God Speaks I Listen

We are the Church of Jesus Christ

Our answer should be…I am the church!  All of us body of believers are the church.

Ephesians 1:22-23 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, ²³ which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

The meaning of the church in the Greek is the whole body of Christian believers. It could also mean the Christian community.

I believe the church is God’s children as a group… who do also assemble themselves to worship God.

In my heart and mind this is what the church of Jesus Christ looks like to me:

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

We belong to Jesus Christ and He will come back and take us all….as a group! We are His bride…we are the church.

As His church we were all given instructions and we all have a job to do:

Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19″Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Ever since I became a committed Christian in 1984 over 30 years ago…all I have thought about is souls. I was so happy about what God did in my heart and how Jesus put me right with God. I was so happy to be rid of my original sin and for the first time in my life I felt clean inside. I was so happy to know that I was going to heaven that I wanted to shout it from the roof tops. But instead I have tried to talk about Jesus to whoever I meet and all of my family. I have cried buckets of tears for souls. I feel why should I just get my ticket to heaven, be happy about it and sit back and watch others be destined for hell. Everyday all day I try to figure out a way to share my faith…..I am the church after all this is my job!!!

I have attended and been a member of many places of worship. For me…at this point in my life…I realize that I am the church and I need to be about my Fathers business of making disciples. I’ve learned a lot from being in places of worship but things in this world have shifted and not in a good way. Every morning I listen to the news for a few moments and it’s always breaking news of some tragedy. Things are heating up and many are perishing in group disasters and accidents. My first thought is what about their souls!!!!  Were they ready to met their maker?

I have found a place to worship with fellow believers …but I need to be out there looking for souls. I need to be speaking up and standing up for truth. I am a soldier in Gods army…I am the church. Jesus is the head of the church and He has given me orders and I intend to carry them out. Psalms 40:8 I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.”

I look around at this world and I use to think I wanted the money, fame and fortune. But over time I have come to my senses. At this age of 63 years old my focus has shifted to be all about Jesus. I still enjoy family, fun and I still laugh…but my main focus is God’s will for my life which God has expressly laid out in the bible. I am the church! Jesus has work for me to accomplish for Him and then He will come back for all of us…His church and He’ll take all of us home.

I need for my brothers and sisters in Christ to really think about who we really are. We are not a denomination…we may belong to one though. We are the church and we have been called out by Jesus Christ himself and have been told to separate ourselves from this world. We are told to go out and help save others. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. (Matthew 9:37) Why should we do this? Because if we’re not planting, sowing and reaping it could mean the eternal death of a person’s soul. But there is a way for them to escape this.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23) Eternal death is waiting for our loved ones, family, friends and strangers. This is why we must work hard in the vineyard while there is daylight.

Not even the gates of hell can stop us from snatching souls away from eternal damnation!! We the church can rescue people like we were rescued. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. (Matthew 16:18)

Jesus has the fullness of God in Him and Jesus is the head over us the church. We have the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us and we are anointed to do the Lords work. Be active in your place of worship and be active out in the street, your home, your community and on your job. You’ve been activated for service when you accepted Jesus Christ as you Lord and Savior. God has His will for your life and that is to be the church for His Son who sacrificed His life for us. He didn’t sacrifice His life for a denomination…He sacrificed His life personally for you….His bride…His church.

In the Old Testament God dwelled in a tabernacle which was built to hold presence and His glory. But after Jesus death and resurrection….we were given a gift of the Holy Spirit and when we became believers and were born again and the Holy Spirits now lives inside of us. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19)

We are unique…we are inhabited by the Holy Spirit of God! We are different. Our minds have been renewed and we have a united purpose as the church of God. To worship God, to put Him first and to make disciples. We are these unique humans beings called the church. A whole group of believers in Jesus Christ. When we start seeing ourselves as a whole group and not separate entities we will begin to work together to advance the kingdom of God down here on earth. United we stand divided we fall and divided we fail.

It hurts when I have left a church and never hear from most of the past parishioners again. Why? Are we not the body of Christ his church? Does it matter where we worship? Does it matter that we are brothers and sisters in Christ and I may have left your church but not Jesus Christ. Aren’t we all still part of the vine?

Until we see ourselves as the church we will always be divided as a body of Jesus followers. What does the world (unbelievers) see when they look at us? Do they see a united church?

I love all my brothers and sister in Christ!!!!!

Father God….Thank you for creating us and thank you for adopting us into your family. Help us to understand that we are a family and we all are your children. Forgive us for the squabbling. Please help us to get more of you in us and get your mind on things. Help your word do its work in us so that we will be more obedient to your will. Help those who need to humble themselves under your authority so that their lights might shine much brighter. I pray for unity in the body. God the church needs help, direction and revival. Lord help me do my part for forgive me for any attitude I might have hidden in my heart. God…help the church…please! In Jesus name…Amen.