Thursday, February 18, 2016

Not Your Mother's MOB

This week @ Grace we will be sharing about Christ's Vision for the Church. I know that this might seem way too simple for some, but it is so easy for all of us to loose sight of the understanding that Jesus established His Church (Matthew 16:13-18) and the word He used for church He borrowed from the word MOB or Gathering. How cool is it that Jesus in this profound statement boils His church down to a Gathering of people who share a conviction that Jesus is the unique Son of God. He established His church on FAITH!

Too often we gather for alternative reasons. We think church is about meeting our needs, meeting our community's needs, moving a man-made vision forward, making us feel spiritually better, or even to build our own little kingdom based on some slick program or system. These are man-made mobs and in essence they create the potential for a SCAR that comes from an unusual place - THE CHURCH. There are times that we find spiritual healing, we meet the real needs of our community, and that we get something out of our Gathering. But at the end of the day this is not the primary purpose. The primary purpose is to know Christ! Whether I'm new to that idea or I've been a Christian for 50 years I'm still a seeker of His heart, His purpose, His Love, His wisdom, His blessing, and His Gathering. Christ's stands ready to quench our parched thirst for with the Water of His refreshing Spirit in a way that man-made gatherings fail to.

So, this week @ Grace we will share how we can heal from the man-made SCARS of church. How God intended a better way for people to Gather and how simply beautiful Christ's assembly is when they are focused on a healthy expression of knowing Him. We will share these ideas at Grace Seaford and Grace Online and we hope you will take time to be a part of this conversation and that the result is you are refreshed in your faith as you Gather @ Grace.