel they are flooded with unfriendly Muslims.

But Jesus loves these women. They often experience rejection from Europeans or bullying from their husbands. Many are lonely. They need neighbourly love.

Prostitutes are rarely alone, but they are often lonely. They need real kindness.

There are also very rich people who can't buy real friendship with a heap of money.

If you look at all your fellow human beings with God's neighbourly love, God will help you to comfort a lonely person here and there.

In the Bible, lepers were very lonely. They were not allowed to have contact with family or friends. Jesus touched them and healed them.

Jesus said that his disciples must help lonely people with love. Whoever helps a suffering person with God's love helps Jesus himself, because Jesus loves such people.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,
I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Mt 25:34–36 NIV

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Mt 25:40 NIV

For many people, Christmas is the loneliest time of the year. How can you comfort someone?

What is in your Hand?

The Philistines were fully equipped soldiers. They had chariots and weapons made of iron. The Israelites were just poor farmers.

Perhaps you are also faced with terrible challenges. We can learn something from ordinary people in the Bible story.

After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an ox goad. He too saved Israel.  Jdg 3:31 NIV

Shamgar was determined to defend his land and his inheritance. He had only one weapon, a long spear made of wood with a point to prick and drive oxen.

Shamgar was not a trained soldier, but he used what he had.

Moses was just a shepherd in the desert. God commissioned him to lead the enslaved Hebrews out of captivity.

How did Moses respond?

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” Ex 3:11 NIV

We are like Moses back then. We read that Jesus is calling us Christians to continue his mission on this earth.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Mt 28:18–20 NIV

How do we react? Often just like Moses.
Who am I?

And how did God respond to Moses?

Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. Ex 4:2 NIV

What is in your hand?

A couple in South Africa wanted to save lost people, but they were not evangelists themselves. A great evangelist visited their town.

What was in the hands of these ordinary people? They were not billionaires, but they had a bank account.

They withdrew the money in their bank account. Then they went to the prostitutes on the street and paid the young women for their time when they came to the event so they would hear the sermon.

Many of the young prostitutes heard God's message and converted to Jesus. 

Who are you?

Probably no Billy Graham or Reinhard Bonnke either, but you have something in your hand.

You have a mobile phone or a laptop. You have an internet account and a car.

• Who can you call? Who can you visit or invite?

• Who can you encourage?

• God loves you immeasurably.

• He is waiting for your reaction, for your love.

But God's love is practical. What can you do for God? 

What is in your hand?

Reaching Broken People

 Are you under threat? Attacks can come from all directions.

I have had to go through many crises in my life: Illness, unemployment, bullying, persecution, financial problems.

I am grateful for the help of my parents and my Christian relatives and friends, but without God's faithfulness I would have been ruined.

I know a very likeable young woman who had no help from her family. As a young girl she had already believed in Jesus, but she went through traumatic experiences and then she was alone.

She worked as a prostitute for years until she finally experienced real Christian love when some Christian women visited the brothel. She is now a faithful Christian.

She told me that she believed in Jesus as a young child, but not that she prayed as a prostitute. But I suspect that she sometimes begged God for help.

Gaby Wentland is a pastor who does missionary work among prostitutes and ex-prostitutes. She said there is more prayer in brothels than in many churches.

I read in the Bible that the Hebrews were enslaved and horribly bullied in Egypt. When God spoke to Moses in the desert, he said that he had heard the desperate prayers of the Hebrews.

Then the LORD told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. Ex 3:7 NLT

When it comes to mind, I often pray for prostitutes.

There are already Christians who help prostitutes and victims of human trafficking. Jesus said that many people are ready to receive God's salvation, but they need help.

Not all Christians can visit brothels or minister in pubs, but some can and should minister in difficult worldly places.

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few.
Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.” Mt 9:37–38 CSB

We can find broken victims everywhere, in schools, universities, offices, shops in your neighbourhood and on the street. Broken victims often maintain a facade of respectability, but not always.

I know a pastor who was shocked to learn that a seemingly decent woman in his congregation was a stripper in a nightclub.

When I see people who look very sad, impoverished or mentally disturbed, I often pray for them briefly. I believe God will answer many such prayers in an amazing way.

When I see people who look very sad, impoverished or mentally disturbed, I often pray for them briefly. I believe God will answer many such prayers in an amazing way.

Friendly greetings can also be a meaningful encouragement to many people.

(Jesus) said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

This is the greatest and first commandment.

And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ Mt 22:37–39 NRSV