IT’S THE FULLY COMMITTED THAT RECEIVE THE GREATEST REWARD.
In our current sermon series, “I LOVE MY CHURCH,” we’ve been highlighting the fact that God is the one who started the church, who loves the church, who empowers the church, who works through the church, and who ultimately gave his very own Son to live and die for the church. By the “church” we are talking about people. It’s people who believe in Jesus and are committed to following him – not just as individuals – but doing so together as a group. This group of Jesus followers is called “The Family of God” and “The Body of Christ”.
Throughout history, the Church has had its moments of incredible impact on changing the world for Christ, as well as its struggles to remain faithful to its purpose and mission. One of the main reasons the Church (or a church) begins to lose its way is when the priority of reaching people for Jesus becomes less than the primary focus of the church. This one is easy to fall victim to because of cultural influence and personal ambition.
But for the church of today – especially here in the USA – one of the main reasons the church is struggling to be effective in our mission is what we might call a “lack of commitment” to the church. We as Christians like to be a part of a church family, but it’s often times just a part of us that is willing to participate in the life of the church. That leaves a church with a group of people who are only partially committed and involved in the church. And we wonder why our church involvement is less than an amazing, blessed, life-giving experience.
It's not until we become fully committed to following Jesus and do so by committing ourselves to a local church family as a part of the mission to reach and impact the local community, and the world, with the love and good news of Jesus Christ that we begin to understand and experience the true meaning and blessings of “Church.” I pray that we, as Abundant Life Church, would have an undeterred commitment to loving God, loving people, and doing whatever it takes to shining brightly the light of Jesus in our community. That’s why we’re here!
