Who is The Greatest?

by Jeff Curtis

     People sometimes may think that they are not making much of a contribution to the work of the church. They may feel that they are wasting their time and the time of others in worship. Maybe they have a difficult time paying attention because they have to wrestle with children, or because of some ailment they may not be able to attend every service or feel they are a distraction when they are in attendance. We may feel that because of our age we don’t have much to contribute in our service to God. We may get discouraged from time to time because of these thoughts or those similar.

     In Matthew 18:1, “…the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” The question is “Who is the greatest in the kingdom or (Church at Eastside)? Since we may have these thoughts from time to time, we may think of others as being better than ourselves.

     We may think, well, we have elders so “I know they are greater” for the church than I am. We need to realize that they, too, were in your place at one time. They sat through services with children, who, were at times unruly, or sick or cutting teeth and seem to be fussy all the time.  You as a young parent need to realize that you have a very great responsibility. You hold the future of the church and the world and your family within your grasp. The church will cease to be if parents give up and decide its not worth the hassle of trying to get children ready and then trying to sit through services. In the above passage, Jesus answers the question of the who the greatest is by telling them, “⁴ Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.” Yes, parents who bring children to learn about God and how to worship the Almighty are the greatest in the kingdom.

     Marilyn and I have raised three children in the church. I served as a Deacon for many of those years, which left Marilyn alone during the services a lot of the time. We had a child who was fussy and crying during a gospel meeting once, and the visiting preaching (from the pulpit / during the service) told her she was going to have to take the baby out. That can be discouraging to a young parent who may be struggling just to be there with her babies. We appreciate your efforts.

     We may think that because we have some age on us and we don’t always feel 100%, that we have no business being at the service. After all, I am a distraction. I can’t sit still because my body doesn’t want to cooperate and allow me to sit comfortably for that long.

    Yet, the apostle Paul says that you are a part of what makes the church a sound church. In Titus chapter 2 he writes; “ But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: ² that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; ³ the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— ⁴ that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵ to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.”

     Paul says there is so much that you have to offer to help the church future of the church. You can and should be a stabilizing force in the church. The young people should be able to look to you for advice and encouragement. You are a wealth of knowledge and experience that God understands should be used for the growth of the church. Remember, Paul said you are a contributing factor in the church being sound.

     So…, who’s the greatest in the kingdom /church? You are. Without you bringing your children to services, as tough as it may be sometimes, you are still the greatest because of the duty and honor you have in raising children in the Lord’s house. It is a great encouragement for you to be there with your children. Too many churches don’t have children.

     So…, who’s the greatest in the kingdom /church? You are. Without your age, wisdom, knowledge and everything that you have to offer to help maintain a sense of security and soundness in the church, where would we be without you? The fact that you are there, even when your health suggests that you stay at home, you are deeply appreciated.

God the Creator

Jeff Curtis

     The book of Genesis provides a basis for faith by proclaiming God to be the Creator. It doesn’t begin with non-specific arguments for the existence of God, as do books on philosophy of religion. Neither does it present scientific data or experiments that one might use in order to prove that God exists of that He created the world and all life in it. The Bible doesn’t begin with a frontal attack on the fantastic world of mythology that was prevalent throughout the ancient Near East. It begins with a proclamation of faith in the one sovereign God who created the heavens, the earth, and all living things – man in particular – because He is a good God who only wants to bless His creation.

     Faith in God as the Creator is more reasonable than faith in blind chance. The statement in 1:1; “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” is obviously a statement of faith, without any proof. So, some scoff and say, “Your faith in God as the Creator is just a leap into the dark without any evidence; so I would rather put my confidence in science, namely that which can be demonstrated and proved.”

     However, if one rejects God as the Creator, then the only other possible statement is “In the beginning chance created the heavens and the earth.” Both are statements of faith, neither can be proven or disproven scientifically. So, it is not a matter of faith versus science; but instead, the question is “which kind of faith do you have?” What is more logical and reasonable to believe: that order accidentally came out of disorder, life came from non-life, and human consciousness came from unconscious matter – or that a Creator designed the universe and its life forms?

     The problem for the unbeliever is that no such life-origin event has ever been demonstrated of observed in nature, or can it be. Therefore, the one who puts his faith into the dark, trusting in a notion that is contrary to known scientific truth.

     What if an accidental explosion took place in a junk yard, and when the dust settled, behold, instead of a lot of miscellaneous bits and part of junk we were to find a perfect computer and monitor? When we take a closer look, what if we discover that it had a huge amount of memory, plus an operating system and several complex programs? If we ask the owner of the junk yard, “Where did this computer come from? Who made it? How did it get here?” Would we believe the owner if he answered, “I don’t know how it got here, I don’t see any evidence of anyone who made it, it probably just happened as the result of the explosion.”?

     Once again, no rational person would believe that such a thing could happen, even if explosions occurred all the times. Sophisticated order never comes out of uncontrolled chaos. Rather, it comes from intelligent design and careful construction. This is true whether in reference to a computer and its programs of the heavens and the earth, with all of its variety of life.

     The Psalmist wrote; “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14), but no one could really fully imagine how true this statement is until the later 1990’s, when scientists were finally able to map the three billion codes of the human genome. A human life begins with one fertilized cell in the womb of the mother. The complexity of the cell and unfathomable amount of information in each one led Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, to say, “DNA is like a software program, only much more complex than anything we’ve ever devised.” (DNA vs Evolution: The Little Code that Confirms the End of Evolution; 2009).

     No one, of course, would suggest that a complicated computer program could just happen by accident without the intelligent design of a skilled programmer. And yet, those who believe that the complex structure of the cell just happened by chance are unable to offer any explanation as to how it all occurred. In fact, scientist have been looking for five decades for a naturalistic cause that can explain the existence of life and the complexities of DNA in the cell. So far, they haven’t produced any evidence to support any such origin of life theory. (Lee Strobel, The Case for a Creator; 2004). 

    They continue to have hope against hope that one day it will be proven that “In the beginning Chance created the heavens and the earth.” Their unbelief in a Creator is not for lack of evidence as to the nature of life and its origin, but instead, it seems to illustrate the old adage, “None are so blind as those who will not see.”