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What Is The Perfect Church for You? Final Part
by Angel Casiano There are many reasons for the church, but the main purpose of the church is to encourage us to change. If we are serious about our Christianity we must be serious about changing! If our local church is not, at the minimum, provoking us to change, then we are just a part of a Country Club. If our style of worship makes us feel comfortable we are just playing religion. Perhaps this is the reason why on Sundays everyone looks for a local church that looks and agrees with them. Multicultural churches are indeed rare in this country. Sunday mornings continue to be the most segregated hour of the week in this nation. This is a notable sign of the last days; in Second Timothy 4:3 the Bible tells us: "For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." NIV Perhaps that is the reason why when the pastor gets a little personal in his messages, people decided to leave the church because they no longer feel comfortable; they now feel judged and offended. By the way, being offended is another sign of the last days. Matthew 24:10 tells us: "And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another." NKJV The word "Offended" here means: A trap, stumbling block. To cause to stumble and fall,[1] See beloved, Jesus did not tell us to make members; we are members of the Body of Christ already. Jesus was more specific in the main function of the Church, which is to "make disciples" (Matthew 28:19) Being a disciple is more than just being a part of a team, being a disciple places us, by definition, in a place where we are active learners of the ways of our Lord. As a disciple we are no longer just seating in the church Sunday after Sunday to fulfill our duty of being visible so that we can keep our membership status, as a disciple we are learning and putting to practice what we are learning. The member just seat there, the disciple participates. The member doesn't need to change; all he needs to do is keep his membership. As a disciple your faith is put to action. The Apostles were commonly called disciples. In less than three months they were out there praying for the sick and ministering the Gospel. The disciples became mighty apostles and each one of them experience profound changes in their lives. Belovedare you changing? [1] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers. The author is currently a School Teacher in a Private Christian School, a Martial Arts Instructor and a Senior Pastor: Cell Phone Number 252-506-5374 By e-mail at: [email protected] / Check my Blog: http://angelcasiano.com Facebook.com/glorytoGodmusic Facebook.com/propheticvoice Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |