I Will Build My Church (Part 1)
10-1-2022
C.Hayden
I Will Build My Church, Part 1
Often people that live in the world without Christ, and even many of those that may have received Christ, get the wrong idea of what certain things mean to God. When we think of someone getting saved, we see them as just having a change of heart to be a better person. God, however, sees them as being born again from spiritual
death and being raised to spiritual life as one of His children. When we think of prayer, often we define the word as just reciting a pre-written poem mentioning God. God sees it as communing with God himself through verbal and audio exchanges with the Almighty Himself. And when we define the Church, we think of it as a building or a gathering place for Christians. God defines the Church as the very people of
God, the very Body of Christ united as one family in Him. People like you and
me don’t just go to the church, we are the Church.
Matthew 16:18 says, “And I also say to you that you are Peter (little
rock), and on this rock (Rock of salvation through Christ) I will build My
Church , and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” The word
Church in this scripture is the Greek word “ekklesia.” It is where we get
our word ecclesiastic from and it means a community of believing members
or more directly, “the called-out ones.” We are the called-out ones. We are the Church.
Have you ever heard someone make one of the following types of statements:
– I don’t attend Church, the TV is my church,
– I don’t believe in organized religion (Jesus organized His disciples?)
– I don’t believe in Church, it is full of hypocrites,
– It does not matter if you go to Church, just be a good person,
– God knows my heart, I don’t need Church,
– I can be a Christian without church.
The problem with these statements (there are several) are monumental. First of all, if you have made one of these statements, you have misinterpreted what the Church is. If you are a Christian, you are a called out one and therefore are a part of the Church, like it or not. The Church is not a building. To look down your nose and snub the Church is to not only make insult of yourself as a Christian, but to make insult of what Jesus calls His very “Bride.”
The Church is the “Bride of Christ” and it is an insult to Him when we mock His Bride. It is through the Church of Christ that the gift of salvation is extended to the world, and through which the Holy Spirit brings spiritual growth to His children. If you say you love Jesus, how can you say I don’t need to or want to be a part of His Body or His Work? Next month, more on “I Will Build My Church.”
Be blessed even more,
Pastor Chris
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Yes, Lord! I WIll Go!
9/15/2022
J. Fields
It’s hard to believe that Summer is over, the good thing is we usually get to have summer
type of weather for another month or so before we see the seasonal weather change. I love
Summer however; I do enjoy the many changes that come with Fall. The Fall brings many
changes to our lives such as the change in the color of the leaves, football season, pumpkin-
flavored everything (one of my favorites), apple cider, campfires, and who could forget the
farmers that will be in the fields harvesting.
Many exciting things are happening here at Central Christian Church. We don’t just
want to be a place that goes with the flow we want to live by our mission statement of being the
church that experiences God together through community. We believe that it’s important to
equip the believer, empower the people, and engage our community; maybe you’re thinking that
sounds great and all but how exactly do we do this? Well, here at Central Christian we try and
be the hands and feet of Jesus.
Here is a list of things that we are currently doing. We have many exciting things
happening such as not only Sunday morning worship service but we have Sunday Morning Bible
Study, Wednesday Night Bible Study, Jr./Sr. High Youth Group (S.W.A.T.), we’ve brought back
Wednesday Evening Children’s Church (Kids for Christ), Thursday Morning Bible Study in the
office, CWF (ladies’ group) events, Men’s breakfast once a month, plus so much more! Not only
is the church hosting these events but our building is being used by many other groups and
organizations, put this all together and you have what our church stands for.
When I think about Fall and I reflect on many of the things we are doing at church it
gives me the chance to reflect on the “why”, why were we created, why life changes so often,
and why we put such emphasis on being the church, the reason is because of who it is we serve.
Can you imagine what would happen if we all (the church as a whole throughout the world)
would do exactly what Christ called us to do? The lives that could change, the miracles that
could take place, the world would be completely different!
Jesus didn’t just do church inside of some building, he went outside the four walls and
lived His life as the church. We are called to do the same thing as Jesus. Jesus isn’t looking for
“church as usual” He’s looking for those who will go and be the church. He wants the world to
know Him and it starts with us saying yes Lord I will go! And Jesus went throughout all the
cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and
healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for
them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to
his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the
Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:35-38 / ESV)
Blessings,
Pastor Jason
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Back to School Again!
9-1-2022
C. Hayden
In the last several weeks, we have been studying the book of Ephesians on Sunday morning, moving from Scripture to Scripture, line upon line, precept upon precept (Isaiah 28: 10-13). It is refreshing on occasion to do a study that includes each Bible verse in the text. In this way, the Word of God is dissected within the context of the chapter or book. This helps prevent misinterpreting Scripture by taking the Word of God out of its contextual meaning. The bible tells us to continue in God’s Word so that we might know the Truth that leads to freedom (John 8) and to study to show ourselves approved, rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15).
This week we see the return of Huntington students back to the classroom. Learning new things and reinforcing old lessons helping them to grow as a student and a person able to be ever more productive in a world that values such learning. In the same way, God is drawing us to continue learning, always adding knowledge to our faith and wisdom to our walk with the Lord. In 2nd Peter, the apostle encourages us to “give all diligence to add to our faith virtue, add knowledge…
Here at Central Christian Church, we value studying the Word of God consistently throughout the week to assist believers in the endeavor of “continuing in the Word.” We have Bible studies on Sunday morning, Wednesday evening and Thursday morning each week, as well as monthly fellowship groups and men’s and women’s gatherings to assist in our spiritual growth.
The youth have extra fun and fellowship in their own children’s church on Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. In this way, all of us become like “iron sharpening iron” (Proverbs 27:17), helping us to become sharp spiritual instruments able to divide correctly the truth that God has for us. Come and join us for one of these ongoing learning opportunities. We believe we have a group that you can continue to grow in God’s grace and truth. And who knows, you might just have a little fun in the learning.
Be blessed even more!
Pastor Chris
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