"This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that
acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, " 1John:4:2
Some will ask, "do I have to attend a church to be a Christian?" , The answer to that is; no, you do not have to attend a church to be a Christian. But if you do not have to attend then why bother to go?
Some persons believe ,that when pastors invite or encourage attendance at church they do so for two reasons, either to sure up the numbers of attendance or to generate revenue in their particular congregation.
Why do pastors so strongly encourage people to attend a church?
An Assembly
It is well known that the Greek word translated in to the English word church is "Ekklesia" , the meaning is "a called out assembly" , in particular, it is in reference to the Assembly of citizens in the Greek city state systems , where the people were convened to assembly together each having the right and freedom to participate in the function of the gathering.
This assembly, the "Ekklesia" , is what Jesus said he would build.
"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." Matt:16:18
The assembly that Jesus spoke of, however, is far more than just a gathering of a group of people who congregate together and hold a collective conversation. What this assembling of persons is goes far beyond and above the intentions of humanity and in truth would have little value other than the social interaction that it provides if it were not of divine origin.
Jesus Among Us
What gives the value of a particular group of people, that is, a church, assembling together it's true value that the divine intent of God decrees? Is it agreeing upon a particular set of doctrines, theology, liturgy, morals, or ethics or even it's name?...What really gives a gathering of the Church it's value is the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ among the people. That is, Jesus is the value center of the Church. This means that if Jesus is not among us than what we have is simply a gathering of varies people.
Why does Jesus want to gather with us?...The answer is Jesus is , that thru the incarnation he is fully one of us even as he is fully God. Jesus has a very human desire to be with other human beings .
Jesus is a sociable person who enjoys the company of others and who loves us. Jesus wants to be with the people whom he loves which is all humanity if they will but freely receive it.
Jesus is a sociable person who enjoys the company of others and who loves us. Jesus wants to be with the people whom he loves which is all humanity if they will but freely receive it.
On the evening of the Easter event of the resurrection ,while the frighten disciples were gathered together , Jesus comes and shows himself to them declaring peace to them holding forth the wounds of the cross, demonstrating that our God has removed thru Jesus anything which would prevent us from knowing him.
"And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you" Jhn:20:20-21
The identifying wounds in his resurrected humanity , are not just to confirm the identity of Jesus but to affirm to those disciples ,and to all, that God loves them and has done all so that we might know his love. They see this as they are assembled on that Easter evening.
Again, one week later as the disciples are assembled Jesus appears among them. Thus establishing the pattern, and to reinforce to they, and we, that when believers , are gathered together Jesus is also there with us speaking peace to us and showing us his wounds that speak of the divine love of God for us.
"A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with
them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and
said, "Peace be with you!" (26)
Word Became Flesh
We often refer to the Gospel of John and quote from the fourteen verse of chapter one which speaks of the assumption of our humanity thru the incarnation by the very Word of God , the Son of God the second person of the Holy Trinity.
"the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" Jhn:1:14
"We love because he first loved us."1Jhn:4:19
Out of Love
Some might believe that it was out of a necessity to satisfy the demands of some Law that God was compelled to send his Son Jesus Christ. But it was not out of some legal compulsion that God sent Jesus but out of love for humanity, each and all of us.
If God's saving act in Jesus was out of a need to satisfy a Law, then the Law would have power over God himself , and God would then not be God. The law would be above God.
"For 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." Jhn:3:16
It was out of eternal love for us. This is the love that is still shown to each and all of us ,a love which pursues us daily. This divine eternal love for us shows itself among us when those who have responded to the message of the Gospel and come to experience what Jesus has accomplished for each and all.
The Progressive Incarnation
The aged Apostle John writing around 90 AD to the Christian Church two thousand years ago and to all believers down thru out the ages of the of God's love in the person of his Holy Son Jesus.
Those who have received and responded to God's love are to love each other because of the very love we ourselves have received from God.
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." (7-12)
John affirms that it is thru the Holy Spirit that our Lord is among the assembly of Christians and manifest among us thru the lives of each Christian who is assembled in the church.
"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them."Jhn:14:16-21
This means that Jesus is there in every sense as much as he was when he came and showed himself in his resurrected humanity to his disciples. In this way our Lord continues to progressively manifest his incarnation in and by and thru the body of the church.
The incarnation is progressive. This means that Jesus did not just assume the flesh of our humanity thru the virgin birth by the power of the Holy Spirit ,but, Jesus is come in the flesh of each and all believers in our humanity even to this very hour. This means that we continue to encounter and experience Jesus' incarnation progressively when the church assembles thru each member who is a part of his body. Eph:1:23, Eph:5:30, and 1Crth:12:27
"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world ". 1Jhn:1:1-4
Outside the Community
Some who do not attend a Church, preferring to be "independent" of a local congregation might ask "isn't Jesus with me? Can't I worship him on my own?" The answer is yes you can.
It is true that Church goes beyond any one fellowship, ministry, congregation, communion or denomination but is made up of any and all who believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God. But consider for a moment, if Jesus expressed the divine intent that there be a Church and that Church we find thru the witness of the Scriptures was regularly assembling, why would Jesus endorse any member of it to willing separate from it?
Understand the community culture of the that day. This would have been the culture Jesus, in his humanity , lived and operated within. It is abundantly evidenced in the Scriptures that Christians did not willingly separate them selves from one another to "be on their own" . They lived in a community world where each was dependent of one another. The mind set to "be on their own" and avoid the community of the Church would have been alien thinking and beyond the divine intent of Jesus and to the Primitive-Apostolic Church.
They knew that they needed each other and relied upon each other. This avoidance of the community of the Church just does not find compatibility with the New Testament.
This is why the Apostle Paul wrote that the Church is to build one another up in love .If the Church is not in regular contact with one another it would find it difficult to build up the others members.
"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."1Thess:5:11
"Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." Eph:4:14-16
When believers knowingly avoid the community of the Church they are robbing themselves and others of opportunities to be of service and to employ the gifts which the holy Spirit has bestowed upon them, and will find their spiritual maturity hindered.
All believers should if at all possible find a local Church to be apart of for weekly worship and fellowship. After all, in the eternity to come we will all be gathered together in the eternal assembly in the Kingdom of God symbolized by the community relationship of the New Jerusalem where we will be together. Rev:21 & 22
Jesus, thru the Holy Spirit is come and is incarnate thru the flesh of the Church, not just his own assumed humanity, but in and thru our lives thru which Jesus manifest himself to us and is among us still ministering the love of God and declaring peace unto us.
This is why pastors so strongly encourage people to attend a church..Amen
Rev. Todd Crouch, Pastor
The
Fountain of Life Church a Congregation of Grace Communion
2101 Old National Pike.
2101 Old National Pike.
Washington,
Pennsylvania. www.gcfountainoflife.org
The Fountain of Life is heard on the RKP Radio Network 1710 and 1670 AM in Washington and North Franklin ,and 1790 AM in the Arden Fair Grounds area of Washington Pennsylvania, and on 1710 AM in Bentleyville and Monongahela, Pennsylvania. And online around the world at www.rkpradio.com
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