Being Reverent Toward Gospel Efforts
Each Lord’s Day morning Christians across the world assemble together and worship God according to the New Testament pattern. Being doers of the word and not hearers only is what God expects of each of His dear children.
Jesus died so that you could be delivered from the guilt and power of sin, pardoned by His perfect and undefiled blood. Therefore, living faithfully toward God in true worship and sacrificial service must be the preeminent priority of creation. This can only happen if we live and worship according to His written word.
Hebrews 12:28-29 (NKJV)
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.
We must approach God with reverence during the Lord’s Day morning assembly, but bringing our thoughts and actions captive to King Jesus should extend to any occasion we find ourselves assembled with our brethren to worship.
Many Christians are looking forward to warmer weather, because along with the sunshine comes gospel meetings. Gospel meetings are wonderful opportunities to hear the word of God preached, grow in knowledge, offer worship, and contribute to the expansion of God’s kingdom.
Are we attending meetings with this in mind? Are we inviting people to the meetings with this in mind? Are we are taking our families to the meetings with this in mind? It is easy to get caught up in the fellowship feature of young people’s meetings and other big meetings, forgetting the preeminent priority of God’s people. It is wonderful to be excited about the brethren you are going to spend time with, but this should not be our main source of fuel.
Whether local or larger meetings are on the itinerary for your family this year, spiritual goals for the meeting should be discussed. We can set the tone to be excited about an opportunity to hear the word of God preached. These days, the sermon topics and scriptures of study are announced months ahead of time. We should study these scriptures thoroughly before we attend the meeting so we can be more fully engaged in the services and be prepared to have more meaningful spiritual conversations with our brethren.
They are called “gospel meetings” for a good reason. The gospel of Jesus Christ is being preached to the lost. Therefore, we should work on our approachability in preparation for a meeting. Be the person a visitor feels comfortable with asking a question to. This could be the only time they hear the gospel preached and you could be the only person they feel they can talk to.
Worshiping, learning, and contributing to the growth of the kingdom should come first. Fellowship and activities associated with the meeting are secondary. When posting meeting announcements to social media or inviting people in person, folks should see our concern for lost souls and spiritual growth, not volley ball and photo opportunities.
When making a post on social media to recap a gospel meeting we have attended, we should be reverent and take care in what we say. There is nothing wrong with having a good time and enjoying wholesome Christian fellowship, but the things we say about a meeting should encourage our brethren and the lost in our community to come to the next meeting for the right reasons.
If our social media posts and conversations only describe the activities that took place apart from services or only contain a bunch of silly pictures, what is motivating folks to come to the next meeting? I’m afraid it’s not the gospel.
Our posts to social media and conversations need to express to folks the opportunity they can have to hear sound biblical preaching, participate in true worship, and potentially witness lost souls added to the kingdom. That is what should motivate us and that should be the motive of others to attend.
Before posting your next gospel meeting announcement, recapping the meeting you’ve attended, or discussing the meeting with someone, ask yourself these questions to make sure you convince someone to attend for the right reasons.
1. Does this post or conversation reflect that I am grateful to God for adding me to a kingdom that cannot be shaken?
2. Does this post or conversation indicate that I’m excited to offer acceptable worship?
3. Does this post or conversation show my reverence and awe for the Almighty God and Christ our Savior?
I am looking forward to worshiping God, hearing the word of God proclaimed, and hopefully seeing lost souls added to the kingdom of God as we attend gospel meetings together this year!
Eric Bullock, Evangelist
