CWW Week 27 - Day 7 - Keeping Church Simple
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Scripture.
Matthew 17:20:
“He replied, ‘Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.'”
This verse emphasises that even a small, simple faith in God can lead to incredible things. It’s about trusting God, no matter how big or small your faith may seem.
Why do we over complicate things?
Church has been a refuge for many over hundreds of years and still is today. There are many who find comfort in attending the little building with the steeple on top and that’s what church is about too.
There are also an even greater number who find that building threatening and a challenge to approach let a lone enter and this is more profound today than ever before.
I do church in several ways. I often visit others churches to speak and spread the good news and these are of all denominations.
I also love to attend the church that I am a member of when I can but it’s three hours away so that is sometimes difficult.
But most of all I truly enjoy our Church Without Walls home church group that meets every month or so for the whole weekend. It’s a real family and embodies all the things that church is meant to be.
We don’t have a pastor or a board. We don’t have a policy manual or committee meetings and we don’t collect money. People are encouraged to give where it has the most effect for the needy.
Visiting other churches has been rewarding and different when I speak because I rely wholly on the Holy Spirit to guide my words.
My church that I am a member of is always a great visit when we can because we feel like family there also and many of those folk regularly attend our CWW home group.
It is not my intention to criticise other fellowships and I don’t mean to put that across. My criticism lays firmly on the corporate church model and it’s recent departure from its core mission of spreading the Gospel.
When church becomes reliant on government and finance to operate and that takes precedence over the mission and the fellowship of members then we have a problem.
This is why keeping church simple must be at the forefront of our thinking and purpose, especially in these challenging times when the second advent or arrival of Jesus is so close.
We don’t have time to play politics and religion and we don’t have time for the trappings and rituals associated with corporate church.
There are lost souls out there in a perplexed and anxious state and they are dying to know Jesus and feel like they belong to someone they can trust.
Now is the time to go back to church in it’s original format of meeting and fellowship wherever two or more are gathered in Jesus name.
I just had the privilege of baptising three beautiful people into a relationship with Jesus. The relief on their faces was palpable and their joy was truly inspiring.
They are not baptised into a denomination and they don’t need to be. They have become an integral part of the family of God and that’s what really matters.
So where do we take all this now?
Where ever you feel a strong connection with God and the Spirit and those in fellowship is exactly where you are meant to be. The main thing is that you make it your own and help it to grow. Jesus will smile and others will come around.
Who loses when we do that?
Only Satan.
I ask the big question again. If your denominational corporate church was cancelled tonight; would you still be a church tomorrow?
The answer is surely yes.
It’s time to KEEP IT SIMPLE SINNER.
Questions.
- Have you been afraid of going into a fellowship of believers?
- Are you in a church now that you are struggling in?
- Is God wanting you to bring a new personality to that church and if so maybe the time is now?
Prayer.
Dear Lord, Papa God.
I desire to belong to a fellowship who love and believe in you. I sometimes feel afraid to speak up and have an input. Maybe I need to encourage others to start a new fellowship? Papa please help me to hear Your voice as I contemplate a real relationship with You and a simple church that honours that relationship. For this is my prayer inn Jesus Holy name. Amen.
Have a great day today with Jesus.
Graham Hood.
