All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.
I CORINTHIANS 12:27
And let us not neglect our meeting together,
as some people do,
but encourage one another,
especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
HEBREWS 10:25
Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God
and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
I CORINTHIANS 3:16
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 leaders.
ACTS 20:28
Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize.
When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said.
But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.
I CORINTHIANS 14:26
We are not charged to do it all by ourselves.
God promised we would never be alone. And that includes people on Earth with us, God's church, not just the Holy Spirit that rests within us. The church was specifically ordained to be the focal point for the gathering of God's people and the locus of activity in fulfilling God's commandment to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself" and to "go feed His sheep." How do we do that?
There is an adage about growth and learning and really "owning" knowledge that goes like this: "Learn one, do one, teach one." We could say that that is also the mission we are charged with. We are not forever to be babes in Christ but to grow in knowledge and experience and sharing of the Good News so that we may stand ready before God, approved in our commitment and our discipleship. How do we do that when all of us have different gifts. The adage above comes to mind once again:
The church is and was created to provide the safe space for new and old believers alike to fellowship and find strength in numbers and the solace of brotherhood and sisterhood. The Church IS the Body of Christ On Earth and we are all of it's many parts. So the question, if you are reading this, is really simple and utterly demanding. While it appears to be a binary proposition we know that in human terms, we sometimes falter, we have fears about commitment and we rise to the level of our understanding. We may need a scale to avoid the black or white sense of acceptance or condemnation. So, considering your own life, we will ask you, gentle Godling, to consider this question:
ARE YOU IN?
God promised we would never be alone. And that includes people on Earth with us, God's church, not just the Holy Spirit that rests within us. The church was specifically ordained to be the focal point for the gathering of God's people and the locus of activity in fulfilling God's commandment to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself" and to "go feed His sheep." How do we do that?
There is an adage about growth and learning and really "owning" knowledge that goes like this: "Learn one, do one, teach one." We could say that that is also the mission we are charged with. We are not forever to be babes in Christ but to grow in knowledge and experience and sharing of the Good News so that we may stand ready before God, approved in our commitment and our discipleship. How do we do that when all of us have different gifts. The adage above comes to mind once again:
- LEARN ONE
As babes in Christ, we feast on the sincere milk of the Word,ever learning and growing in our faith walk - however that may look in our manifestation and belief in God. II Timothy 2:15 advises us to "study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth." We should constantly seek, through study, prayer and evidential living, to demonstrate a growing understanding of the Ways of God so that we can... - DO ONE
James tells us that "Faith without works is dead" - the fact is that the Word of God and the life authentically dedicated to God will change you - regardless of your understanding of Who God Is. All of us come to our salvific understanding in unique ways, but the end goal may be the same: to seek the reunion and Oneness that gives the lie to the idea of Separation from God. But giving lip service only without living into our belief and our faith and DEMONSTRATING that faith through our actions is a non-starter. In fact, even for those of us who don't have the gift of words, our very lives, lived out in our faith, will bring us to the third part of the saying... - TEACH ONE
Our lives are living testaments to our beliefs. When we live in such a way that we are examples of God's Love in Action, we become missionaries without ever leaving our homes, schools or work. We need not say a word because our actions are shouting our faith - or lack thereof. Of course, it is a gift if we can also speak, but know that the art of living out our faith is the greatest word of teaching testimony we can offer. And it is brought about through STUDY and ACTION. The Gifts of the Spirit are unique to each individual but the Fruit of the Spirit is the inevitable (and similar) declaration that we are God's people if we simply grown into and live out our faith.
The church is and was created to provide the safe space for new and old believers alike to fellowship and find strength in numbers and the solace of brotherhood and sisterhood. The Church IS the Body of Christ On Earth and we are all of it's many parts. So the question, if you are reading this, is really simple and utterly demanding. While it appears to be a binary proposition we know that in human terms, we sometimes falter, we have fears about commitment and we rise to the level of our understanding. We may need a scale to avoid the black or white sense of acceptance or condemnation. So, considering your own life, we will ask you, gentle Godling, to consider this question:
ARE YOU IN?
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