3. How does satan attack? In many ways: 1. False Accusations – Satan literally means “the accuser”. One way that Satan attacks is that he starts stirring up trouble and making false accusations against people. Motives are assumed and hearts are judged – despite God’s clear warnings about doing such.

4. 2. Lies, Dishonesty, and Distortion of the Truth – Satan is called the father of lies. He uses lies and distortions of the truth against churches and church leaders. People justify their lies and other sins. 3. Gossip and slander – As the book “Gossip and the Gospel” indicates, the Greek word for slander comes from the word diabolos. Gossip and slander is truly satanic, as it destroys church leaders and churches and causes members and church leaders who get caught up in this to miss where God is at work, destroying the lives of others.

5. 4. Robbing of Joy and Focus on the Wrong Things – Satan does not want churches to rejoice when lost people come to faith. The church is a social system, and like most social systems, what gets celebrated gets imitated. So the best way to cut that cycle is rather than rejoicing at changed lives and conversions, have the church focus on the wrong things. Financials, petty issues, personality differences- anything that Satan can use to distract us and have us harm others and ourselves.

6. 4. Fear – Fear, we are told is not of God, Satan uses fear to paralyze church leaders. All it takes is one or two people to make a complaint, and church leaders can imagine that there is a crisis, and then make decisions (or do not make decisions) out of this fear.

8. On a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude little life-saving station.

9. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat…

10. but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves, went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost.

11. Some of those who were saved and various others in the surrounding area wanted to become associated with the station and gave of their time and money and effort for the support of its work.

12. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little life-saving station grew.

13. Some of the members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped.

14. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. They replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building.

15. Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully because they used it as a sort of club.

16. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired professional lifeboat crews to do this work.

17. The life-saving motif still prevailed in the club’s decorations, and there was a liturgical life-boat in the room where the club’s initiations were held.

19. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.

21. Some members insisted upon life-saving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station.

22. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station.

23. So they did.

24. As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another life-saving station was founded.

25. History continued to repeat itself, and if you visit that sea coast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore.

26. Shipwrecks are frequent… …in those waters,

27. but most of the people… …drown.

29. Are We Failing In Our Mission? What Is The Mission Of The Church? To make disciples of Jesus Christ Mt 28:19-20 To preach the gospel of Christ Mk 16:15-16 To proclaim the praises of God 1Pe 2:9-10 How Can We Fail In Our Mission? Through misplaced emphasis Rev 3:14-19 Through showing preference Ac 10:34-35; Ja 2:1-9 Through worldly preoccupation Lk 8:14

30. Souls are lost without Christ...shall we not seek and save the lost? “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” ~ Luke 19:10