Pastor Terry Cheek Th.D.

www.theinspiringword.org

Thanks for joining me for another publication of “The Inspiring Word”.

With October upon us, we obviously have our hearts turned toward fall and the coming holidays. My heart warms to think of them, time with family and friends, the special fellowship and atmosphere found only in the body of Christ! This year October brings something very special. This October we recognize the 500^th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door. His stand of biblical authority began a work that continues today! The Reformation has never ended. The body of Christ continues to stand on God’s word as absolute authority for all people and in all things.

Too often the Reformation is portrayed as a theological division among Christians and as such very few study it and discover how deeply their Christian walk is influenced because of it. I’m not going to spend a lot of my article on it but I do want to encourage you to embrace this time in history and in doing so take time to read and learn about an event that continues to shape your faith 500 years after it began.

Many around the southeast and Midwest continue to recover from Hurricane’s Harvey and Irma. The road to recovery is going to be long and difficult, sadly there are some who will never fully recover. I say this as someone who has lost everything to a disaster, having no insurance, with a family and an infant child I was under the weight of hopelessness and despair. God came through for me and I know He will come through for those dealing with the recent disasters. Given my experiences, I write to you this month with a heart of missions. Will you ask God to show you what He would have you do in His name for these folks? You may think it is insignificant but really it isn’t. When we personally get involved in missions we collectively make a strong impact. By getting involved through your local church you join others around the world who share the love of God through material gifts that meet the daily needs of food, shelter, bathing, washing clothes, along with biblical and spiritual counseling, just to name a few. You can be a significant part of the outreach. I’m sure many of you have already joined the effort. If you haven’t, make a prayerful commitment today. There are many organizations and possibly your church is capable of directly reaching out with a heart of missions. The opportunities are many. Let’s not forget we are reaching out with and through the gospel. Remember the Lord’s words from Luke 10:2 “…The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest.” We all have an opportunity to be a laborer in the Lords work.

The English word laborer is translated from a Greek word that means workman. In other words, this is a person who does whatever is necessary to be the means which justify the end. God has called His church to be laborers in Christ work. What is that exactly? Well, it begins with the spreading of the gospel. This only happens when we love people. I’m not talking about behaviors, I’m talking about seeing others as God sees them. His creation in His image with a soul that Jesus has died for. The body of Christ has the privilege of knowing what that means, we know through experience. We gained the experience because a messenger was sent with the gospel and the Holy Spirit convicted us to seek forgiveness and repentance of sin through the blood of Jesus Christ! Be that messenger and while you're delivering the message take along some food, a blanket, a stuffed animal, the word of God and a warm hug for someone wondering what will I do? God has it all figured out and part of His answer is you and me. I will close with Jesus answer to the Pharisee; Mark 12:28-31 “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? (29) And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: (30) And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. (31) And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”