Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Today's Passage - 1 Thess 1:7-8

1 Thessalonians 1:7-8

And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia--your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it...

The Thessalonica church was a church that set a good example. Not only in terms of faith, hope and love, but they were a good example in sharing the gospel as well. In this passage, it says that the gospel was spread out from amongst them. This is such a beautiful statement! Think about what has been spread out from amongst us? Is it gossips that have been spread? Is it church disagreements that has been spread? May the Lord help us to focus on preaching His word, so that His word may be spread out from amongst us. Not only do we need to receive God's Word, but we also need to preach His Word.

The Chinese believers love to listen to sermons and receive God's Word. If they do not like what they hear, they will criticize it a bit. However, they do not act according to the Word they hear. This is the greatest weakness in the Chinese church. May the Lord help us to realize our mistake and preach the Word of God in our daily lives. Firstly, we need to speak God's Word and be a witness for him. An effective witness is not only what we say, but how our lives have been changed, just like the "before and after" in advertisements. In the same way, the most effective tool for sharing the gospel is a transformed life.

Secondly, we need to spread the Word of God with our hands, which is handing out gospel tracts. Tracts are an effective tool for sharing the gospel. When you pray and bless it, you will see God's Word bringing power. Every Home for Christ is an organization that hands out gospel tracts to all families in every country around the world. Once, EHC personnel were handing out tracts in one of the African villages and they discovered that a little boy was there doing the same thing. The boy had the same gospel tract. Upon asking him, they discovered that he was one of the children living in the village. This boy was initially upset about these tracts being handed out and wanted to pick them all up and throw them away. However, before he threw them out, he read one of them and the Holy Spirit touched Him greatly and he received Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. The first thing he did after he received Christ was he wanted to share the gospel, so he went to put a tract back at every house. Hallelujah. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. May the Lord help us to preach the gospel daily in our lives.

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, I thank you because your word has power and authority. May God give us a strong and courageous heart to preach your word boldly each day, and also give us fruit for our labor. I thank you and pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen! 
 

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