Weekly Ministry Tip #12
Will World Peace Every Happen?
Matthew 5:9-10
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
I do not fully believe that World Peace will ever occur as long as this earth remains as it is today. The gospel message promises to bring a sword between people (Matt. 10:34). The evil one is still on the loose to bring havoc (1 Peter 5:8). That is where our culture is today. Much more can be said here but the fact is that true peace in people’s hearts can only be achieved when Jesus comes to live inside an individual (Gal. 2:20) and they allow the Holy Spirit to transform their life (Phil. 4:7, Rom. 12:2).
In Matthew 5:9, as peacemakers, I believe that God has called us to bring peace between people. The definition of a peacemaker is “a person who restores peace between people—peacemaker, one who works for peace.” We are blessed and happy when we can be used of God to share the gospel message and allow the Spirit to work through us to bring others into a peaceful relationship with God and with each other.
We may not see world peace during our time on earth but we can witness true peace in someone’s life as we see them make their peace with God through Jesus. Let’s work to be peacemakers.
Matthew 5:10 speaks of the persecution that believers could experience as they live a right life before God. We are called to live a righteous, spirit-filled life before all men because it pleases God. We can almost expect persecution. Are we ready?
Movie Time – We Have A Unique Opportunity
We are in a very strategic time as our local theaters are showing several movies that we can take our friends to see. There is the “Son Of God”, “Heaven Is For Real”, “God’s Not Dead”, or “The Jesus Film.” All of these films are waiting for you to take someone and share the gospel with them. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to take your non-Christian friends and neighbors to the movies and engage them in a conversation about God, Heaven, Jesus and what it means to know Him.
Here are some starter questions:
1. What did you think about the movie?
2. What is your view about God/Jesus after seeing this movie?
3. What has been your experience with religion or God up to this point?
4. If God can truly be known, would you be interested?
To each of these 4 questions above, be sure to ask two key follow-up questions as often as you can so that you can really hear the person’s story and opinions.
Ask:
A. Tell me more?
B. What else?
Use the “Knowing God Personally” booklet, your personal testimony, or any other good evangelistic tool, to share the gospel message with them. This is a great time to engage many people in spiritual conversations. The opportunity is wide open. Take the time to ask someone, or even a group of people, to go and see one of these movies some evening in the next week or two. Go out afterwards and talk about it.
Eye On The Calendar
For many traditional college campus ministries, April ushers in the end of the spring term as well as a glimpse of the summer to come. Now is a good time to keep your eye on the calendar. We’ll talk about this more in the next few weeks but here are some things to anticipate and keep in mind:
1. Summer projects are still accepting students. There are still a few openings. If God is nudging your heart to go, take a step a faith and sign up (and bring someone with you). Could be the best summer of your life.
2. As we mentioned in last week’s tip, consider making your big monthly evangelistic emphasis in your ministry — the death, burial and resurrection of Christ; the most powerful event in the Bible. We serve a Savior who has risen from the dead and is alive. Be sure the message gets out.
3. Begin to think about having a fun end of the year celebration meeting. Gather the names of students and all their contact information so you can stay in touch with them through the summer months.
4. Plan carefully for your fall term. Begin now to build some momentum for your ministry in August/September (more on this next time).
5. Solidify your leadership team for the future. Challenge those who will join you now. Be sure that they fully agree with our mission and vision for the ministry.
Talk to you next week,
Ben with Cru