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Feeding of the Flock
MP3
One of the two great commissions given to the church was for God's
church to feed the flock. I want to discuss this subject in some
detail. It may take more than one Notebook piece. It is a
rather large subject with many elements and things to think about.
When I completed Lesson 27 of the Bible Correspondence Course,
"The
Christian Family", I could see the analogy being drawn between the physical, human, Christian family and the church
of God and our relationship with Jesus Christ. On question 25 of
the Lesson test I list a number of possible elements on how parents
manifest love of their children. The answer to this question is
"i", they all apply. All are ways in which parents manifest love
of their children. Meditate for a moment now on each of these
elements.
25] Which items apply? Parents manifest love of
their children by...
a. providing their necessities of life
b. protecting them from harm
c. giving them instruction, encouragement and respect
d. participation in family activities
e. balanced correction
f. spending time with them in both work and play
g. active listening and communication
h. establishing family nights
i. all of the above
Using question 25, let us now continue with the analogy set forth in
that lesson and answer the question, "How does the church of God feed
the flock?"
a. by providing their necessities of spiritual
life...The
Salvation Process
b. protecting them from spiritual harm...see the
Field Church Guidelines, which was devised to protect the flock
c. giving them instruction, encouragement and respect...in the form of
the preaching of the Word in all of its applications.
d. participation in church activities
e. balanced correction
f. spending time with them in both the Work and play
g. active listening and communication...counseling, one-on-one
communication, conferences, open-forum Bible Studies
h. establishing church nights...locally and at the Feast and other
opportunities
Now who is responsible for all of this? Who is ultimately
responsible for all these aspects of the Feeding of the Flock? Is
it Headquarters? Is it the Board? Is it the sole
responsibility of the ministry? Read my piece, "I'm
Just Not Being Fed Over There." What you will discover in that
piece is the fact the individual church members are responsible for
feeding themselves. Yes, the church has proscribed duties and
responsibilities, but the church, Board and ministry working together
around the clock cannot get members into the Kingdom of God.
Having said that, the church is doing all it can with the
resources it has to see to elements a-h
above. Clearly sources are limited. Peter, Paul and the
first century church, on the other hand, would think us rich and
increased with goods. We have telecommunications, TV, radio, the
Internet, DVDs, CDs, the printing press and a host of other things that
would have those first church disciples in absolute wonderment and awe.
In the notebook piece, "Leadership
in the Church - Questions and Answers" you will see recommendations
about voicing concerns and getting things done.
What is Being Done?
From my position in the Web Site Office I have a rather unique
position to hear both the concerns of and what certain members of the flock
are doing to aid in the Work. Some feel CDs and DVDs are not getting out in a consistent manner.
Certain members in the field churches are
now secondary resources for audio tapes, VHS, CDs, DVDs and even
booklets and other printed materials. One member notified me to
say he makes CDs with the
entire Bible Correspondence Course. He is makes these available
to members.
This secondary source has been networked together. The Web Site Office
coordinates these secondary resources to better serve the
greater flock.
There is a situation we are having with Canada with tapes and booklets
being held up at the border and not finding their way to the intended
recipient. We are establishing secondary
resources there too. If anyone reading this wants to help or has
additional ideas or suggestions they should get hold of me at
chriscumming@gtatv.org.
Rest assured that everyone at Headquarters and in the ministry is
constantly monitoring those a-h
elements above and seeing about improving all of these areas both
locally and for the greater Work of God.
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