Before we criticise our church, we shoul remember that, 'CHRIST...loved the church and gave HIMSELF for her' (Ephesians 5:25). HE hasn't given up on HIS church, so we don't have to give up on it! And we must stop talking so much about what we don't like. If our church was perfect, we would be out of place!
Noah didn't sail on The Queen Mary; he sailed on a glorified cattle boat. Can we imagine the noise, the confusion, and the violent tossing of a ship in a storm big enough to destroy the world? And how about the smell? All those animals and only one funnel! But here is the thing - everybody inside the ark was saved while everybody outside of it was lost. The story is told of an aristocrat bragging about his lineage and pure-blooded ancestry. Irritated, one of his listeners remarked, 'I suppose your forebears were on board the ark with Noah!' 'No,' he replied, 'my people had their own boat!' We may smile, but there is only one craft that is guaranteed to make it safely into Heaven's port, and that is the old ship of salvation. Do things sometimes stink in the church? Sure. JESUS CHRIST issued one of HIS harshest rebukes to Peter, the disciple who was destined to become a leader in the church: 'Get behind me, Satan! You are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things of GOD, but the things of men' (Matthew 16:23). But the great thing is that when we mess up, the same grace that restored Peter will be there for us too.
So, the word for us today is: let us love our church! AMEN
Noah didn't sail on The Queen Mary; he sailed on a glorified cattle boat. Can we imagine the noise, the confusion, and the violent tossing of a ship in a storm big enough to destroy the world? And how about the smell? All those animals and only one funnel! But here is the thing - everybody inside the ark was saved while everybody outside of it was lost. The story is told of an aristocrat bragging about his lineage and pure-blooded ancestry. Irritated, one of his listeners remarked, 'I suppose your forebears were on board the ark with Noah!' 'No,' he replied, 'my people had their own boat!' We may smile, but there is only one craft that is guaranteed to make it safely into Heaven's port, and that is the old ship of salvation. Do things sometimes stink in the church? Sure. JESUS CHRIST issued one of HIS harshest rebukes to Peter, the disciple who was destined to become a leader in the church: 'Get behind me, Satan! You are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things of GOD, but the things of men' (Matthew 16:23). But the great thing is that when we mess up, the same grace that restored Peter will be there for us too.
So, the word for us today is: let us love our church! AMEN
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