November 1 is All Saints’ Day.  It’s a day set aside to celebrate The Jesus Team.

The Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches have reserved the name, saint, for men and women who gained great victory over spiritual enemies and consistently followed and obeyed Jesus.   They have to be officially recognized by the church hierarchy to be called saints.  Sainthood is seen as a special calling for special people.

However, the New Testament teaches that all believers in Christ (all members of The Jesus Team) are called to be saints (spiritual athletes) — to be holy, mature, and mighty men and women of God.  Of course, as everyone who has ever tried to live a godly life knows, there is much resistance to that lifestyle — distraction, self-focus, cravings and compulsions, self-will, anger, peer pressure, evil, self-pity, greed, negative thoughts, fear, lust, persecution and mockery, the seduction of the world, etc.

Many enemies have to be overcome in order for the members of The Jesus Team to live up to their potential.  Christians need to train, not just be taught theology and religion — to be doers, not just hearers.

Jesus wants His team members to choose action over distraction — to train to be strong, not to wane and go wrong.  Being part of the body of Christ is not a spectator sport — there are no bench warmers — Christ, the Coach, wants every member to be in the game (see 1 Corinthians 14:26).

Why not train to be a player in God’s game?  Experience spiritual training at The Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center, 225 Berry St., Nashville, TN 37207 — where every member is allowed to show and tell what God has done — Sundays @ 10:45.
“‘Not called!’ did you say? ‘Not heard the call,’ I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Then look Christ in the face — whose mercy you have professed to obey– and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world.” –General William Booth

Read about how we worship at Berry Street at this link.