How would you like to be part of a world-wide movement that
can change history? How would you like to be in a group where you can be made
stronger, find a ‘home,’ and be shown the way to live with real hope and
purpose? I’m in! And, you can be, too. That place is the Church, not just a church. I hear you, “Jerry, you’re selling something
that is not real. My church is boring, a place where people argue and fight,
where tradition is more important than mission.” Sometimes that is true, but healthy churches, who are functioning as a part of His
Church, are the HOPE of the World!
When I was 16 years of age, God spoke to me (He really did,
but that is another story) and asked me to serve Him in His Church. It was not my dream. Even as a teenager, much of what I had seen
in the church was nothing more than a ‘religiously dressed up’ version of a
local club. But, exploring the Word, I found that God called the church into
existence and entrusted the future of this planet to her. He gave her the Gospel of Christ and the gifts
of the Holy Spirit so that she would go out and make a difference - now and eternally.
Paul tells us that God planned the Church to
demonstrate what Christ's Gospel could do to make a new society, not built on
human accomplishments or personality, but on the Spirit's power: "When it came to presenting the Message
to people who had no background in God’s way, … God saw to it that I was
equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural
abilities. And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way
over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. … to make
plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in
secret and behind the scenes all along. Through
followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary
plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels! All
this is proceeding along lines planned all along by God and then executed in
Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 3:8-12, The Message) Think about that! When the church is healthy, even the angels
are impressed.
We feed the hungry,
teach new disciples, provide a place of safe harbor for those who are hurting,
give to support the work of spreading the Message, gather for prayer, and offer
up worship. Sadly, some local churches have forgotten that and they get
together to whine about the world, build higher walls, and cry for rescue! That’s
not the plan. We are warriors who do battle, lovers who know the power of love to
transform, people with purpose that is greater than the cuisine we eat or the
house in which we live.
There is a high level battle going on around the Church all
the time - evil fighting with good, but Light overcoming darkness. Hate rises,
defeated by sacrificial love. Ignorance and fear meets wisdom and courage. Life
comes to the soul and those who were dead though living awaken to eternal
possibilities! Those who only think of the church as a "Sunday club," a
social gathering of like-minded people, have yet to catch a glimpse of her true
mission!
I love the privilege of serving Faith Discovery Church. She is not a
large church, nor is she rich, but the breadth of her reach is amazing. On any
given week, she is touching hundreds of people- feeding families, providing
education to children in her Christian school, inviting people to experience
the Presence of God in worship, training boys and girls in faith, and
counseling the confused, offering Christ’s salvation to those who are confused
and/or enslaved by their sins- just to mention a few things. Who does all
this? We are a network of volunteers
including dozens of faithful men and women, young and old, who make it all possible.
So, I am going to get
personal here.
Are you part of a local congregation? If not, why not?
Please do not tell me about the hypocrites, the failed
pastors, the misplaced priorities. All
those things ARE TRAGICALLY true. Christ’s Church consists of people- just like
me, like you – who are imperfect, failing, sometimes short-sighted, selfish,
and sinful. Yet, the Spirit comes and equips, changes, and builds people where
He is invited. When God is welcomed, personally and in our fellowship, He comes
to us; not to make our church a perfect
place, but to make her a healing home. A living, Spirit-filled church, will always be a messy place, full of people
at all stages of spiritual development, from infancy to maturity.
The church is the place where God will most effectively use
you in His work, the place where the gifts of the Spirit He's invested in you
are brought to mature and effective expression. "The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our
lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts
we mention and the parts we don't." (1 Corinthians 12:25, The Message)
Christians cannot fully function as God intends without being 'in the
Body.' Those Christians who dismiss the
church as irrelevant or unnecessary ignore what the Bible teaches, and not
without real consequence for themselves and others.
People criticize their church - sometimes reasonably, often
unfairly. Some churches do 'church' better than others. But, a person who works
towards the destruction of a church, does an awful thing. He is attacking what God loves! The Church, which includes local
congregations, is His Bride. The Word
says that "Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her
beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her,
dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness." If Jesus
gives His church such love, how can we so easily attack, criticize, dismiss,
and destroy her?
Church - let's love her. Let's give ourselves to make her
great, for Christ's sake. Let's raise
our level of commitment to her, allowing nothing to become more important than
being part of God's work to reach the world. Let's pray for her success. Let's
be the place where the Light of Christ shines brightly in a very dark world.
The word from the Word says that "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her
holy, cleansing a her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant
church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and
blameless." (Ephesians 5:25) And
this, "Come to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God's temple. He
was rejected by the people, but he is precious to God who chose him. And now God is building you, as living
stones, into his spiritual temple. What's more, you are God's holy priests, who
offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ."
(1 Peter 2:4-5, NLT)
__________
Build Your Kingdom Here
Come set Your rule and
reign
In our hearts again.
Increase in us, we
pray.
Unveil why we're made,
Come set our hearts
ablaze with hope,
Like wildfire in our
very souls.
Holy Spirit, come
invade us now.
We are Your Church,
We need Your pow'r - in
us!
We seek Your kingdom
first,
We hunger and we
thirst,
Refuse to waste our
lives,
For You're our joy and
prize.
To see the captives'
hearts released,
The hurt, the sick,
the poor, at peace.
We lay down our lives
for heaven's cause,
We are Your Church,
We pray revive this
earth!
Build Your kingdom
here,
Let the darkness fear!
Show Your mighty hand,
Heal our streets and
land.
Set Your church on
fire,
Win this nation back.
Change the atmosphere,
Build Your kingdom
here, we pray!
Unleash Your kingdom's
pow'r,
Reaching the near and
far.
No force of hell can
stop
Your beauty changing
hearts.
You made us for much
more than this,
Awake the kingdom seed
in us.
Fill us with the
strength and love of Christ,
We are Your Church!
We are the hope on
earth!
Rend Collective
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