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The Ministries of John "BJ" Hall

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Since January 18, 2015

CPR For The Church

By Evangelist John BJ Hall

Some disturbing facts have come to light in annual reports from Southern Baptist Churches. For example, in 2016-- 200,000 people left their membership in Southern Baptist Churches. Also, less than 300,000 baptisms were recorded. We have not seen this low of baptism rate since 1968. It is also the smallest number of baptisms since 1947.

We need CPR for the church. What does CPR stand for? Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation. Who is CPR administered to? A dying person. Why is CPR administered? To revive the person.

IS THE CHURCH DYING?

            Let's check her vital signs. We have already mentioned two of the vital signs for a church. First we are to keep her members active and involved. Second, and more importantly, reaching people for Christ.

Jesus told us to win the lost in Matthew 28:19-20 (NASB77) when He said “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The Great Commission entails both of these signs. We are to make disciples everywhere we go and baptize them. Then we are to disciple them, teach them, as to how to live for Christ.

Another sign is this: Are we making a difference in the world? In order to make a difference we must stand for something. He even tells us that we are to attack the Gates of Hell. Standing against the gates of Hell in Matthew 16:17-19 (NASB) “And Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18  "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. 19  "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

This is the power behind the Great Commission –in the local community  –in the state   –in the national setting.

The third vital sign is: Are we actively involved in missions? Some churches are doing "away missions" really well. The problem is that we forget the "here missions." We need International mission, but we also need missions where we live. The Great Commission tells us that missions begins where we are, our Jerusalem.

When we examine the signs we can see that the church of Jesus Christ is in desperate need of Reviving!

WE MUST ADMINISTER CPR IMMEDIATELY!

CPR. for the Church

First we checked the pulse and found that the heart was fading. The heart of the church is winning souls to Christ. In order to do so we must make Christ the Cornerstone.

C- Christ is the cornerstone and foundation of the church. Ephesians 2:19-22 (NASB) says, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, 20  having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21   in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; 22  in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

Without Christ as cornerstone and foundation, evident in all aspects of the church, church becomes no more than a social club that holds weekly meetings on Sunday mornings. Christ must be the center of the Church. When He is the center we will reach out to others and draw them to Him. He said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.”

P- stands for Power from the Holy Spirit to empower our lives. Even though the disciples had walked with Him daily, they still did not understand all that He had said to them. They need the Holy Spirit to enable them. Acts 1:4-8 (NASB) says, “And gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me; 5  for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." 6  And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" 7  He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8  but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

We are not able to do anything without the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit doing it through us. When we try to operate on our own power we will fail and fall. We need His power, His direction, His encouragement. When we have that the results will be, “Ye shall be My witnesses.”

R- stands for Response from God's people to His leading and call. He has called each of us to this glorious task. Romans 12:1 (NASB) says, “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

We must be willing to respond to God's leadership and direction by offering ourselves to Him as our sacrifice, willing to serve Him wherever He leads us to serve, and to assist our brothers and sisters in their service to Him as well.

The truth is that not only is the church is dying, THE PEOPLE ARE!

       We individually need to have CPR administered to us

C-   Christ, foundational and central in our lives

P-    Power, empowered by the Holy Spirit

R-   Response, responding willingly to His leadership

 

True Revival

O Lord, let revival start here:
Do something in my life today.
In awe, to your throne I draw near,
To humbly confess and pray.

If revival is ever to be
It must be within my own heart.
So do now that work within me
And let true revival now start.

 

© Copyright 1999 by Passages Ministries. All rights reserved.
For permission to use this poem contact Passages Ministries.

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