God continues to bless at EBC. We started this morning's service with two baptisms! Kim and her daughter, Haley followed the Lord in believer's baptism. Pastor David shared that in talking to Haley, she praised her Sunday School teacher for talking to her and helping her to understand salvation clearly. Thank God for people who invest their lives in others!
It was good to have Heather leading this morning. The band and most of the choir were back from vacation, and our attendance was beginning to climb back up. God blessed us with many guests and we look forward to getting to know them and sharing the vision and blessings of what God is doing at EBC.
Today, I continued the "Peacemaker" series with the topic of Church Discipline. So many churches are afraid to intervene when a friend and family member engages in sin. They fear the fallout and don't trust God to bless "His" plan. Church discipline is God's plan for loving the wanderers back to Himself. Consider these Scriptures:
Heb. 12:6a NIV - … the Lord disciplines those He loves…
Ps 94:12a NIV - Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD…
Rev 3:19a NIV - Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline…
Church discipline is about love... forgiveness... restoration... and reconciliation! It is a wonderful thing and would make a difference if more churches practiced it. It flies in the face of the "crowd" mentality, but it is a required part of the true "church" mentality. It calls sinners to repentance and deters discord and division in the church.
Churches, families, work places, teams, and more; would be different if God's people would just implement God's plan for conflict resolution. Consider the steps of Matthew 18:15.
1) Correct if a person is in sin --- get over issues of preference or policy.
2) God to the person individually.
3) Take 2-3 witnesses (Friends who also care about this person.)
4) Take it to the church (Only if necessary.)
If at any time during the process a person humbly admits their fault and repents, they are to be reconciled to the individual and to the church. I'll write more about this in the coming days, as it is a topic that is rarely taught and/or implemented.
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