The Local Church

 

    A local church should be a healthy church, but what is a healthy church?  A healthy church is a church with members that are devoted to God and one another.  The local church should be a part of the community.  They should challenge and encourage one another in service and united love.

    How does the community see your church?  The reputation of the church is a testimony to the community.  Does your church attract or repel the community.  Do the members of your church work together for unity or allow division?  People in the world notice and will have opinions.  If the reputation is bad, then it could keep them from ever trying to have a relationship with God.

    If a church does not pursue God's commission on all Christians as one body, then your entire community will suffer.  God offers hope and He normally uses us to give that message.  If you are not providing the message of hope in the gospel, then what is the message that the community is receiving?  We all have a role in the church.  Are you doing your part for God's mission?

    Is your church a lighthouse that shines hope and God's light into the world?  Or is it a bomb shelter that hides away and only looks out for themselves?  Do they honor church discipline and uphold the standards for the church laid out in the Bible?  It is important that the local church is a Biblical church.

    Pray for your church.  Pray for unity and growth.  Pray that it stays strong or becomes a strong central unit of your community.  Pray for God to reveal your role in your church if you don't know it.  Don't just fill positions because no one else wants it.  Find where God wants you and serve there.

John 13:18-30, Acts 2:42-47, Romans 6:20-23, 12:3-5, 1 Corinthians 1:1-3, & Ephesians 4:14-16