Total Commitment

Yesterday was an amazing day in Ryazan. I was privileged to preach once again at Hope Church to my Russian Church family! They truly have become a family to me. When I come into their worship, I see people I have been acquainted with for nearly ten years...I give and receive hugs from them (a universal symbol of love and acceptance)...I pray with them and we share each others hearts. Yula is a lady in the church. A couple of years ago we were told she was home bound and wanted to have communion, so I traveled to her home with Pastor Pavel and we had communion and prayed for her. It was a great time of fellowship and ministry. Yesterday, I learned that Yula's mother died just recently. I was able a talk with Yula and offer continued comfort and care. This is my family and I love them with all my heart.

The church in Russia has experienced growth in the past years, but they still are faced with many challenges. On Saturday evening I spoke with Pavel and his family about the needs of the church in Russia. They spoke of the need for youth people to connect personally with another person...allow them to see Jesus in their lives. They spoke of the need for commitment to the church and they have a very high expectation of what he means to be a member of the congregation and more important, a high expectation of what it means to be a christian. Yesterday I spoke from Luke 14: 26-27, 33.

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple...So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple."
Luke 14:26-27, 33 (ESV)

I talked about three main points that Jesus made about being a disciple...
Wholehearted Devotion to Jesus (vs. 26), Total Submission to Jesus (vs. 27), and Complete Surrender of Everything (vs. 33). As I was speaking I pondered the difference between the church in Russia and the church in America. One of the most crucial issues in the church (in my understanding) is the need to be completely committed and surrendered to Jesus. One of Pavel's daughters, Alyona said "A christian should not question whether or not they should serve God...it is our responsibility and part of our commitment in being a christian." That was a powerful statement for me to heart. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, we are to be completely devoted and surrendered to him. That is what Jesus asks of us in his statements from Luke's gospel.

It is easy to say I am a christian and to come on Sunday's and hear a message from God and then reflect on that all week...It is another thing to come to church and be filled to overflowing and spend the rest of our week "being" the person God calls us to be. Our christian lives need to be defined by our service and giving and very life...not just by our church attendance!

I am constantly challenged by my Russia brothers and sisters in Christ. What privilege to be part of this ministry and to have the opportunity to be part of God's worldwide kingdom!