Empowerment
"When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all
seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of
those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds."
--Acts 19:17-18
Power is let loose when Christians start living out the Gospel on a grass-roots
level. Just read Acts 19. The early church unlocked the power of God's Word as they
turned upside down their local communities. Neighbors in Ephesus were gripped with
an awesome fear of God as they gathered to openly confess their waywardness. It
even says they held the name of the Lord Jesus in high honor. Can you imagine such
a thing in your community?
Because first-century Christians lived out the Gospel on a local level, God got
people's attention. And the same can happen today. The Lord wants to use this time
of social unrest and political change as an unprecedented opportunity for the local
church to demonstrate the power of God to change a situation, to change peoples'
lives, to change a community.
Empowerment involves the people closest to a problem learning how to solve it themselves.
Need a few ideas? Just open your eyes. Elderly people in dilapidated houses. Suicide
among teenagers. Lonely widows in busy neighborhoods. Abused wives and battered
children. Girls with unwanted pregnancies. Disabled people needing housekeeping
help. Drug abuse in schools.
These are the problems you live close to. And when believers begin living out the
Gospel on a grass-roots level, God will get people's attention.
God's life-changing power shakes a community when a church directly addresses the
needs in the streets, schools, and homes. The Gospel is best declared when it is
demonstrated toward the people closest to you.
Empower my church, Lord, to make a difference in my community. And please begin
with me!
4 comments: