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- Apr 25, 2006
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- 18,404
16 September 2008
1 Timothy 3:14-16
Although I hope I can come to you soon, I am writing these things to you now. Then, even if I am delayed, you will know how to live in the family of God. That family is the church of the living God, the support and foundation of the truth. Without doubt, the secret of our life of worship is great:
He was shown to us in a human body,
proved right in spirit,
and seen by angels.
He was proclaimed to the nations,
believed in by the world,
and taken up in glory.
A survey of students was once carried out at a university. They were asked to give an opinion on Christ and the Church. 85% said they were for Christ, but only 5% said they were for the Church.
Often we take a very negative view of the Church. We get caught up in the politics, the difficulties and the clashes of personality that can cloud our vision of what the Church really is. We forget that God created the Church specifically to reveal Jesus to the world. Paul here reminds us of that fact, stating that it is 'the church of the living God, the support and foundation of the truth'. The two sentence description of Jesus, whom the church is called to serve, that comes at the end of this passage, reminds us of the awesome nature of this truth.
We all need to remember that the Church is an amazing place and to recall God's plan for it. Never forget that it was Christ in his Church that turned the world upside down and that the two cannot be separated. Still today we are called to transform the world through the Church. Do you today need to reassess your vision of 'church'?
Pray especially for your church community, that it might seek to remember the awesome God that it serves. Ask that God might direct it into new ways of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the world.
Written by Gemma Clarke
________________________________
Word on the Web is provided free of charge as part of the ministry of Church Army.
1 Timothy 3:14-16
Although I hope I can come to you soon, I am writing these things to you now. Then, even if I am delayed, you will know how to live in the family of God. That family is the church of the living God, the support and foundation of the truth. Without doubt, the secret of our life of worship is great:
He was shown to us in a human body,
proved right in spirit,
and seen by angels.
He was proclaimed to the nations,
believed in by the world,
and taken up in glory.
A survey of students was once carried out at a university. They were asked to give an opinion on Christ and the Church. 85% said they were for Christ, but only 5% said they were for the Church.
Often we take a very negative view of the Church. We get caught up in the politics, the difficulties and the clashes of personality that can cloud our vision of what the Church really is. We forget that God created the Church specifically to reveal Jesus to the world. Paul here reminds us of that fact, stating that it is 'the church of the living God, the support and foundation of the truth'. The two sentence description of Jesus, whom the church is called to serve, that comes at the end of this passage, reminds us of the awesome nature of this truth.
We all need to remember that the Church is an amazing place and to recall God's plan for it. Never forget that it was Christ in his Church that turned the world upside down and that the two cannot be separated. Still today we are called to transform the world through the Church. Do you today need to reassess your vision of 'church'?
Pray especially for your church community, that it might seek to remember the awesome God that it serves. Ask that God might direct it into new ways of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the world.
Written by Gemma Clarke
________________________________
Word on the Web is provided free of charge as part of the ministry of Church Army.
