The Church (part four)

Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

Church is our haven from a cruel and uncaring world, but it also coordinates us to go out and make a difference.  Through the Church, our Lord Jesus organizes us to serve.  Some congregations operate preschools, others run food pantries, organize blood drives, or offer classes on such things as parenting and learning English.  Showing care through service puts our faith into action, with the result that many who are in need give praise to God for the kindness shown to them. 

The greatest service of all is Gospel outreach.  Through the Church, our individual resources are combined to support the work of missionaries who go where the Son of God is largely unknown or ignored as irrelevant.  The Church also helps you to be an evangelist; if you aren’t sure how to share your faith with others, you can bring them with you to worship and let the Church tell them about the Savior of Mankind. 

Jesus said, God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life…Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son (John 3:16, 18).  This is why the Church organizes us to tell everyone about Jesus—people living in primitive villages and great cities, people who are friends and strangers, people who work with you, play sports with you, are related to you.  Like you and me, all of them violate God’s two great laws: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:27).  Like us, they need Jesus’ forgiveness; without it, they are condemned to everlasting punishment.  They need to know that Christ took the punishment from God that should have been theirs; the Son of God suffered and died to make forgiveness available to all His friends.  Getting this message out is a huge undertaking; the Church is God’s gift to us, our training ground, rallying point and center of operations.  Each week we are invited to attend for encouragement and recharge; then we are sent back out into the world, ready to share the love of God that is shown to all in Christ Jesus our Savior. Working side by side in the Church of God, we can accomplish what no one could get done operating on their own.