"Our Purpose?"

  Sometimes I wonder what many of my brethren believe is the work of the church. I wonder what leads us forward? Is it God's word or our word thinking it is God's word? Too many insert a verse here or there thinking they have found the nugget to prove their point while there are other verses that speak differently to their conclusion. What are we to do?

  If we are the church Jesus spoke of in Matthew 16 that He would establish and build, we need to build things according to Him and not us. That means everything done is about His glory, not ours! The church didn't come into existence by the people!! It came into existence because of the sacrifice of Jesus. It was Jesus who called us to Himself. It was God who showed His grace and glory to man and we responded. It was God that worked everything out over the many centuries after the counsel of His will and formed the whole. The church is not a "community church" but a Christ-centered people that reflect a Christ in all His glory. People need to be drawn to Jesus not the church. The church never saved a soul but the saved are the church because they belong to Jesus!

  For the church to do the work the Lord intended must be built upon what the Lord intended. Listen to Peter's admonition: "You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from you own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." (II Pet. 3:17-18) That's the conclusion to Peter's inspired writings from the Holy Spirit. It is easy for us to be carried away if we aren't careful. How does it happen? We stop growing in the grace and knowledge of or Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! We stop seeking and presenting His glory and insert ours. For the church to continue on the truthful and right track it takes sound preaching in line with the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. It takes brethren committed to the same. It takes hearts set on loving Jesus which means they will be warm and loving toward others in the body. That will reflect on those outside the fellowship of Jesus to make them want to find what we have found.

  To glorify the Lord, to grow in His grace and knowledge means our purpose in this life is to save the lost! That is and always should be our goal. That means we MUST share a message of salvation with this community. When we have an outreach, it must be with a saving message, not just doing nice things! As a part of the New Covenant Church we need to help people find the covenant that God has brought to man through Jesus. The world, no let's start here, our city needs to hear the gospel truth and we need to commit ourselves to growing in that gospel truth (grace and knowledge) so we can share that with others. That's the plan of Jesus!