|
|
|
Dr.
John and Yvonne Wagner
|
|
Pastors
|
 |
|
Home
|
|
|
Open
Bible Ministries
|
A
Home Away From Home For Military Men and Women
|
|
Believers
must be "warriors" prepared for battle too!
|
 |
Ephesians
4:11-12
|
“It
was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists,
and some to be pastors and teachers,to prepare
God's people for works of service..."
|
|
But before
training can begin we have to do is PRAY!
|
 |
|
Matthew
9:37-38 |
|
|
“Then
he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are
few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his
harvest field.’”
|
|
We have to
pray that God will send workers into His harvest field!
|
|
|
|
Many
Christians remain spiritual infants and never mature in their relationship
with Christ.
|
|
|
Hebrews
5:11-14 |
"In fact,
though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach
you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk,
not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not
acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for
the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish
good from evil."
Often,
when a believer should be teaching others, they need to have someone teach
them the basics of the faith, all over again.
-
Sharing
your faith with someone else makes YOU stronger!
-
Teaching
a new believer the basics of the faith also makes YOU stronger!
 |
Maturity
comes only through constant practice. That practice includes sharing your
faith with others!
|
|
I
Corinthians 9:24-25 |
"Do
you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the
prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in
the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will
not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever."
|
Matthew
25:21 |
“His
lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast
been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things:
enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
|
|
ARE
YOU
PREPARED FOR BATTLE?
Being
prepared for battle starts with the right attitude!
What
kind of "attitude" do you have?
We
have a choice to make: Will we share our faith with others or not?
|
The
“Me First” Attitude
As an illustration, let's
look at two passages of scripture:
|
|
|
Luke
14:15-24
|
"...one
of those at the table with him...said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who
will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God." Jesus replied: "A certain
man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time
of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited,
'Come, for everything is now ready.' "But they all alike began to make
excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and
see it. Please excuse me.' "Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke
of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' "Still another
said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.' "The servant came back and
reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and
ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the
town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.' "'Sir,'
the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room."Then
the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and
make them come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of
those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'" |
|
All invited people made
excuses why they "couldn’t" come
-
We never learn their names or
anything else about them
-
We never hear from them again!
|
|
Luke
9:57-62 |
"As
they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you
wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air
have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He said to
another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and
bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead,
but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will
follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."
Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is
fit for service in the kingdom of God."
The men in this story said
“Me first, Lord.” (A contradiction of terms!) They said they would follow
the Lord but each had other things that wre more important at that moment.
-
We never find out what these
three individuals' names were either
-
We also never hear from these
three men again.
|
The
“You First, Lord” Attitude:
|
|
Matthew
4:18-22
|
"As
Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon
called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake,
for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make
you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him. Going
on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his
brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing
their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their
father and followed him."
By contrast to the individuals
mentioned before, each of these men responded immediately
when Jesus called them!
-
We know each
of their names!
-
We hear about them regularly!
(Several were writers of the Bible!)
What
will your "attitude" be about sharing your faith?
Will
you prepare yourself for the battle?
|
Continued:
|
|
|
|
|
We
meet at our house every week...
|
|
|
Come
Join
Our
Extended
Family!
|
 |
Special
Events!
|
We attend several special
events that occur in the area, as a group, such as, the Ringling Brothers
Circus, and Civil War Reenactments at the Endview Plantation in Yorktown,
and Christian concerts.
Ringling
Brothers Circus
Civil
War Reenactments
NAS
Oceana Air Show
|
|
Saying
Goodbye!
|
The
hardest part of this ministry is saying goodbye!
|
|
"We
loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the
gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to
us."
1
Thessalonians 2:8
|
|
