“Training for Cleanliness ” By Pastor Joe

“Training for Cleanliness ” By Pastor Joe

"Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it. This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers.” 1 Timothy 4:8-10. NLT

This is always been one of my favorite verses! Throughout my life I have had a number of great mentors who have helped me to grow my spiritual life, and they all said the exact same thing; keep the word of God before you on a regular basis. That's why this verse should begin to be part of our thinking over the next few weeks.

How many of us have heard the saying, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness"? There really is no Bible verse with those words, though you can look throughout the scriptures and find a sense of “cleanliness”. The New Testament speaks to spiritual purity, and I believe it would translate over to us, as a 3 part being: Body, Soul and Spirit. These 3 should live and operate in purity daily.

Obviously there are verses, such as Matthew 15:11, which state, It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you, you are defiled by the words which come out if your mouth. Scripture also says your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and we should treat our temples with great respect in 1 Cor. 6:19, and Psalms 139 tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We then have an obligation to do our very best to keep our temples, the place where we gather together to worship the Lord, clean. Yes, we must gather with clean hands and a pure heart!

We have great individuals from our congregation who clean the church. Recently, there has been items left laying out- especially kitchen items (I will take my part of the blame in this issue). We all need to do a better job of remembering who we honor with this facility- as well as being aware of our surroundings and what kind of impression are we leaving for those who visit our fellowship. We want this worship facility committed to the advancement of God's kingdom.

I've been to churches where the carpet is all torn and soiled, there are items sitting in the hallway, and classrooms full of old Sunday school material that should be donated to Love Packages. I really appreciate how clean our church is because of the effort of those who clean each week. Presenting Jesus with excellence is not only for our congregation, but for our community, our visitors, and ultimately for the Lord. We should all take responsibility for keeping the outside and the inside of our local fellowship nice and neat.

Tommy Barnett said that church is a place for families to come and meet with God- meaning there might be cigarette butts in our parking lot on occasion, kids will come inside with dirty feet, the carpet will need cleaning. I am just happy we have people around who use this wonderful worship facility! Pastor Barnett also said it's not meant to be or look like a funeral home; it's meant to be a birthing center. If you've ever been to a birthing center at the hospital, there's one thing I know for sure- they're always having to clean up. Even as we sing about becoming more aware of God’s presence, let’s also become more aware of this place where we come to worship!