Daily Devotional For Friday, August 29, 2025

Good morning Southside! Some of you may have grown up in church and others may have come later in life to the church. Church is more than about attendance, ministries, programs and money. The goal of church is more than getting people in church; the goal is to get people into Christ. Yet, there are many people who are more about counting attendance, evaluating the programs and ministries than they are about discipleship. 

A church that does not equip and challenge its people to be a reflection of Christ in their communities is not a church. They are a social club. Social clubs do not bring people to Christ nor do they equip them to reflect Christ. One of the biblical words the Bible uses for the church is the word “holy.” The Old Testament Hebrew word for holy is [ק֖וֹדֶשׁ, qadesh]. The Greek New Testament word is [ἅγιος, hagios]. Both of these words mean “to be set apart.” These same words are used to describe God. God is different from us in every way. 

God and the Bible says we are to be “holy” as God is holy. We are to be so different from our culture that we stand out. We are not to be so like our culture that there is no noticeable difference. British New Testament scholar J. B. Phillips in his translation of Romans 12:2, puts this verse this way: “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all His demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.” 

The Message Translation puts Romans 12:2 this way: “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

This is why the church must stay true to its calling by Christ. We have to make disciples (Matthew 28:19). We must then equip those disciples to be disciples (Ephesians 4:11-13). This conveys intentionality from the church. We must have older godly, holy and righteous mentors for those younger in the faith. We no longer can hope that somehow through osmosis or just listening they get it. 

The Apostle Paul writes this in Ephesians 1:22-23, “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, (23) which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (NASB). In the beginning of Ephesians 1:22, Paul has in mind Psalm 8:6. 

Paul affirms this again in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28. Paul says in Ephesians 1:22, that Christ is the “head” over the church. The word Paul uses here for “head” is [κεφαλή, kephale]. This word means “source of, origin of.” It was used in biblical times to refer to small streams and tributaries as the source of large bodies of water. Without Christ, there is no church. He is the source of the church’s existence through His death and Resurrection. Therefore, Christ is the head, He is the supreme authority over the church. 

And in Ephesians 1:23, Christ is the source of the unity of the church through His presence in it. We see this concept of unity in other of Paul’s writings (Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 12:22-27 and Colossians 1::18-19. Since Jesus Christ is the “head” of the church, since Jesus is King and Lord over the church, then His commands get obeyed. As “holy” people we are to be set apart to make disciples and equip them to make disciples. 

In The Great Commission in Matthews 28:19-20, Jesus did not tell the infant church to go make programs, ministries and build buildings. He gave us one command – “make disciples.” We are the ones who have become sidetracked on all this other stuff. Please don’t misunderstand me – I am not against programs and ministries as long as they are making disciples. Everything we do in the church is supposed to be about making disciples and if it is not, then we are disobeying the Head of the church who gave His life to be the source of it. Not only is Christ the source of the church, He is the source of you and me. 

The Bible says in Colossians 1:16,  "For by Him (Jesus) all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him” (NASB). You and I are here not as an accident nor just because our parents got together. We are here because God through Christ wanted us here. Tomorrow, we will address this issue again in terms of making disciples who make disciples.

Assignment: Since Jesus Christ is the head of the church, is He the head over your life? If He is not, what areas should you surrender to HIm? Why haven’t you surrendered those areas to Him? If you need help with this, would you ask for it from our staff?

Scripture To Meditate On: James 4:7, “Submit yourselves therefore to God” (ESV).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, give me a heart to submit to Your will in every area of my life. I do not want to be disobedient, rebellious and sinful. I want You to be my Lord and my God. I submit to You and ask You to show me my next step with You. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly