In our country and in our time, we do not have much experience with the armor that the Roman soldiers wore and used.  One of their most important pieces was the shield.  It was their refuge from incoming spears and swords.  They could even use it as an offensive weapon swinging it at the enemy.  It could also serve as a bed.

This week, I ran across two poems that demonstrate the importance of Christians being involved in the work of their local congregation. Excerpts from both are included below:
 
Here's what a congregation could look like if we all get involved:
When everyone works and nobody shirks, You can raise a church from the dead!
And if when you make your personal stake, Your neighbor can make one too.
Your church will be what you want it to be, for it isn’t your church – it’s you!
 
Here’s what a congregation looks like when no one wants to be involved:
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

“Life is tragic for the person who has plenty to live on, but nothing to live for.”
 
In our society, we often hear the desperate cry, “Just why am I here?”  It may come from a teenager with no one to turn to or from a wife whose husband has left her.  It may come from one who just needs a purpose in life. 

Change is all around us.  The seasons change.  People grow older and change.  Some change noticeably from day to day.  Some lose a few more hairs while others find a few new gray ones.  Some find a new wrinkle added to their faces while others notice a few pounds added to their bodies.  Modern technology allows people to change the color of their eyes merely by changing contacts.  Local tattoo and piercing parlors have obviously kept busy changing the appearance of so many people. 

Mothers appear to be normal human beings.  They have all the physical features everyone else has:  two eyes, two hands, two arms, two feet, all connected to one body.  These are the visible characteristics of this special woman.  But, there is far more to her than meets the eye.

God designed only two institutions—the Church and the family.  They are so interrelated that He spoke of them in the same text (Ephesians 5:22-33).  Jesus’ relationship to the Church is described in the family terms of husband and wife.  Elsewhere we learn that all who are in the Church are in the family of God and are named Christians after God’s Son Jesus (Ephesians 3:15).

“Life can be understood only by looking backward, but it must be lived by looking forward.”
 
A backward glance reminds us of the Bible’s answer to the first of our seven wonders of the world - Who Am I?  We understand that we have been created by God to do His will.  The controlling agent, the Bible, convicts us of our separation from God because of sin.  It is at this point that we become conscious of our mistakes and must then ask the present question: “What do I need?”

Jesus lived during the times of the Roman Empire. Therefore, much of what He said was based on that time period. He spoke about the government and their demand for taxes and the requirement for citizens to be submissive to them. He often used soldiers and warfare in His illustrations. There were no better soldiers at that time than the Romans. And, everyone knew it.

“Now Korah…took men and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation…They gathered together against Moses and Aaron…” (Numbers 16:1-3). 

Paul wrote in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.”  Sometimes we might forget the importance of what he just said.  The power in conversion is not within us; it is in the word of God.  But, we must not get in the way of the word through a faulty or unprepared presentation.

You probably had at least one teacher in your schooling career who was very difficult to follow.  He or she just did not make learning fun or easy.  Maybe he didn’t care whether you learned or not.  Maybe she was so smart that she just could not get the material down to a level that you could learn it.  Or maybe the teacher was just a bad teacher.  Whatever the case, it is very difficult to learn given these circumstances.

There is a question many people search to settle. That question is, “Who am I?”  Genealogical research is a very popular pastime.  Much time and money is spent trying to find more information about ancestors.  Through studying ancestors, descendants come to understand themselves better.

I don’t want to embarrass Camden Makinen but he provided a number of us with one of the best illustrations of real faith.  Bryan told this story at the Men’s Advance in 2008.  The family’s evening routine ended with a Bible story and prayer.  The story was Lot and the city of Sodom.

I have a family that I did not choose.  I was born into the Johnson family—on both sides!  My mother was a Johnson.  When I was born, my mother made the birth announcement to say, “Johnson and Johnson has a new product!”  I did not choose that option (no one does at birth).  They choose to put me in that family.

This painting is entitled, “Checkmate”.  It had hung in the Louvre in Paris until it was sold at a Christie’s auction to a private investor in 1999.  As you can see, it depicts Satan playing chess against a young man.  The competition was for the soul of the young man; he belonged to Satan if he lost.  The title betrays the intent of the painting.

What is the primary mission of the Christian? What is our reason or purpose for being in the world? God makes our mission very clear in Matthew 28:19-20, when He tells us “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Thus, our primary mission is to evangelize, to teach, and to baptize. But, too often, I’m afraid we spend a lot of time on what we call “Christian endeavors” that aren’t necessarily in support of that mission. To clearly understand our Christian mission, it’s also helpful to understand what our mission is not. Our primary mission is not:

Our Connect Group theme for the year reminds us to “Keep It Real!”  This month we consider Real Love.  The reason we must deal with this topic is because so many people have an inaccurate understanding of Real Love.  Their definition is so far off that many people have never understood the “Real” meaning. 

The family is very important to the God of heaven because He created it (Genesis 2:21-24).  He joined the first couple in marriage. “Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman and brought her to the man.” (v. 22).   He stated the importance of each of them leaving their homes to establish their own home.  “Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife.” (v. 24).  He put them together so that they could raise children who would leave them and establish their own homes. “…they shall become one flesh.” (v. 24).

Social media has thrown the term influencer into the forefront of our consciousness. Through blogs, YouTube, Facebook, and other social media outlets, people are expressing themselves and influencing the thoughts and views of many other people. Advertisers, political campaigns, and television programming rely on polls that often reflect the views of the most popular influencers.

It has been said that knowledge is a powerful thing. However, in a group, knowledge can be a dangerous thing as it can cause friction between people with varying levels of knowledge. In a church, it is very important to create an atmosphere of unity where everyone feels equally a part. But it is difficult to have that atmosphere when there are some who don't know as much about the Bible as others do.