“Everyone who is called by my name, whom I have created for my glory; I have formed him ye, I have made him”. Rev. 4:11 “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” The principal purpose of our lives is to bring glory to God the father.
He created us for pleasure Rev. 4:11 “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” Ps. 95:6-7 “O come, let us worship and bow: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For He is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today if ye will hear his voice,” So you are not being baptized today for your own pleasure and purpose. You must fulfil the pleasure of God the father Mathew 3:13-17. If we want to obey God the father and please Him in all things we must obey His instructions all the time.
We must follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ I Pet. 2:21. Jesus said John 15:8 “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples”. If we want to honour the Lord as His followers we must obey God’s word. We are also being baptised so we can be added to God’s church and fulfil the vision of the church. Every church has a mission and a purpose. Each week we express our mission through our intercessions on Monday and Friday nights, our outreach works to the streets, prison and hospitals on Saturday mornings and our teachings of holiness and consecration on Wednesday nights and Sunday morning.
We don’t just talk about prayer, we pray a lot. We organise our home cell meetings around teaching and prayers. You must identify a home cell group near your house and join them. We don’t just preach on evangelism, we go out and preach the gospel and heal the sick. We visit the prisoners and give to the poor. We work in the church as ushers, cleaners, secretaries, finance department specialists, intercessors, choir members, Sunday school teachers etc. We all work to keep the church running to the glory of God the father. The church is a living organism, is a spiritual social gathering, it is the house of God and it must be kept alive by our joint efforts. Jesus says follow me and I will make you fishers of men.
So as you give your heart to the Lord and get baptized, you must join the church and give you Christian life a purpose and a meaning. You must get involved in as many activities as possible in the local church. For example you can be in the choir and be in the group that visit the hospitals or prisons on Saturday. You can peach in the street or at work or in taxis etc. You can be an usher and play a prominent role in your home cell group. Attend every church meeting regularly, be focussed on being a vital part of the church. Jesus prayed to the father in John chapter 17 that we would be one with Him and with each other.
Ps. 133:1-3 “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments. This scripture is actually calling us as brothers and sisters in the Lord, sharing our Christian lives on a permanent, continuing bans. This is the purpose of God, it is what He longs to see, it is how He is glorified.
It is why Jesus came to be baptized too!! Scripture tells us that is good and pleasant for brethren to dwell together, but it does not tell us how difficult it is. Brethren if we want this kind of unity and the fresh anointing that flows form it, we all need to be involved in the work of the church. If we want God to command his blessing on us, we must work as a team. Pastors, Elders, church workers and members must all be productive and work as one. Often we struggle to be blessed, fast and pray for blessings, but I challenge you all to decide to get in involved in home cells, outreach to prison or hospitals, intercession, ushering and choir or Sunday school.
Then you will see God bless us beyond what we can possibly imaging. Getting to this point of unity and blessing will involve many things. It will involve many discouragements and sacrifices. It will have to give up a lot of things. It will involve swallowing our pride. It will involve laying down our lives for one another. What we need is to catch the vision of the church and get involved in the fulfilment of the vision. Once we understand that the vision is from God, then we shall be willing to make the sacrifice.