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Written by Beth Andrews for “Deeper Roots”  @  https://dbethandrews.wordpress.com

Original post @ https://dbethandrews.wordpress.com/2024/07/28/doctrines-of-the-faith-the-church/

Doctrines of the Faith: The Church

Posted on July 28, 2024 by Beth Andrews

I grew up in the church. Cradle Roll, Sunbeams, Mission Friends, Sunday School, Girls in Action, Acteens, and of course, I attended worship every Sunday, even as a kid. I am of the pre-Children’s Church generation. My artwork adorned the bulletin every week. And perhaps a few hymnals. In the southern U.S. where I was raised, church was a way of life. People didn’t ask if you went to church, they asked you where you went to church, because almost everyone did. My, how times have changed.

When I grew up and moved out of my parent’s house, I slipped away from church for a while, but when my marriage ended and I returned home, I also returned to the little church of my childhood. It was as natural as breathing for me. Church is still at the center of my life and was my career for most of my adult life.

Not everyone shares my love for the church. Some people dismiss the church out of hand, some people criticize and mock the church, and some people hate the church. But what is the church? What was it created to do? Why would the Lord invest His plan in the church? And are we fulfilling that plan in obedience?

The church is not a building nor is it an ideology. The church is people, flawed, but saved people. God’s people. The church is “blood-bought, born again, redeemed, justified, children of God.” The first mention of “church” is in Matthew 16:18 when Jesus declared that the church would be built, not on Peter, but on Peter’s confession “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16). The church is a group of people who share Peter’s confession. The word church means a gathering of people who are called out of the world and into the Kingdom of God, though they remain in the realm of the physical world. The church is an individual congregation, and it is the collective whole of all believers in Christ. It spans generations, meaning you and me and Peter are equal members of Christ’s church.

What makes the church more than another club with a good agenda? The Spirit of Christ that fills every believer for faith and service. This is how Jesus promised to be with the church (Matt 18:20; 28:20). The church is a living, breathing, growing, working entity. It is you and me. It’s Sunday morning, Beloved – won’t you come meet with me and Jesus today?

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P.S. (from bruce)  When there is no other place to turn…turn to God !!  If you’re not a “born again” Christian, is the Holy Spirit urging you to open this link ??  Here is the truth about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…   https://godsmanforever.com

To my brothers and sisters in Christ, please feel free to share this message of the cross with those in need…

Picture credit: https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=e1eff1e01ec836fe&rlz=1C1UEAD_enUS1112US1112&q=image+1+cor+12:27&udm=2&source=univ&fir=e4znx72y7-fPHM%252C9doJXv5zUjdRwM%252C_%253BPJAsMMIA0rQBFM%252CIwEkNkmM2fSWTM%252C_%253BbTy_0NHoGDQaMM%252C88b78lpS3gmNbM%252C_%253Bg5pPLGAGsE8d_M%252Cz1J-WNmFXhU3mM%252C_%253BcXwu5VmV423kYM%252CEltyIuXVCx2PsM%252C_%253BNzlb-CGvHO9QgM%252CMyGes6JHPR4zyM%252C_%253B3QhIfMe6mvDJPM%252Cstlkse5XChMzLM%252C_%253BkdbQqstEHGeXXM%252C9kkOV4frYw0d-M%252C_%253BgJau1j6sWqNLTM%252CaQj_oQeeMAWgMM%252C_%253BrwOw9BdqK7siJM%252CdC97E6fo_BdVwM%252C_%253BuBg-otEBVukAUM%252Cu1lu6kghyaNVMM%252C_%253BYN5n5tniA2jcsM%252Ck7QTK9i4VrQPkM%252C_&usg=AI4_-kRDn8mJZfSMl9m30WxDYI0ElUHKoQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjS6OXL2JiIAxViv4kEHTB1LZwQ7Al6BAgSEAo&biw=1319&bih=910&dpr=1#vhid=g5pPLGAGsE8d_M&vssid=mosaic