What is the Church?

Here are some of my favorite quotes about how precious and how wonderful the Church can and should be. I hope it stimulates some deeper thinking about your relationship to the Church and why you feel the way you do.  

Famous Church Quotes

The True Church can never fail. For it is based upon a rock. – T.S. Eliot

Prayer is a strong wall and fortress of the church; it is a goodly Christian weapon. – Martin Luther

Church attendance is as vital to a disciple as a transfusion of rich, healthy blood to a sick man. – Dwight L. Moody

The perfect church service, would be one we were almost unaware of. Our attention would have been on God.- C.S. Lewis

Wherever we see the Word of God purely preached and heard, there a church of God exists, even if it swarms with many faults.”- John Calvin

Bible Quotes About Church

Matthew 16:18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Acts 2:47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Acts 20:28  Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

1 Corinthians 12:5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;

Ephesians 1:22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,

Ephesians 2:20-22 built on the foundation of theapostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,  in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Hebrews 3:6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

Hebrews 10:25  not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Church from Christians perspective

I like the silence of a church, before the service begins better than any preaching.  -Ralph Waldo Emerson

You can be committed to Church but not committed to Christ, but you cannot be committed to Christ and not committed to church. – Joel Osteen

I believe there are too many practitioners in the church who are not believers.”- C. S. Lewis

You may speak but a word to a child, and in that child there may be a slumbering noble heart which shall stir the Christian Church in years to come.”- Charles Spurgeon

What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use — men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men, men of prayer.”- E. M. Bounds

“I lack the fervency, vitality, life, in prayer which I long for. I know that many consider it fanaticism when they hear anything which does not conform to the conventional, sleep-inducing eulogies so often rising from Laodicean lips; but I know too that these same people can acquiescently tolerate sin in their lives and in the church without so much as tilting one hair of their eyebrows.”-Jim Eliot

One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organization do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team. The first requisite is life, always.“- A. W. Tozer

Categories: CS Lewis, Favorite Quotes | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Who Needs Church? part 2

There seems to be a movement these days to separate spirituality from community. As if a personal, private encounter Christ is better than dealing with others at church. Nothing could be further from the truth.  We were made to live in community, to practice the skills of forgiveness, grace and love and in the process  reflect the character of Christ. 

Henri Nouwen says,

Listen to the church. I know that isn’t a popular bit of advice at a time and in a country where the church is often seen more as an obstacle in the way than as the way to Jesus. Nevertheless, I am deeply convinced that the greatest spiritual danger for our times is the separation of Jesus from the church. The church is the body of the Lord. Without Jesus there can he no church; and without the church we cannot stay united with Jesus. I’ve yet to meet anyone who has come closer to Jesus by forsaking the church.

TO listen to the church is to listen to the Lord of the church. Specifically, this entails taking part in the church’s liturgical life. Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost: these seasons and feasts teach you to know Jesus better and better and unite you more and more intimately with the divine life he offers you in the church.”

Can we really be spiritual separated from the Body of Christ?

According to Nouwen, is it possible to know Jesus apart from the church, or the Bride of Christ?

What is the primary purpose of doing church in community according to Nouwen?

Read Part 1

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Where Are You?

In the midst of hectic life, it’s easy to get lost. We rise to the top of our profession to realize we were climbing the wrong ladder. God, what happened? How did my life end up like this? Where is the peace that passes all understanding? Where am I, can someone help me, please?

When we became Christians we entered a spiritual growth journey that moves us from children in faith to spiritual maturity reflecting the full measure of Christ.

Before you can ever begin to know where to go or which direction to head, you SIMPLY MUST know where you are now. This message provide the encouragement to take just One more step to become all the God has planned for your life.

Personal RISKS Spiritual Assessment:       RISK Self_Assessment_new

     Relies on God

     Initiates growth

     Serves

    Kingdom Investor

    Shaped into the Image of Christ

The Life of a Disciple

(1) Live in Christ - trust the wisdom, purpose and love of Christ to guide our vocation, shape our character and be the central purpose of our lives.

(2) Learn from Christbe transformed by the renewing of your mind. Rm 12:2  Intentional discipleship means learning what Jesus did, how Jesus did it, and why Jesus wants us to do what He did.

