Building the Body

Ephesians 4:11-12 — And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; (NASB)

For years I’ve longed to see the church take a stand together in the bonds of love so that the world would see His church … and more specifically, see HIM in us.  How else could the fractured and splintered body (His church) come together apart from His Spirit?

When I was a teenager I was going to other baptist churches and trying to get them to be open to fellowship between youth departments.  It never happened.  We need to hold fast the confessions of our faith — saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God — but we let all our other differences divide us.  We stay divided.  My heart is still to see that change.

Grace Church will have a heart to reach the lost, preach Christ in all of His splendor, and to reach out to our brothers and sisters in Christ.  As Paul said, I choose to know nothing in them except Christ, and Him crucified.  Together I want to reach the community at large.

There are many my ministry may never be able to reach.  Same could be said for other ministers in the area.  The bottom line is going into the harvest fields together and working together.  If we can’t learn to get along here, eternity is going to be a very long time.  That is unless you hold fast to the joke that your church will be the only one in heaven.

We’ve got to cross these lines of divisiveness.  We’ve got to lay down anything that divides us.  Whether it’s racism, gender, denominationalism, religiosity, or anything else you can think of, we’ve got to drop it.

Galatians 3:28 — There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

We’ve been commanded to love one another.  And Grace Church will proclaim that from the day the doors open until the Lord returns.  Does this mean we will turn a blind eye to sin?  Certainly not!  But we will learn to speak the truth in love, gentleness, and with a humble heart lest we find ourselves falling into sin.  There’s a right way and a wrong way to deal with issues.  Many churches crush hearts instead of speaking truth, encouraging, exhorting, praying, and holding up those weaker in the faith. 

May we serve and love those around us as Christ does us.

— Pastor Rick