LIVING A LIFE WORTHY OF OUR CALLING (1 OF 3)
Scripture: EPHESIANS 4:1-6, EPHESIANS 5:1-2
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Living a Life Worthy of Our Calling (1 of 3)
Let the Church Be the Church
Terry J. Hallock
Ephesians 4:1-6; 5:1-2
May 5, 2002
If ever there were a time when the people of God needed to live a life worthy of their calling it is now. We exist in a time when the battle between good and evil can no longer be dismissed as spiritual fantasy. It is now splashed across the front pages of our newspapers and trumpeted as the lead story on television news. We have seen its carnage in a dozen American High Schools like Columbine in Colorado. We felt its pain on September 11, 2001 when the World Trade Center towers came crashing to the ground. We can watch it each day in Israel. If those events seem too distant from us this battle between the God of the Bible and the devil from hell is ringing up body counts in families we know, schools we attend, and institutions we support. The present crisis within the Roman Catholic Church because of pedophile priests is no aberration. It is symptomatic of a wider cultural sickness spread by the enemy of life. The forces of God and those of the devil are inexorably gathering for a final conflagration. In the meantime humanity is slowly choosing up sides for there will be no middle ground as this battle heats up.
In the midst of this epic struggle stands the Church. Jesus created it over 2,000 years ago out of the redeemed souls of those saved by His grace in order that they might be His presence in this world. Their commission then is the same as ours now. We are to be Jesus’ witnesses in the world by living out His values in our lives. Jesus’ people have survived every form of persecution and trail until this day. And according to Jesus’ own promise they will survive until the end of time itself when they will be taken home to heaven and then watch as death and hell are destroyed. God will win and the devil will lose.
But that is then. This is now. Simply because Jesus promises that His Church will win doesn’t mean that ev ...
Let the Church Be the Church
Terry J. Hallock
Ephesians 4:1-6; 5:1-2
May 5, 2002
If ever there were a time when the people of God needed to live a life worthy of their calling it is now. We exist in a time when the battle between good and evil can no longer be dismissed as spiritual fantasy. It is now splashed across the front pages of our newspapers and trumpeted as the lead story on television news. We have seen its carnage in a dozen American High Schools like Columbine in Colorado. We felt its pain on September 11, 2001 when the World Trade Center towers came crashing to the ground. We can watch it each day in Israel. If those events seem too distant from us this battle between the God of the Bible and the devil from hell is ringing up body counts in families we know, schools we attend, and institutions we support. The present crisis within the Roman Catholic Church because of pedophile priests is no aberration. It is symptomatic of a wider cultural sickness spread by the enemy of life. The forces of God and those of the devil are inexorably gathering for a final conflagration. In the meantime humanity is slowly choosing up sides for there will be no middle ground as this battle heats up.
In the midst of this epic struggle stands the Church. Jesus created it over 2,000 years ago out of the redeemed souls of those saved by His grace in order that they might be His presence in this world. Their commission then is the same as ours now. We are to be Jesus’ witnesses in the world by living out His values in our lives. Jesus’ people have survived every form of persecution and trail until this day. And according to Jesus’ own promise they will survive until the end of time itself when they will be taken home to heaven and then watch as death and hell are destroyed. God will win and the devil will lose.
But that is then. This is now. Simply because Jesus promises that His Church will win doesn’t mean that ev ...
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