We Are The Church I

‘But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it’ James 1:25

‘But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today’ Deut.8:11. As we proceed in the Year, we must remember that God does not expect us to forget all that He taught us in the past. Over the next few days we are going to be highlighting seven important reminders as 2014 progresses. In the past, we have been sharing from God’s Word and I believe strongly that God has been speaking to us. The truth is that you should remember everything that God has taught you. However, we will just be examining seven things that we must not forget and we will wax even stronger this year in Jesus Name.

The first thing is that the church does not exist for us, we are the church and we exist for the world. The church does not exist for you. You are a part of the church and you exist for your community. We need to make that paradigm shift literarily because it shows up in a lot of attitudes. And that is why you hear people say the church has not done ‘xyz’ for them. When I hear such statements, I often wonder who is the church? For instance someone falls sick in church, department members and friends visit the person but until the Pastor calls he/she still doesn’t believe the church has visited. The people that have visited are the church. Jesus did not say the Pastor is the church but rather He said the people are the church. We are the church. I am a part of the church; the church does not exist for me. I am a part of the church and I exist for my community. We have to learn this and hold on to this key learning even in this Year. The church does not exist for us. We are the church. So if it is your birthday and people in church call to celebrate you. What has happened is that the church has just called you and that is Scripture. If you look at it this way, the way God really sees it, you will see that we are a very caring church because there are always people that will look out for you. Even if the people are of your household. You may even have to go through seasons where you have to encourage yourself. Just remember, you are a part of the church and you exist for your community.

Prayer: Father, let my mind be renewed by this truth that I am the church and I exist for my community and let my actions reflect this, in Jesus Name.