Imagine you’re in a conversation with someone and they tell you how much they like you and admire you, but in their next breath they go off and tell you how much they can’t stand your spouse and how horrible they are. How would you react to that? The obvious response would be that we would not be happy with someone who degraded the person you married. This situation seems ridiculous, yet a similar thing happens all the time when it comes to church.  Over and over in scripture, the local church is referred to as the bride of Christ. Those who belong to the body of Christ are loved, favored and highly valued by Jesus Christ. Jesus even tells us that he was willing to lay his life down for his bride and one day is returning for his bride. Yet all too often, people look down on or degrade the local church, all while stressing their appreciation and admiration for Jesus. Can you see how ridiculous this is and how it must make God feel? If we truly love Jesus, then we should also love and value that which He has given worth to… and his life for.  The local church has many flaws and has made many mistakes over the centuries, mostly because it is filled up with fallible, imperfect people. But don’t allow that tainted history to prevent you from being connected into and value that which Jesus himself said even the gates of hell would not prevail against.  You may have had a negative experience at church. Maybe you were hurt or abused in some way. Don’t allow that experience to change the way you feel about the body of Christ. People make mistakes, but Jesus will never let you down. A Jesus has called you to never give up on the local church, no matter what happens. The devil loves it when people leave the church. He doesn’t care about the reason, he cares that you are now disconnected from that which makes you the strongest, and now you have become easy prey. To those planted in the house of God, take heart - you are the body of Christ, his hands and feet on this earth, and one day he will return for you and you will be with Him for all eternity. The purpose of the local church is the same as it has always been and the same as the purpose for each follower of Christ - To know God and make Him known. But there is a major difference between the church body and the individual christian. A follower of Christ on their own cannot fully reflect Christ or fulfill the purpose they were created for. It’s impossible. You can’t do it on your own, no matter how hard you try. It is only by coming together, all the different parts of the body into a single collective body that we can begin to reflect the different aspects of Christ and begin to fulfill the mission he has laid out for us. We cannot fully disciple someone on our own. We need the variety of skills, talents and spiritual gifts represented within the local church to help people grow to maturity in Christ. You fit into that purpose because God has created you to do something no one else can do. You are unique. You were created with unique skills and a personality that cannot be copied. When we choose to be planted in the local church, we are choosing to be connected to something that cannot be recreated on our own. You are a part of the most powerful and unstoppable force in the universe! The local church.

Those who are planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. Psalm 92:12

And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. Ephesians 1:23

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

A study of the necessity, nature, and neglect of fellowship in the Church. Special attention is given to a study of ideas and principles for leading and participating in small groups. Special emphasis will be put on biblical descriptions of the Church as well as a consideration of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism.

A systematic study of the doctrine of salvation (soteriology) and the doctrine of the Church (ecclesiology). Special attention will be given to the plan of redemption and the contents of the gospel message as it is seen in the incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Special emphasis will be on the nature and working of the kingdom of God. The Gospels and Jesus’ teachings will serve as the specific source of the study.

Purpose Driven Life
Rick Warren

Purpose Driven Church
Rick Warren