vassal of the King

METAPHORS FOR A MINISTER OF THE WORD. Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church The noblest of all callings that God could give to a man is to be a carer of the souls whom Christ has purchased with His own blood. To feed God’s people the Word, to shepherd God’s people through the journeys and trials of life, to counsel God’s people through unforeseen and painful heartaches, to protect God’s people from dangerous doctrines and teachers, to remind God’s people of the unchanging gospel and the sure-reality of heaven are just a few of the immense privileges that God places upon a pastor. But how does the Bible describe a pastor? What are some of the figures of speech that the Spirit of God employs to describe this calling? This essay will bring forth seven metaphors that speak of the minister of the gospel and his work. 1. Watchman (Ezekiel 33:1-9) Watchmen are workers. They busy themselves by vigilantly keeping guard to protect the population that they are called to oversee. G

WHY DO WE NEED REVIVAL? Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church We must have revival or we will perish! One only needs to survey the Old Testament to find out what God does when God gives revelation to people and they reject Him, despise His Word, scoff at His messengers, and refuse to repent. The inevitable result is divine doom and devastating destruction. We must have revival. And yet, we fully embrace the biblical theme that pervades all of Scripture, namely, the absolute sovereignty of God. God alone revives His people. God alone regenerates the rebellious. Revival is primarily a work of God the Spirit. So, as we look around us in our 21st century society, we know that God alone is the One who can bring revival and yet we still must ask, ‘why do we need revival?’ To answer this, I’ll provide a handful of reasons. 1. For the sake of GOD. We earnestly seek a revival first and foremost for the sake of our God. That means we long for God’s name to be displayed most magni

Consider the High Priestly prayer of Jesus to the Father in John 17:2 - "Even as you gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom you have given Him, He may give eternal life..." John MacArthur elaborates on the glory of this marvelous reality that God gave a particular group of people to His Son: "Having chosen to redeem them, the Father gave them to the Son as gifts of His love. Thus ... the disciples were infinitely precious to the SOn, not because of anything intrinsically valuable in them, but because they were promised to Him by His Father before time began (2 Tim 1.9; Titus 1.1)." "Jesus' beautiful prayer in John 17 indicates, this divine promise was made from one member of the Trinity to another -- from the Father to the Son. As a tangible expression of His infinite love for the Son, the Father promised Him a bride (cf. Rev 19.7-8), a company of redeemed sinners who would honor and glorify the Son forever.  In eternity past,

Helping Our Children Prepare for Worship, Engage in Worship, & Respond Accordingly. Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church Like every Christian parent, I want to teach my children to sit still and to engage in the corporate worship gathering of the saints! But it’s hard! It’s a battle! It’s sanctifying! But it’s a God-given privilege for me and my wife to endeavor to intentionally strive, to the best of our abilities with God’s help, to equip and train our children to prepare for corporate worship, to engage while in corporate worship, and to respond accordingly when the worship service has finished. In this brief write-up, I’ll provide four ways that we seek to help our children in this. 1) Attention! Each Sunday when we’re in family worship prior to arriving for corporate worship, we tell our children to “pay attention” in the meeting of the people of God! Pay attention! Sounds simple! But this is intentional and we want to not only tell but help our children under

SPECIFIC ELEMENTS TO PRAY FOR IN THE LOCAL CHURCH Geoffrey R. Kirkland Christ Fellowship Bible Church This is a list that provides many ways that you can pray for your local church. pray for God's glory to permeate your church pray for unity in the church pray for almighty power in the preaching of the Word pray for the administration of the ordinances -- baptism & Lord's supper pray for biblical discipline and restoration pray for repentance in the flock pray for biblical forgiveness to be lavished to one another pray for Christ-centered fellowship pray for spiritual growth and maturation pray for the conversion of the lost pray for revival in our hearts and among us pray for the suffering, persecuted, and those who are mourning pray for the church leaders -- elders/deacons pray for Christ's soon return & our readiness & waiting for him pray for submission to Christ's leaders in the church pray for a thankful spirit to reside among