(3) Lead to Christ - we put into practice the love we’ve learned from Jesus in our day-to-day lives and love one another our faith in community. “By this all people will know you are my disciples if you love one another.” John 13:35

Sermon Notes 01.22.12 Where Are You

Worship 01.22.12 Where Are You

Audio Podcast  Archive

Categories: Centennial Moment, Discipleship, PodCast, sermon notes, Sermon Slides, worship | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Centennial Moment III

A review of the history, mission and faithfulness of the people who called First United Methodist Church, Williamstown, West Virginia – home.

We offer these messages and slides with gratitude for the people and faithfulness of those who gave their hearts to Christ, Church and Community.

Centennial Countdown 1.22

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Who Needs Church? part 1

Church is born out of forgiveness, grace and love. Not just flowing from Jesus to you, but from you into others! The Church then is a conduit, an overlap of Heaven and Earth in which the prayer “Thy Kingdom come, on earth as it is in Heaven” is fulfilled, at least temporarily. Is this conduit for Christians necessary? 

CS Lewis was once asked,

“Is attendance at a place of worship or membership with a Christian community necessary to a Christian way of life?”

His answer was as follows:

“That’s a question which I cannot answer. My own experience is that when I first became a Christian, about fourteen years ago, I thought that I could do it on my own, by retiring to my rooms and reading theology, and I wouldn’t go to the churches and Gospel Halls; and then later I found that it was the only way of flying your flag; and, of course, I found that this meant being a target. It is extraordinary how inconvenient to your family it becomes for you to get up early to go to Church. It doesn’t matter so much if you get up early for anything else, but if you get up early to go to Church it’s very selfish of you and you upset the house. If there is anything in the teaching of the New Testament which is in the nature of a command, it is that you are obliged to take the Sacrament, and you can’t do it without going to Church. I disliked very much their hymns, which I considered to be fifth-rate poems set to sixth-rate music. But as I went on I saw the great merit of it. I came up against different people of quite different outlooks and different education, and then gradually my conceit just began peeling off. I realized that the hymns (which were just sixth-rate music) were, nevertheless, being sung with devotion and benefit by an old saint in elastic-side boots in the opposite pew, and then you realize that you aren’t fit to clean those boots. It gets you out of your solitary conceit.”

God in the Dock, pp. 61-62.

Why do you need Church?

If and when you don’t feel like you’re being “fed”, what should you do?

What is the primary purpose of doing church in community according to Lewis?

Categories: church growth, CS Lewis | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Centennial Moment II

 

A review of the history, mission and faithfulness of the people who called First United Methodist Church, Williamstown, West Virginia – home.

We offer these messages and slides with gratitude for the people and faithfulness of those who gave their hearts to Christ, Church and Community.

January 15, 2012

centennial – jan 15

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Slay the Dragon before Breakfast

I awoke this morning to the dragon’s hot breath on my face. I was disoriented, not quite knowing where I was. I struggled to open one eye. Then another.

And there he was. A dragon. A very big dragon. With three heads. Sitting in my bedroom, like so many mornings before, he was waiting. His heads swerved back and forth, dancing in the dim light. Each head alternately belching fire and hissing smoke.

I groaned. Here we go again, I thought. If only I could shut my eyes and will him away. No such luck. His presence only grew more menacing.

I knew that I had to act. I leapt from the bed and ran straight at him. I have learned by experience that my only chance at victory is to slay the dragon while it is still dark. Before the first rays of sunshine strengthen his already substantial advantage.

Fortunately, once again I prevailed. But my victory is short-lived. I will face him again tomorrow. And the day after that.

Although this sounds like a fairy tale, it’s not. It’s my reality, day after day.

I face a dragon named Lethargy every morning. It has three heads:

Pneuma (spiritual),

Soma (physical), and

Nous (intellectual).

If I don’t slay this dragon before breakfast, he usually gets the best of me. After breakfast—when the day’s activities are crowding into my life—my chances of doing battle and winning drop dramatically. Sometimes I can emerge victorious. But rarely.

My chances are better if I get in my basic disciplines before I get assaulted with the demands of the workday.

So, before breakfast, I complete the following:

  1. Read the Bible. I use this Sword to cut off the dragon’s middle head. I don’t know why it is so hard to defeat, but it is. A thousand and one distractions vie for my attention. That’s why I grab a cup of fresh coffee, head to my favorite chair, and begin reading at once.

The Scriptures prime the pump and strengthen my resolve. If I can cut off the middle head of spiritual lethargy, the other two go down much easier. Currently, I am reading through the Bible in a year, using Disciple Bible Reading Plan or the Disciple Bible Reading Plan 5X5.

