The church is the Body and Bride of Christ, commissioned to carry the gospel into all the world, and especially in our local community. We reach out with the gospel of Christ to friends, relatives, work and hobby associates, and neighbors (Mark 16:15-16).
It is ludicrous to expect our church to have the personality, ministries, outreach, and worship identical to every other church in town, because God gives each congregation His own unique flavor to meet the need for which He designed each particular congregation.
We faithfully pray to the Lord of the Harvest to bring workers into the field; and we serve as an example of a loving, outreaching, soul-winning, hardworking member of the local church where God calls us. When we do this, we see God's hand faithfully supplying all the needs in our life and in the life of that congregation.
We feel blessed to be a part of His work in our community as we partake in the events and share God’s love with our neighbors. We also care about and contribute financially, as well as with our time and efforts to supply the needs in the facilities which God provided for our congregation to meet.
We serve in ministries in our local church as the Lord calls us to assist, working in an area that we find interesting, and remaining faithful to that calling until God directs us to serve in a new direction in our church body (Romans 12:4-5).
When we see a need, or something that is blocking the growth of our church family, rather than complaining, ridiculing, gossiping, and looking for another church, we put our hand to the plow and help to change things for the better. A little sweat and hard work usually pay off.
This may require that we increase our financial giving, spend more time supporting the church leadership and ministries, and take the initiative to ask the leadership for ways in which we can be the most help to the Body as we allow them to equip us for this ministry (Ephesians 4:12-16).
Prayer:
Father God, raise up congregations across the nation that are committed to You, to one another as Your family, and to our community. It is so easy for a person to “divorce” a congregation and to go across town to find one that better suits their needs, with no regard to Your will for them in service to that original congregation. Help us to covenant together in faith and loyalty, regardless of issues that hurt or irritate us.
Remind us to fellowship around the Gospel of Jesus instead of the worship or preaching style, the size of the bulletin, the number of lights and instruments used on the stage, etc. Teach us to agree on the central truths of Your Word and to live by these truths rather than by our personal preferences and carnal desires. Inform us about the true meaning of our spiritual gifts, and also help us to find a place to use those gifts for the mutual edification of the Body in which You call us to serve.
Thought for the Day:
Contrary to popular belief, the church is not a gathering of spectators called to criticize the music, minister, and ministries of a particular congregation; before we were even conceived, God had a plan for our life, and He calls us and places us in a certain church in order to serve that part of His Body in any needed ministry to which He calls us.
- Ephesians 2:10; Jeremiah 29:11
