Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

the church

Building the Church

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fiscal responsibility,church buildings,building campaign,unity,church budget

I’ve heard many preachers talk about building the church. It sounds like such a noble thing to say, but it depends on the context. I’ve seen far more churches concerned with building the structure that houses the Church, rather than building up the people who actually comprise the church. Most of the time, I hear the need for a larger building justified by saying that it is required to reach more people for Christ. Really? Jesus told us to go out into all the nations to tell others about Him (Matthew 28:19-20). He never said to build a large facility so that the people of the world would come to us.

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Persecuted in America?

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Persecuted church, consumerism

I recently heard Francis Chan recounting his experience during a trip to China. Chan took his 15 year old daughter to a meeting of Christians to allow her to experience firsthand what it was like to worship Christ in a country where it is illegal to do so. He himself was to speak to the gathered believers about standing strong in the face of persecution. Rather than encountering a somber, sober group as he had expected, Chan found the assembly to more resemble a fellowship dinner as the people were joyful and happy to be in each other’s presence.

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Who Needs Enemies?

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Christians attacking one another

I recently heard a talk by Christine Cain where she made the statement, “Why do we need the devil when we’ve got Christians?” It is very sad how true this remark actually is. While we are encouraged in the Bible to be a unified body of believers (John 17:11, Ephesians 4:1-3), the reality is that we have become anything but that; the modern church is a fragmented body of denominations marked by warring factions of worship styles, missional focuses, and political agendas. We no longer rally around the commands of Jesus, but rather flock to like-minded individuals or comfortable surroundings.

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The Church in Sardis

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Bored Apathetic Christians

I was studying the book of Revelation recently, and was reading the passage that contains the letter dictated to the church in Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6). As I read, I could not help but see the parallels between them and the current American church. I encourage you to take a moment to read the short passage above to provide context to this post.

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Building the Church

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I listen to a lot of sermons from various churches across the country. This helps me stay focused on the mission of Christ and at the same time receive input and encouragement from a variety of Godly people. Recently I was struck by two messages I heard back to back, as they were absolutely diametrically opposed. I will withhold the names of the pastor’s and churches as focusing on any single congregation would miss the point.

Building the Church

In the first sermon, I heard an impassioned plea for the people to give sacrificially so they could build a new children’s wing onto their church. In sharp contrast to this was the second sermon in which I heard the pastor contemplate putting a “for sale” sign outside of their church so they might give the money to the poor throughout the world. [Read more…] about Building the Church