Thursday, January 9, 2020
Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:20-22
Healthy, growing churches are composed of healthy,
growing believers seeking to fulfill the mission of Christ in the world. When people believe they are doing something
special they will surprise you with their willingness to serve and sacrifice.
For the Church to be Effective we need to:
Come Together – Only when we come together can we overcome
all the obstacles that can keep the Church from being effective. Unified we can come together to work as one, toward
one purpose – doing God’s work. God’s people working together in unity produce
amazing results. The task that Christ calls us to, calls us to
each other. It is bigger than any of us
- it is a shared responsibility.
We do not have equal gifts, but we can have the same
commitment – God gifts us all differently so our gifts will be different, but
our commitment has to be equal. We will solidify
our unity by giving from our hearts. Our
commitment will show not in just being present to worship together, but in how
we give – financially and with our talents and time. The measure of a gift is not measured from the
head but from the heart. It is a gift of
love and trust. The real test of whether
a person trusts God is most often how they handle what brings them
security. For us, it is most in the
financial area of our lives.
Worship Together – Working together creates a social
bond but worshipping together creates a spiritual bond. We must make church a priority and set the
example for our families, so they see how important it is to worship in a
community with other believers. Too many
things can come between us and our commitment to worship. Maybe it is time to review whether our
children see our commitment to worship equal to other commitments in our lives.
Do the Right Thing in
the Right Way - To do the right thing the wrong way is to do
the wrong thing!
God’s plan is for His people to work side by side in unity to
accomplish His work. No one is left out, but all have a part! There is fellowship like no other when you
work side by side to accomplish a great task. When God assigns a task, He also
designates a method. God has a plan as
well as a purpose for us – both individually and collectively as a fellowship. That means for lay people as well as
staff. Some of North Side’s most
successful ministries have been the products of the burden, vision and
coordination of members.
Finish What God Started – God wants us to celebrate the
accomplishments we finish as a body of believers. All glory goes to God, but He does want us to
rejoice in His work being accomplished and for the part we are privileged to
-play in it. Anyone can make a
commitment – the ones who change the world are those who keep them.
Not any one of us can do the task alone that God calls the
church to do, but together we can see a great things accomplished! Every
stone we lay provides a foundation for the next generation. They will remember how we worked together as
a church and they will build off the foundation we leave for them so they can also
accomplish great things for the Kingdom of God.
