Love the local Church??

I am amazed on how low opinion many Christians have of the local church. I believe that the local church is the hope of the world. I know, I know, the church has it has its flaws, but is still God's delight and Jesus stands in the mist of her.

I believe is the secret to seeing captives set free and the only way to fulfill the great commission is the local church. So much of the New Testament speaks of growth and transformation in the context of believers living, working, raising families and infecting the communities with the reality of the Gospel. When believers in a city are who they are called to be, they salt the society and the culture. It takes a sustained relational approach to transform a culture. Terry Virgo in his book. 'A People Prepared' states,

"God had ordained a method of displaying his glory in an unbelieving world. It is through the church, where flesh and blood people who have yielded their lives to King Jesus come together in covenant love, loyalty and righteousness, and are a light to the world, a city set on a hill which can not be hidden."

I can't agree more! Charles Colson argues in his book 'The Body',

"Three or four years ago I came to the realization that we had a scandalously low view of the church. The church is not incidental to the great cosmic struggle for the hearts and souls of modern men and women; it is the instrument God has chosen for that battle, a battle we are called to by virtue of our being members of His body. That the church is held in such low esteem reflects not only the depths of our biblical ignorance, but the alarming extent to which we have succumbed to the excessive individualism of modern culture... If we don't grasp this intrinsically corporate nature of Christianity embodied in the (local) church, we are missing the very heart Jesus' plan."


Eph 3:10-12
10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. NIV

I encourage you to take notice when you read the Bible how much of New Testament life is centered in the local church. Observe how much of the Bibles instruction to us is in the context of the Local church. Ask your self, am I as committed to a local church as Christ is? Ask Jesus to give you His heart for your brethren.