And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
(Matthew 16:18)
The Church of Jesus Christ is what it says, it belongs to Jesus Christ the Son of God the one who holds the universe together by the Word of His power. What does this mean ? Jesus said upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail. Regardless of how fragmented and divided we think the church is, He doesn’t look at it that way, He sees the potential in you and I and does not judge according to appearance. ( John 7: 24)
There is no plan B, we are it, the unstoppable force that is growing stronger and bigger everyday. We think that there is a drop off of membership in the church but in reality there is a grass roots, Kingdom minded, underground church that is not confined to a denomination or a building or even a network of churches but rather an organic entity inseparably linked by the blood of Christ. They are joined together by real communion and fellowship. “A common union of two fellows in the same ship” This Church cannot be contained inside four walls and is forever expanding.
The Kingdom of God is always expanding but a system is always diminishing until only two people are left and even they will be suspicious of each other. So the real church is not a system, or a building, nor a club or business but rather an organism who’s life blood comes from the very God we love and serve. We don’t go to church, we are the church and go to Jesus. We need to see the church that meets in Tampa, in Atlanta, Orlando or Albany, GA .
The Word of God says do not forsake the gathering together as some have . (Hebrews 10:25) When we as believers meet up for fellowship and prayer we break bread together, we break open each others lives and as we confess our faults one with another we will be healed.
I want to encourage you to not only attend a Bible believing church but also connect with others at the church in smaller groups. Most growing churches have connect groups where there is opportunity to share your faith and to pray for others who may be going through something similar to what you are going through. This environment is a wonderful atmosphere for spiritual growth and also a place where strong friendships are birthed. I also encourage you to be filled with the Spirit. In Acts 2 the power that fell on the believers was more about the power to witness rather than the manifestations of the Spirit. The 120 were filled with the Spirit and 3000 came to Christ. The real Church is made up of individuals who prefer their brother over themselves, who will go the extra mile without complaining, and who believe the best rather than listen to gossip because Love always believes the best.
Welcome to the greatest force in the universe, the church of Jesus Christ
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