  1. Engage in exercise. I use this weapon to cut off the dragon’s left head: physical lethargy. Sometimes, I think this is even more important than the middle head. Why? Because if I am not exercising regularly, it negatively impacts every other area of my life. It becomes more difficult to manage stress. I find that I just don’t have the energy to fight the other beasts I encounter.

Currently, the dragon is getting the best of me here. I got some Kettle weights for Christmas, but I haven’t been as faithful here as I should.  Weather permitting, I run outside.  It’s helpful to have an accountability partner.

  1. Listen to books. I use this weapon to cut off the dragon’s right head: intellectual lethargy. I learned a long time ago that “leaders read and readers lead.” By definition a leader (as opposed to a mere manager) stays out in front of his people. To lead, you have to set the pace. You have to be a thought leader.

The problem I have is that it is difficult for me to sit still. I have a hard time finding a long enough stretch in the day to sit down and really read. I keep getting interrupted—or distracted.

However, by downloading books from Audible.com onto my Kindle or mp3, I can listen to books while I’m working out. Honestly, there are days when I hate to stop exercising because I am so engrossed in my book. It makes the time fly by.

Though I don’t do it before breakfast, I have one other discipline that I try to practice daily: PRAYER. I find that the best time for me to pray is in the car. This was easy when I had a commute to St. Marys. It usually took 35–40 minutes, so I had plenty of time. Now, I take advantage of any trip in the car. It’s become my rolling “prayer closet.”

So what are your biggest dragons? What is your strategy for defeating them before breakfast?

This post was edited from the original written by Michael Hyatt

http://michaelhyatt.com/slay-your-dragons-before-breakfast.html

Categories: Bible Study Tools, Discipleship, Inspirational | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

You Are Here pt1

When we became Christians we entered a process in which the life of Christ became the air we breathe, the blood which courses through our veins and the wisdom that guides our thoughts and actions. To know what the next step is in our spiritual growth, we must first know where we are and where we want to go!

Jesus’ Discipleship Process

(1) Come and See – an open invitation to all people without obligation or commitment

(2) Who Am I? – we face a decision when we come face to face with Jesus’ claims, actions and sacrifice

(3) Take Up Your Cross – unless we’re willing to sacrifice, serve and surrender to the mission of Christ it remains weak

(4) Go Make Disciples – this is the mission of every Christians, our calling and the reason Jesus saved us. We are not just saved from sin, but saved for a greater purpose. Sharing the story of Christ is not optional, but part of our growing process.

   Early Service

     Late Service

      Centennial Moment

Sermon Notes 01.15.12 You Are Here

Worship 01.15.12 You are Here 1

centennial – jan 15

PodcastAudio

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What is an Idol?

What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.

A counterfeit god [idol] is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living.

An idol has such a controlling position in your heart that you can spend most of your passion and energy, your emotional and financial resources, on it without a second thought.

The true god of your heart is what your thoughts effortlessly go to when there is nothing else demanding your attention. What do you enjoy daydreaming about? What occupies your mind when you have nothing else to think about?

Idolatry is not just a failure to obey God, it is a setting of the whole heart on something besides God.

When an idol gets a grip on your heart, it spins out a whole set of false definitions of success and failure and happiness and sadness. It redefines reality in terms of itself.

Idols cannot simply be removed. They must be replaced. If you only try to uproot them, they grow back; but they can be supplanted. By what? By God himself, of course. But by God we do not mean a general belief in his existence. Most people have that, yet their souls are riddled with idols. What we need is a living encounter with God.

Idolatry functions widely inside religious communities when doctrinal truth is elevated to the position of a false god. This occurs when people rely on the rightness of their doctrine for their standing with God rather than on God himself and his grace. It is a subtle but deadly mistake. The sign that you have slipped into this form of self-justification is that you become what the book of Proverbs calls a “scoffer.” Scoffers always show contempt and disdain for opponents rather than graciousness. This is a sign that they do not see themselves as sinners saved by grace. Instead, their trust in the rightness of their views makes them feel superior.

Categories: Timothy Keller | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

Centennial Moment I

A review of the history, mission and faithfulness of the people who called First United Methodist Church, Williamstown, West Virginia – home.

We offer these messages and slides with gratitude for the people and faithfulness of those who gave their hearts to Christ, Church and Community.

Centennial – jan 8

Categories: Centennial Moment, First United Methodist Church | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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