Skip to main content

Delighting in the Truth: The Church, by Pastor Charlie Handren

By Anonymous
     From January to March, we are offering a series of devotionals on our Membership Affirmation of Faith. Our aim in this series is to help Glory of Christ grow in our understanding of truth, our love of the God of truth, our love of one another, and our love of unbelievers. The Affirmation is made up of eight articles of faith, the seventh of which is entitled “The Church” and reads as follows:
We believe in one holy, universal Church made up of all who trust Jesus Christ as Savior, Lord and Supreme Treasure of their lives. We believe that God calls us to unite with other believers in local churches to help each other to value Christ above all, to praise Him together, to grow in our love and knowledge of Him, to stir each other up to good works, and to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ. We believe that Christians should be baptized and regularly eat the Lord’s Supper together. (Ephesians 1:22-23; Acts 15:36, 41; 16:5; I Corinthians 16:1; Galatians 1:1-3; Revelation 1:4,10-11; Hebrews 10:24-25; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)
     The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, and when it enters into and transforms the lives of individuals it creates what we like to call “gospel community.” In other words, God saves us in order to make of us a people for himself, and not merely a collection of individuals who are only more or less related to one another.
     Therefore, while every believer is a member of the global church and intimately united with all other believers, the Lord exhorts us to unite with local believers that we may live out our faith together. Indeed, to love the Church is to love the local church. And while it’s a privilege to love, value, praise, and share Christ together, it’s not always easy. But even the difficulties are part of God’s design, for he delights to use the challenges of life together to shape us into his image for the glory of his name.
     As you reflect on the church, take some time to ponder the following questions, preferably along with other believers: (1) How can a better understanding of the church help us to worship God? (2) How can a better understanding of the church help us to love other believers? (3) How can a better understanding of the church help us to gain a greater passion to share the gospel with unbelievers near and far?


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Worship Songs, October 15, 2017

By
We post these worship songs leading up to the worship service so that parents may listen to them in the house or in the car within the days leading up to the worship service. Our hope is that children will hear the songs prior to and it will prepare them to participate in worship on Sunday mornings. My Redeemers Love Hope Has Come I Will Glory In My Redeemer Blessed Be Your Name Here In Your Presence Your Glory Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest) -- Sermon Text: John 11:1-16 That the next generation will set their hope in God and not forget the works of God (Psalm 78:7).
Post a Comment
Read more

Deacons - How They Serve and Strengthen the Church (Part 1)

By
  One of the next important priorities for GCF is to establish deacons in the life of the church. On March 14, 2021 we were able to establish an elder team. Currently, we have a team of four elders overseeing the congregation of GCF.  However, there is more work to be done. I have come to see that establishing an elder team was the bare minimum that needed to happen for GCF to survive. I believe GCF now needs to turn our attention to raising up a team of qualified and willing deacons to serve the congregation so that it will not only survive but thrive.   I would like to begin a series of blogs on deacons to help us understand who they are and what they do in the life of the church.  In this blog let me provide three reasons why I think deacons should be near our top priority.  Number 1: It is Biblical. Paul instructs Timothy to install elders who will help him pastor the church. For whatever reason, it seems the churches in our circles treat the installmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Secret of all Failure is our Failure in Secret Prayer

By
“We may be assured of this—the secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer” (12). So writes the anonymous author of the classic little book on prayer entitled, The Kneeling Christian (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids: 1971). He means that the reason we so often fall into sin or live in discouragement or fail to bear fruit is because we do not cling to God in Christ above all things. We do not diligently seek him or lean on him or plead with him or draw on his strength. We give ourselves to busyness over communion with God and in this way we seek to accomplish in our flesh what can only be accomplished in the power of the Spirit.  Giving first place to what our dear author calls “secret prayer” is indeed a key to the Spirit-filled life but let’s be clear: prayer is not magic, rather, it’s a relationship. It’s not as if we simply have to file requests with God, being careful to use just the right words so that we can get him to respond as we wish. God is not a vendi...
Post a Comment
Read more