Thursday, June 4, 2015

Church!

Matthew 28:19-20 (NLT) Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

I believe there is a great awakening happening (again) in our Christian churches. Many people are leaving religion to follow Christ. Religion has destroyed a lot of people, relationships, and even churches. For some reason, we tend to follow religious tradition rather than Christ Himself. We get all cozy and comfortable in our church buildings with our church programs, doing church with church people. We were not commanded to do church for the sake of church - EVER.

The Great Commission, as it is called, is to make disciples. Our purpose for being the church is to spread the Gospel message, and introduce unbelievers to Jesus Christ. It is our number one priority to demonstrate the love of Christ to the lost, the broken, the discouraged, the under-served, the un-churched. The majority of our time, energy, and resources should be used for that purpose; instead we concentrate all our efforts on "church people."

There are too many people who need to know Jesus Christ for us to be holed up in our church buildings having church just because. We need to have purpose and passion for our mission. We need to be equipped for the work of the ministry, not just the Sunday morning service. I challenge you to ask yourself this Sunday morning while you are sitting in your church service, "Why am I here?" Make notes on how you can apply the message to your week at work or at school. Find someone you haven't met, and introduce yourself. Welcome a visitor and encourage him to come back again.

Let's be intentional in our walk with Christ, and shift our focus from church to people. Imagine a church that cares as much about people as Jesus does. That church would spend the majority of its resources on making disciples for Christ because it would be the most important thing. God doesn't want anyone to perish, and we should love people enough to feel the same way.


2 comments:

  1. Well said Jennifer.
    God bless you as you are led by the Lord.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Brenda. Sorry I'm just now seeing your comment.

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