Monday, August 8, 2011

Why Church - Part 4

In this part we began looking at some of the purpose of the church -- by God's design.

We do a lot of things at church that can be construed as entertainment. There's nothing wrong with doing things that appeal to people to get them into the church. And we definitely believe there is nothing wrong with having fun at church. We actually try to give people stuff to talk about... "you'll never believe what they did at my church."

However, the entertainment is never going to change your life. It may help get you here or keep you engaged, but it is only the Word of God that will change you. There must ALWAYS be Word (food) in His house to nourish.

Part of God's design for the church is to have dedicated time with His people. He started with putting Adam and Eve in a garden to dwell in His presence (together). Then he tells Moses to build a Tabernacle so He may dwell with his people (not person). Later Solomon builds the Temple for the same purpose. And today we have the church.

Certainly you can be in God's presence at any time and any place. But God also desired to have a dedicated time and place to dwell with the people -- together. The entire church is the "bride of Christ." As a bride in waiting, our groom wants to spend time with us and allow us to know Him more deeply.

Love is about serving one another. When we come into God's house we serve Him and He serves us. Jesus said that he came not to be served, but to serve. We serve Him because He first served us. As He first serves us, He demonstrates true love and service.

According to John 10:10, Jesus came to bring life and life more abundant. However, the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. He is out to steal from you and bring death and destruction. He does this in many ways. One of his favorites is to get you disconnected from the church. If he can get you "serving" the world or yourself instead of serving God in His house he can steal from you all of the benefit of being part of the bride of Christ.

If we are the bride of the King of kings, our life ought to be about abundance. But, if we choose to not be a part of the bride of Christ we can live a life of stealing, killing and destruction.

When we come together as the bride of Christ in His house to serve, the gates of hell cannot prevail against us!