Official Assembly of God Statement of Faith #10-"The Church is the Body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her great commission. Each believer, born of the Spirit, is an integral part of the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven."
I have known people who did not want to be members or attenders of a church. Sometimes it is because they just don't want to take the time to go, and often it is because they have been hurt emotionally by members of a church and they have decided they don't want to attend anymore. Ultimately, whatever the reason may be doesn't matter. As a Christian it is very important to be a part of a church. This particular statement refers to Christians, who as a group, make up the body of Christ, the church. It refers to the importance of believers needing to be part of a larger group of Christians. That larger group is responsible for encouraging, teaching, leading, helping and supporting as well as holding us accountable to our Christian beliefs.
There are three main purposes to the church. The first is to evangelize the world. We cannot reach the people of the world alone. Each of us does not have enough resources or time to do so. However, working together, we can financially support missionaries overseas as well as ministries locally. Our prayers put together accomplish more than they do alone.
Another main purpose of the church is to worship God together. We can come together and with or without music, praise God as a group. It is often within a group that great things happen-prophecies are spoken, prayers for each other happen and the power of a group of united Christians cannot be denied.
Another purpose for the church is to build up the body of saints. We can edify each other through teaching, discipleship and fellowship. It is very important that we spend time with those who believe similar to ourselves. Iron sharpens iron they say and working together we can all become stronger Christians. I do not want to ignore that there are times that other members of a church hurt us. Within a church there can be disagreements and pain and I want to refer you to another post of mine written last summer about porcupines to address that issue.
If you are not involved in a Christian church right now I would encourage you to become so. It can be one of the best things for you and you can also be good for the others there. If you currently are involved in a church that is great and I hope you find it to be a good thing for your Christian walk. If it is not, then you may need to find a different church, but do not go without church altogether. And no matter what, do your best to keep those porcupine quills at bay.
"You are...fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." Ephesians 2:19-22
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1 comment:
Really great. I shared the porcupine story and this blog with my youngest son who at 20 is having some second thoughts about the need for the organized church even though he is a Christian.
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