So yesterday’s post was a look at the “What about me?” thing from one perspective…

Now let’s hit it from another perspective…

A couple of presuppositions:

• The “Church” is PEOPLE. There is no reference in the Scriptures to “Church” as a building. References to the “Church” in scripture are references to groups of people.

• The “Church” is a body of people who have have been called by God, saved by faith in Jesus Christ, and sanctified (made holy/being made holy) by the Holy Spirit (see 1 Peter 1:2)

• The “Church” is called to “be Jesus” in this world. The Bible calls the church the “Body” of Christ (see Colossians 1:18). In other words, if someone ever wonders how Jesus would live/act/talk if he were here in 2007, all they would have to do is hang out around the church.

OK, having clarified some assumptions, let’s answer this question, “What should someone who comes to Northgate (or any church for that matter) expect…

• Teaching (Ephesians 4:11-16 – notice the result of the teaching… “the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”)

• Encouragement to “acts of love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24)

• Connection to others… a place to receive help within community (e.g. small groups) (see Galatians 6:1-3)

• “Discipline” when there is sin in the life of the believer… an attempt to lead to repentance and restoration (see here for the various Scriptures which teach this point).

• Love for one another (John 13:34-35 for a full description of what love is/does see 1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

• Prayer for healing of both physical and spiritual sickness (James 5:14-15)

• Worship… which ironically is defined by St. Paul as a way of life, not something that happens on the weekend! (see Romans 12:1)

We could go on but the greater point here is this…

The church is like a team. We are at our best when we are “playing the game”… doing what we’re supposed to do, bringing the lost to Christ, building them up in that relationship, and engaging them in service!

In order to do that we must…

• Learn together
• Pray together
• Worship together
• Forgive one another
• Confront one another
• Encourage one another

We do these things together so that we will be a stronger team, better equipped to accomplish our mission of Bringing the unsaved/unchurched to Jesus Christ, building them up in that relationship, and engaging them in service so that they can go and bring their friends to Jesus, and build them up in that relationship, and engage them in service…

Church… I love you and believe that God is calling us to be the group of people that breathes hope back into Genesee county and beyond!

Our mission is a big one… one that requires a unified team that deeply loves God, the unsaved/unchurched, and one another! No one of these elements is negotiable!

Here we go!