The Encourager
“What to do Now”
What to do Now?
By Jeff Curtis
Well, we have had our first Gospel Meeting of the year. I have missed Gospel Meetings for several reasons. 1) As Brother Weliever pointed out in his blog, “The Preacher’s Word,” there is the fellowship that we have with those who have the same goal of heaven in mind. 2) There is the singing, praying and worship. You may say, “Well, we have those without a Gospel Meeting.” Yes, but with a Gospel Meeting, we can have fellowship with Christians from other locations. We lift up our voices, our prayers and worship our Father with other Christians. It is refreshing, to be those of like precious faith from other locations. Four different counties were represented in those who visited. To know that we are not alone in our efforts to grow the kingdom is a great encouragement to me. 3) A Gospel Meeting is reprieve from the world. Again, we had visitors from other congregations. We had visitors every single service. This was such an encouragement to me and hopefully to each one of you.
But, what do we do with the efforts brought about by the elders for bring Brother Weliever to be with us this past weekend? Is there more to a Gospel Meeting than just attending, singing, praying, and worshipping together? Is there work still to be done even after the meeting is over? Absolutely! But what is it? What do we do now?
First, we must continue to grow from the messages that were brought this past weekend. Brother Weliever brought some very encouraging lessons, and we need those. We need to continue to study on what he taught this past week.
Second, we need to continue to invite our neighbors. We don’t need to think that the only time our neighbors need the Gospel is only during a Gospel Meeting. Do you only need the Gospel occasionally? Neither do our neighbors. We need to look at the Gospel Meeting like a B12 shot. We need to continue to work on the messages we have heard. Peter tells us; “17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2Peter 3:17-18, NKJV).
We need to continue to read and study and grow. Now that the meeting is over people may think things will get back to normal. What is normal for a Christian? Normal, is that we continue to study; “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2Timothy 2:15, KJV).
My prayer is that we will use this as an opportunity to help not only ourselves but also the church at Eastside to grow. If we expect growth within the church, we must first grow ourselves. The meeting this past week is an excellent place to start.
Finally, let me say something to the parents of young children. I really and truly appreciate your efforts during this meeting. I KNOW the strain put on you when a Gospel meeting takes place. Getting the kids ready, having them sit through another service. They get tired and are easily irritable, they may begin to fuss, they may even fall asleep during the services. They may have home-work, you have all this to do and still have them at the building on time for services. You are a great source of encouragement for me personally. I KNOW what it’s like to be in your shoes and so do the other parents.
You are not only a source of encouragement, but set a godly example to your children. Teaching them that the worship of God and assembling with Saints is important. You are also an encouragement to other parents who have small children and school age children. Keep up the good work. Great will be your reward in heaven.
