A WORD WITH YOU
"The church is the only organization that requires that you admit you are not qualified to join."
"The church is a hospital for sinners, not a showcase for saints."
"Unhealthy churches, likeunhealthy families, are dysfunctional and disconnected. Healthy churches, like healthy families,are functional and connected."
We've all heard the old quip: "If you find the perfect church--don't join it; you'll mess it up!" Quite frankly, I've never heard of a church claiming to be perfect.
I did hear about a preacher who said, "Who has ever heard of a perfect person?" A little brow-beaten man stood and said, "My wife's first husband was perfect!"
But every church, including EFBC, should be able to make at least these minimal claims:
1. We are striving to love God with all of our souls, minds, and strength.
2. We are striving to be like Christ and to love everyone on God's planet and invite them to join us in our spiritual journey.
3. We are striving to be a loving community which supports and cares for its members in discernible and tangible ways.
Someone wisely said that "love is a verb." In other words, love is not just a feeling; it is an action. Feelings and emotions come and go. Life can be a roller coaster of experiencesproducing emotional highs and lows.
But love--at least the kind that Jesus talked about--doesn't "go with the flow" or ebb with the tide. Christ's love in us can be full all of the time. When we experience His love fully and continually, we can show His love fully and continually.
“I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 (HCSB)
No one ever gets tired of being loved. No one ever leaves a marriage or a family--or a church--because they feel loved too much. We are made for love and we shrivel and die without it.
The church is a love connection. It is both our privilege and our duty to maintain the kind of love that connects us to each other and helps others to find the ultimate love connection in Jesus Christ.
I invite you to get connected to Jesus and His love; then get connected to a people who are committed to loving each other like Christ loves us.
Alan Day, Senior Pastor