Well, ok, you
like the “church” you attend and that's great!
But here's the deal... THE CHURCH is not one particular "gathering
congregation"... THE CHURCH is THE BODY OF CHRIST! In other words, “THE CHURCH” are people who have
been saved by grace through faith in Christ sacrifice on our behalf. Look with me at Ephesians 4:4-6...
Ephesians
4:4-6 (NIV) There is one body and one Spirit, just as
you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one
baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in
all.
“The Church”
is the Body of Christ and although we may do some things differently, we are
all ONE BODY if we are in Christ. “’Well,
I don’t like THAT church because they do those contemporary praise songs’. ‘Personally, I prefer singing out of the
hymnal’”. Ok, that’s great! I prefer driving a truck over a sedan but
either one can get me from Point A to Point B.
In other words, although they are different vehicles, they both are
capable of getting you to the same location.
Bottom line: Every church in and around our area does something different,
something better, or maybe even something worse than the church down the
street. What truly matters is WHO is at
the center of the WHAT and WHY of what we do. If Christ is the center of our congregational
gatherings, and our desire is to see Him glorified and others come to know Him
as Savior and Lord, that’s really all that matters.
Many if not
most of our churches in rural America are declining and or dying because we are
focusing on the wrong things. Truth be told, many of us are so inwardly focused
and worried about protecting “who we have been” that we don’t even realize that
it really won’t matter because no one will be there in the future to keep doing
what we “died on a hill” to do. Change
and progress are inevitable. Ignoring change will eventually bring death;
recognizing the need for change might just bring a dying church back to life.
Folks, it’s
time to put down our guards, be willing to cross denominational lines and work
together to fulfill the “Great Commission” that God has called ALL of us who
are in Christ to be a part of. We are
not in competition, or at least we shouldn’t be. We are stronger, even better when we work together! This “next” generation is watching our every
move and trying to decide if what we have is real and worth having. When they look at us and see Christ as our
top priority… not a building, denomination, or affiliation, that’s when we will
see revival in the land!
This land…
this town… this fertile field is where God has called you and I to work the
harvest. The harvest is plentiful and the workers need to get to work!
Pastor Christian Watts
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