A 2008 Church
A lot of people think about church as a sanctuary from the world. They want to get away from the cares of the world and go to a place that is comfortable and peaceful. They want to relive the past, and have things the way they were years ago, because it feels good. It is a way of counteracting all of the changes in the world around us for some folks. However, I believe that is a distorted way to look at church. It is wishful thinking, and to some degree it can be selfish. Let's think about church for a minute. Is it a place? No. Is it a service on Sundays? No. Then, if it is not a sanctuary from the world, or a place, or a service, what is it?
The church is people. People of all ages and backgrounds. They are believers in Jesus Christ. They come together to worship on Sundays, they have fellowship and study His Word, as well as serving Him together in many ways. For me the key to what we do as a church is that we need to be the church in the present. We need to be a 2008 church, because it is 2008. In 2010, we will need to be a 2010 church, but we don't need to do that now. We definitely don't need to be a 1990, 1975, 1955, or a 1935 church, because all of that is in the past. We need to be in the present, because all of the non-Christian people around us are in the present, and we are charged with reaching them for Christ. What would they think if they came to worship with us, and it was like 1955? I think they would think the church was stuck in the past. We should not want that to happen. I am convinced that people need to see Christians as cutting edge, but very righteous. That is a challenge, but it is possible.
We can do this by the songs we sing, the messages we preach, and the things we address in our Bible study times. I pray that we will always strive to be on the front lines for Jesus, not retreating to the comfort of the past. After all, it was Jesus who was the revolutionary of His time. He spoke putting the new wine into the old wine skins. We need to see our Lord as one who did not live in the past or the future. He came to seek and to save the ones who were lost. We should be about His business in 2008 and in a 2008 kind of church.
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Kings 8-9 and Luke 21:1-19.
The church is people. People of all ages and backgrounds. They are believers in Jesus Christ. They come together to worship on Sundays, they have fellowship and study His Word, as well as serving Him together in many ways. For me the key to what we do as a church is that we need to be the church in the present. We need to be a 2008 church, because it is 2008. In 2010, we will need to be a 2010 church, but we don't need to do that now. We definitely don't need to be a 1990, 1975, 1955, or a 1935 church, because all of that is in the past. We need to be in the present, because all of the non-Christian people around us are in the present, and we are charged with reaching them for Christ. What would they think if they came to worship with us, and it was like 1955? I think they would think the church was stuck in the past. We should not want that to happen. I am convinced that people need to see Christians as cutting edge, but very righteous. That is a challenge, but it is possible.
We can do this by the songs we sing, the messages we preach, and the things we address in our Bible study times. I pray that we will always strive to be on the front lines for Jesus, not retreating to the comfort of the past. After all, it was Jesus who was the revolutionary of His time. He spoke putting the new wine into the old wine skins. We need to see our Lord as one who did not live in the past or the future. He came to seek and to save the ones who were lost. We should be about His business in 2008 and in a 2008 kind of church.
Tomorrow, I intend to read I Kings 8-9 and Luke 21:1-19.