Devotionals

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“In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against those of the Aramaic speaking community because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 02So the twelve gathered all of the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 03Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and of wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 04and we will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:1—4 NIV).

A lot of churches today have become what I will call in-house ministry churches. This means that they are doing a lot of ministry behind the doors of the church and not in front of the church doors where the people who are in need and not part of the congregation reside. A lot of churches make these people come to them for assistance. These churches use Bible studies for many issues like Celebrate Recovery, Financial Freedom, Alcoholics Anonymous, and so on. I truly believe that these studies, and others like them, are very beneficial to those who attend them, but too many of these churches hide these studies behind closed doors. If you weren’t at the church when the announcements were made that these studies were being given, then you missed out on the great information and healing that could have been yours if you only knew that they were being taught on Tuesday nights. Instead of asking an alcoholic to come to the church, the church should be going out to where a lot of alcoholics live – on the street.

The first century church went out into the streets and out of their way to help those in need. When they saw a need, they filled it immediately. This is how the church expanded, one need at a time. When a need was fulfilled by the church, another soul was most likely saved by the love of Christ in the fact that someone came to them to fulfill their need. More people are grateful when we show them that we see their need and they didn’t even have to tell us they had one. Jesus went to the people and didn’t wait until they came to Him. The church of today needs to follow the first century church by going out the front doors of the church and seeking those in need and fulfilling that need before the person even knows that we knew they had a need in the first place.

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