The local church is the hope of the world.
There is nothing like the local church when it’s working right. Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is breathtaking. Its potential is unlimited. It comforts the grieving and heals the broken in the context of community. It builds bridges to seekers and offers truth to the confused. It provides resources for those in need and opens its arms to the forgotten, the downtrodden, the disillusioned. It breaks the chains of addictions, frees the oppressed, and offers belonging to the marginalized of this world. Whatever the capacity for human suffering, the church has a greater capacity for healing and wholeness.
Still to this day, the potential of the local church is almost more than I can grasp. No other organization on earth is like the church. Nothing even comes close.
~ from Bill Hybels’ Courageous Leadership
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Thoughts?
i completely agree. when i think of clubs, or organizations, outside hobbies, there is nothing like the community of church. there is nothing like the relationships that form and grow. and the accountablility is priceless.
even when two are gathered in his name, he is amongst them. so two fellow beleivers having coffee in his name is amazing. that is church. and it just multiplies and multiplies. etc.
i love it.
great stuff.
Yes! I wonder how many people truly believe this below passage, which says that the can “attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Do we believe this??? We can very literally be the representation of Christ on earth. This is what gives merit to Hybels quote. Our Lord has given us the 5 fold ministers to “prepare God’s people” or “equip” them. What a shame when we do not enfold all of these gifts into the local church. We NEED them in order to grow into maturity.
11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14Then 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 men in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16From 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.
Ephesians 4 for the reference.
One of my favorite books ever! What an incredible statement. The local church is the hope of the world, because that is how Jesus designed it!
Christ in me. Christ in You. Ministry of reconciliation. All that stuff…so…absolutely. The Local church is God’s plan for taking the message of redemption and hope to the world. So maybe the better way to put that would be, the local church points to the hope of the world.
Great post. Too often we view the church as some kind of social club, when it’s really meant to be a hospital. May we all step outside of comfortable Christianity to pursue the Church vision Jesus began and will someday complete.
Anna