God's Church: How Important Is It?
You, Me... and All Who Believe
How important is the church to you? Before you answer, let's look at how important it is to God…
The cost?
It was purchased with the blood of His own Son;
Acts 20:28 NLT
"So guard yourselves and God's people. Feed and shepherd God's flock—His church, purchased with His own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders.
The value?
It is that which Christ loves, nourishes, and cherishes;
Ephesians 5:25,29 NLT
For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up His life for her. (29) No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church.
He shall present to Himself blameless in all her glory one day;
Ephesians 5:27 NLT
He did this to present her to Himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.
Building His church constitutes Christ's principal work in the world today;
Matthew 16:18 NLT
Now I say to you that upon this rock I will build My church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.
Christ, through His giving of spiritual gifts continues to build His church in all its glory.
Ephesians 4:7; 11-13 NASB
But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. (11) And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, (12) for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; (13) until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
Thus the exercise of those gifts by believers aligns us with what Christ is doing today.
So Christ will build His Church and He desires you and me to participate. You in? Good! So now let’s begin to take a look at what the church is to be according to Scripture. It is our new series we will visit once a week with “A Word from Pastor Mike”.
Love to all and we will look at the Meaning of the word Church next week. Hope to see ya Sunday!
Pastor Mike
(602) 510-5563
