DANGEROUS GROUND OUTSIDE COMMUNITY

Unplugged from God’s family

Unplugging from community is dangerous ground indeed. For the most part we know why we do it:

-Ashamed

-Hurt

-Disinterested

-Habit change or reprioritizing our lives and it does not fit anymore

-Doubting and running low on faith

-Self pity

What we do not know is the damage it can do to us and to our faith community. First we need to remember that God did not call us to attend church only, he called us to BE THE CHURCH. He compared the church to the human body. Refers to us as the BODY of Christ.

27 Now you are Christ’s body, and each of you is a member of it. (I Cor. 12:27 NET)

It is easy for us to understand the importance of each member of our own body. A broken foot or even toe will get a lot of attention from us when it belongs to us. Losing the use of an arm due to injury or a hand quickly causes us to realize their value.

We are very important to the body of Christ as a whole. A missing member means our function is less than it should be. Unplugging from community also takes it toll on our spiritual condition. Hebrews 10:25 gives us this warning…

25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

We can never reproduce in our own living rooms what God can do when His church comes together. This past weekend was so incredible. The last worship song moved the congregation to spontaneous worship. It was followed by a word from the Lord for a member of the body. Then the Holy Spirit directed the message straight to the hearts of the church and members of the body responded by coming forward for prayer where God met them in a powerful way.

In just moments of time God did years worth of work in hearts and lives. Here is what happens when the body of Christ attends faithfully

-God is glorified and worshipped

-Leadership is encouraged and strengthened

-Members minister to members

-New believers have role models

-God’s work goes forward as we serve together

-God’s work is supported as we give together

-The lonely are adopted into the family

-The hurting are brought to the doctor (Jesus)

-The needy find help in the family

These are only a handful of the things that happen when God’s family comes together. If you have been unplugged recently let me encourage you to reconnect. The body needs every member. You are very important to what God wants to do through the local church.

If you do not have a home church and are in our area I want to invite you to attend. Join the Grace Place family. You will love it and we need you.