This Article was originally a message given by Rev.Todd Crouch on the Fountain of Life, which is heard on the RKP Radio Network, www.rkpradio.comA few weeks ago, while considering what the Holy Spirit was leading me to address as a Sermon I read a scripture that I have read many times before, yet when I read these words this time, they spoke to me, and I felt that God wanted me to address it in some way
But at that time I had no context for it, yet the words of the verses stayed in
the for front of my mind for some time, I found myself thinking about them and wondering how they appilyed to us in the Christian life that we are called to live.
Seek the Welfare
"This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from
Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests,
the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into
exile from Jerusalem to Babylon." Jeremiah:1:1
God, through His servant Jeremiah address how they are to conduct themselves , for some of them the instruction may have been difficult to follow.
"This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.
Marry
and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your
daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters.
Increase in number there; do not decrease.
Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”Jeremiah:1:4-7
God speaks of their lives in the towns where they were in
captivity, He tells them and through Jeremiah encourages them to build lives and to seek the welfare of the city , the communities where they now find themselves, adding that it is He Himself Who has taken them to where they now reside.
God had placed the Jews in the communities that they were
now in, and He through the Prophet was encouraging them to build their lives , and
to seek the welfare of their communities , so that they would be blessed.
Pastors
Meeting
This need to seek the welfare of our respective communities was highlighted to me while I was in attendance at a gathering of Pastors from churches from around the Washington Pennsylvania area. At this particular meeting was the Mayor, he spoke about some of the many challenges that were on his heart and other issues that Washington, and many municipalities face, as well as hopes that he had for Washington.
After after the mayor was done speaking, it was suggested that we, the assembled Pastors offer a special prayer on his behalf. I was asked to come
forward as a representative of all the churches of the community and to lay hands on and pray for the Mayor and
bless him as the representative of the whole community .
As I prayed for him ,and the whole of Washington and for each community in Washington County which was represented there at this gathering, the Scripture in Jeremiah came to my mind again with assurance that
God would answer and bless the community. That God will answer that prayer for Washington
and the whole county.
Another
Pastors Meeting
A few days latter on a Tuesday evening while I was at a gathering of Pastors from the churches in Bentelyville , which is the the town in which I live, the
Pastors from the area were planning a Community Thanksgiving Prayer Service.
During this planning meeting, as we talked of the needs of our community the Jeremiah Scripture bounded back into my
thinking as we talked of some of the challenges that our community faces and
how it needed the blessings of God.
Community
Relationship
Communities , and community
living is not the idea of humanity simply devised for “convinces” of “profit”, it
is in truth a sires of extended relationships with others, of which the family is its basic unit.
God Himself stressed
the need to seek God’s Blessing on the community where we live. You see, God forms communities as a reflection of His own Triune nature in which He is blessed within Himself.
This community relationship that the Trinity has, is the relationship
that through Jesus Christ we are made a part of. In which we are blessed.
God wants us Christians and Churches to seek the welfare of the communities in which we have found ourselves "scattered" , as He admonished the Jews who lived in the cities of Babylon .
We as spiritual
Jews who live scattered in the Babylon of the world. In this scattering we are called to bless the communities where God has placed us, to seek the welfare of the community, to
intercede to pray for the people, our neighbors, friends.
We need to interceded for the civil institutions the leadership the
business, schools and even the Churches.
"Pray for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty" 1Timothy:2:2
God has allowed human civil governments to be in place so that there may be order, He tells us to pray for those in these position and to do so even if they do not represent our personal "political preferences" , Jesus does not belong to a political party.
We can read of the Christians relationship toward civil government in Romans:13
We need to pray that God would glorify Himself wherever we live, that we can preach the message about our Lord Jesus Christ with out obstruction and or interference so
many would come to believe in Jesus. There can be no better way our communities can be blessed than to hear about our Lord Jesus Christ.
In
Not Of
Being in , and building of lives of , and involvement with , the community, that is making a spiritual investment where we live can be a fine line to walk for the Christian, for as
we are told in Scripture that we are “in
not of” the "World System" , yet if we do not make this spiritual investment where we live so we know and are aware of the challenges in our communities and to pray for God’s
hand to move in the lives of the people with in our communities so that it brings Glory to God, who will do
it?
Do we look out and view the issues in the communities where we live, do we see the broken lives , the lost the lonely, the downtrodden the families which are struggling to survive , problems in our schools, economic challenges, crime, miscarriages of justice , a lack of leadership and corruption in government , at all levels, lack of opportunities for jobs, whatever they may be, if there are challenges and see them , God calls on us to seek the welfare of cities where we are scattered, not just to pray but to demonstrate the love of our God toward any and all as we have the opportunity to do so.
Gods'
Glory to Enter
"Lift up your heads, you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
The Lord Almighty—
he is the King of glory." Psalm:24:7-10
This invitation to the King of Glory to enter in through the gates of Jerusalem, or as we might understand it through the church. Christian can be those gates and doors by which the King of Glory, Jesus Christ may enter the lives of the communities where we live.
Christians should ask our Lord to come into our communities
that He might Bless them and be Glorified . Asking His authority to be brought to bare against the host of problem that may abound around us , to result in the
healing of the collective wounds of our communities , for our neighbors. We all see the
discouraged, the poor, the sick, injustices , corruption, the empty store
fronts the dieing and dwindling
churches and empty churches.
Community
With God
In the end we will all
live in a perfect community relationship with God and each other. We see this portrayed in the Book of Revelation:
"Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation:21:1-6
The New Jerusalem, more than just a city, it depicts the perfect ideal community relationship that God has always decreed for humanity with Himself the one Jesus came to give us access to. This is perfect community relationship where He is worshiped .Where we fellowship with Him. Where He is accessible. There is nothing to keep us from Him, there are no barred gates , that is, through Jesus who is the Way into this Community Relationship we might live for eternity.
We are called to pray for your communities
and its problems and its needs, asking that the King of Glory might be manifested so that our communities, where we are scattered, might be blessed and our Lord Jesus Glorified. Amen
Rev.Todd Crouch, Pastor
The
Fountain of Life Church a Congregation of Grace Communion http://www.youtube.com/user/IfItIsNotAboutJesus
Washington,
Pennsylvania.
www.gcfountainoflife.org
The
Fountain of Life is heard on the RKP Radio Network 1710 and 1670 AM in
Washington and North Franklin ,and 1790 AM in the Arden Fair Grounds area
of Washington Pennsylvania, and on 1710 AM in Bentleyville and Monongahela,
Pennsylvania. And online around the world at www.rkpradio.com
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