I Love My Church

I love my church.

No, it's not just the building that I love, although I do love it.

It's not the steeple

 or the stained glass windows, 

although I do love them as well...

 It's not the candles...

 or the decorations...

And banners...

But it is the opportunity to remember our Lord's death and resurrection and sacrifice that Christ made for me, a sinner,  

as we gather together for worship and partake of Holy Communion each week,

and it is the people...

The prayers and the Spirit of the Lord that is in this place...

The children singing and rejoicing to know  that "Jesus Loves Me..."

And the place where we celebrate marriages...

and families celebrating together...

Birthdays, Anniversaries, Baptisms, Births, New members, 

and even where we gather to celebrate the lives of those who have met their heavenly reward...

And I love the choir as we sing praises to God on high, and proclaim His glory as we worship Him...

And most of all I love the preaching from God's Word...

As we are reminded that Christ is The Good Shepherd, Who will always search for that one lost sheep, even when there are 99 good sheep obediently waiting in the fold...He will go out and search for the one who is lost and alone and will not give up until He has found it and brought it safely home... (Matthew 18:11-14; Luke 15:3-7)

The 23rd Psalm...

And As we lift up one another in prayer...praying for the sick, the hurting, the lost, our nation, our President and our leaders, our military and first responders, our families, neighbors, and our friends...

I love that The Spirit of the Lord is in this place, and I can see Him in the faces of our people, our pastor, our children...I can feel Him in my heart as we sing, and pray and read God's Word together.
I know that Christ is present in our service, and He is with us when we reach out to a lost and dying world around us and share His love with those who are hurting...

I love my church.  It doesn't matter to me the "name" of the church on the building. I know that "surely the presence of the Lord is in this place..."

Yes, I know that the United Methodist denomination has been in the news this weekend, and the news is very sad.  They say that our denomination is going to "split", primarily over issues regarding what boils down to what we believe the Bible says about homosexuality.  In other words, does God's Word tell us that it is an abomination to God, or should we just "rewrite the scriptures" to make it say what we want it to say so that people can go on living in sin... I am not going to give all the references here...because I know there are people who will say whatever they want to believe.  But I will say that I believe God's Word, as originally written.   I also believe that Christ came to redeem sinners from their sin...and like He said to the woman taken in adultery, when she was about to be stoned, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more!"   (Read John 8:1-11)  Jesus didn't say, "Neither do I condemn you, now you go right back out there and continue to live in your sins..."  No, Jesus said to go and sin no more. 

The problem is, people don't want to admit that homosexuality is a sin, and our progressive, liberal teaching of this age is promoting this lifestyle as something to be sought after, to teach our little children, to encourage and approve of rather than to try and help those caught in this trap the way to freedom.

And thus, we have a denomination that wants to split over this issue...whether or not to perform marriages for homosexuals, or whether or not to ordain them into the ministry.  Rather than teach what is truth from God's Word, they will force churches to make a choice and to take a stand one way or the other.   I am very thankful that our local church is already taking a stand. I know which way our congregation will go, as we believe God's Word is true, and we will not allow this perverted ideology to be forced down our throats.  We will, however, just as Christ loved the sinner and gave His life to redeem us, love those who are bound in this lifestyle, and will teach them truth from God's Word if they are willing to listen and learn, and we will share the love of Christ with them and pray that they will one day seek to be set free.

My heart goes out to those churches who may have to actually split their own congregations over this. There will be much sorrow in making these decisions over who will stay and who will get to keep the property, etc., and who will have to leave if they want to stand for the truth. It is heartbreaking that even families may have to make such choices. So I share this with you to ask you not to sit and pass judgment on this denomination, because sadly it is happening in many denominations in our land, and those who think it will never happen to them, be aware...and don't get caught unprepared. Our younger generation is being taught this lifestyle in preschools all the way up through colleges and even some seminaries. The progressive liberal agenda will not back down and many people are being deceived. Our future leaders will not know anything different unless we take a stand now. 

Please pray for churches everywhere...pray for pastors, denominational leaders, church leaders, and the people in the pew next to you.  We never know when we will be forced to take a stand and have to walk away from people that we love because we cannot agree on these and many other liberal issues that are taking over our nation. 

Read about the future warnings to the churches as found in the book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3.  Then hear what Christ said to the churches at the end of the Church Age:

Revelation 3:20-22

20.  "Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  

If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, 

I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

21.  To him who overcomes 

I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, 

as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

22. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

I know that I want to always hear Christ's voice and open the door to Him.  I pray to always be strong enough in my faith to overcome the beguiling voices of this world, and to stand strong on the Word of God and Christ's teaching.  May my door always be open to Christ, no matter what it may cost me.

Amen.