“No Bleachers in the Church”

There have been some funerals lately that I have attended or known of and it reminded me of my grandpa’s funeral.  He attended a Romanian/Ukrainian Orthodox Church and loved the Lord with all his heart.  Their services have elements that are separately ministered to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Services can often take three hours.  This may seem long, however you might think of it as being a little more arduous when you realize that for most of the church’s history pews were not allowed in the sanctuary.  Young or old, you were not allowed to sit.  It was considered improper to sit when you were supposed to be ministering to the Lord.  This has its roots in the original tabernacle/temple of God where there were not places to sit.  While I am not saying I will be asking that we remove all of the seating in the sanctuary, I do think that we may have fostered a mindset of being spectator Christians by having seating.

Hebrews 12:1 speaks of the great cloud of witnesses – the heroes of the faith.  It is the heroes of the faith who have gone on and died before us who are looking in on our lives.  Their work was done and, from the looks of Hebrews 11, much of their work involved great sacrifice and feats of great faith.  They were looking for something greater than their own existence – a city whose make and builder was God – a Kingdom made without hands.  Jesus preached that the Kingdom of God was near and was about His Father’s business.  Neither Jesus nor the heroes of faith were sitting around watching but were co-labourers with God.

Freedom Centre Church has adopted as part of its mission the passage in Isaiah 61:1-4.  I would like you to read it again here and notice all of the action words I have underlined.  These are not God’s action words but the action words for the one anointed of God to bring His Kingdom to people in the earth as His ambassadors.

1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,
3 To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
4 And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations.  (New King James Version)

We have been blessed to be anointed of God by His Holy Spirit.  This is no small thing.  Other than salvation, this is the most amazing gift of the grace of God that could ever be considered.  God has chosen to anoint us with His very person and presence.  We have been given such great grace and appointed to such a great task – there is no place for spectating.  I encourage you all to find a place of ministry to God within this church, as part of this body.  Speak with myself or an elder or a ministry leader if you are wanting help in finding a place of involvement.  The task is great but we have everything we need to accomplish it in Christ!  Come and join in on the adventure!  You just might discover yourself in God’s personal record of the heroes of the faith.

Blessings,

Pastor Merril