Healthy, Growing Churches (1)

Shepherd Your people with Your staff…
“As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,
I will show them wonders.”
The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;
They shall put their hand over their mouth;
Their ears shall be deaf.
They shall lick the dust like a serpent;
They shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth.
They shall be afraid of the Lord our God,
And shall fear because of You. Micah 7.14, 15-17

Explanation of Psalm 114.5
Augustine (354-430)
“Hear what is even more wonderful, that the hidden and veiled mysteries of the ancient books are in some degree revealed by the ancient prophets. For Micah the prophet spoke thus. ‘According to the days of your coming out of Egypt will I show unto him marvelous things.’”

Micah looked forward to the days when the Good Shepherd would come to shepherd His flock. It would be as when the Lord delivered His people from Egypt. God would do “wonders”, so powerful and outstanding, that unbelieving peoples would be put to shame, and gasp (cf. Jn. 14.12; Ps. 126.1-3). Sinful people would realize their sinfulness, and seek to hide themselves from the presence of the Lord and His flock. Yet many would learn to fear God, and submit to Him, because of the unmistakable presence of Jesus in the midst of His flock, shepherding them to be a holy temple unto the Lord (Eph. 2.19-22). Where Jesus knows, leads, defends, lays down His life for, adds to, and gives eternal life to His sheep, the impact on the surrounding community is pronounced. The Lord’s people lay hold on all His precious and very great promises, and the blessings they enjoy in Him, they spread throughout the community in which they dwell. When we are serving as true shepherds, we should expect “marvelous things.”

How is it evident that our Good Shepherd is at work among His sheep in your congregation?

T. M. Moore

Organizing with the Spirit
The Lord Jesus is building His Church. His Word is the blueprint, His Spirit is the General Contractor, and we are all builders together of the Body of Christ. But are we doing our work God’s way, or ours? The Spirit has His ways of organizing our work, and we do well to understand as much as we can about His methods. This is the argument of Dr. Kent Miller of Michigan State University, and you can watch our Conversation with Dr. Miller, and download a free copy of his paper on the subject, “Organizing with the Spirit,” by clicking here.

The Fellowship of Ailbe is supported through the generous and faithful gifts of those who benefit from and believe in our work. Does the Lord want to use you in this way? Please look to Him in prayer over this question. You can contribute to The Fellowship of Ailbe by using the Contribute button at our website, or by sending your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452. Thank you.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Quotations from Church Fathers are from the Ancient Christian Commentary Series, published by InterVarsity Press.