'Love Your Church' Archive

As disciples of Jesus Christ we are called to continue the mission that the apostles began – taking the gospel to all people and making disciples. There is a need in every generation for local churches to be prepared to send out their best in order to see new churches planted and older churches revitalised.
Today we look at one of the greatest churches in the New Testament - the church in the city of Antioch. In addition to showing forth the seven marks of the church we have already looked at Antioch was also a launching pad for worldwide mission.

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Members of the Church are commanded by Jesus Christ to bear witness to the life changing message of the gospel through our words and actions. The spread of Christianity in the first century was astonishing and the church grew because ordinary Christians accepted their responsibility to share the gospel with those they interacted with daily in their professional and social networks.
How we are called to do that is summarised by the Apostle Peter in these words, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3:15)

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Many people today have a negative view towards leaders and authority. There is a lot of cynicism and criticism when it comes to the quality of our political leaders, often with some justification. But in part this attitude towards leaders and authority also reflects the individualism of our age where many want to be free to do whatever seems right in their own eyes.
This negativity towards authority often finds its way into the church. So today when we speak about honouring leaders in the church there will be those who maybe struggle with such an idea. But as Tony Merida says, “We must allow the Bible to shape us on this matter, as with every other matter. And that is what we see in Scripture: the presence of both bad and good leaders, and the call to honour the latter.”

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Followers of Christ are not spectators in the church but servants in the church. Too many church members approach church as consumers – taking what they want for themselves out of the church while not contributing to it. Tim Keller says, “We should not be consumers, who come to a church to plunder the benefits of it, without doing significant giving to that church.” Contributing involves giving our time, talent and treasures to serve others. Our prime motivation for service is continually fixing our eyes on Jesus – the Servant King.

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One of the most remarked upon aspects of the early church was how they cared for one another and it was one of the reasons for the rapid expansion of the church. That care was usually very practical in nature. Galatians 6:1-10 is one passage where we find a very helpful outline of what it looks like to care for one another in the church.

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In Psalm 122 David says, ‘I rejoiced with those who said to me “Let us go to the house of the LORD.” It is right and good to gather together as disciples of the Lord. There is something special, unique and exciting that happens when God’s people join together to worship Him.
Over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic there have been long periods where we have not been able to gather together and many of us missed and struggled with that. Today we think together about why gathering together is important and how we can take action to ensure that it brings glory to Jesus, blessing to us and encouragement to others.

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A welcoming church not only preaches the gospel but also conveys the relational warmth of the gospel. We have been brought into this diverse family that bears Christ’s name and we are called to honour is name by allowing his grace and mercy to transform the way we think about ourselves and everyone else.

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As those made in God’s image, people are made for community. The triune God is a relational God and has created us for relationships. God has given us a need for community but he has also given us place where that need for community is met – the church of Jesus Christ.

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Christians are called to be hope filled people. In a world where so many are lost and without hope we have good news to share – good news that everyone can find a home and hope through faith in Jesus Christ.
Every congregation of Jesus’ disciples is called to be a beacon of hope to the community in which they are placed. As someone once said, ‘The local church is the hope of the world.’

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