The Church has Left the Building

I began this post on August 12, 2009, and immediately was distracted. That day God had allowed me to experience a divine appointment to share Christ. I truly felt that I was engaging once again in evangelizing the lost. For this reason, I entitled this post, The "Church has left the building." I found myself understanding more and more that I do more ministry outside of the "church building." So many Christians leave the church building every week and turn off their Christianity. I do not understand how it is possible to misunderstand that Christianity is not just religion but a relationship with Christ, which should lead us to be Christ followers. The Holy Spirit is deposited in each of us at Salvation. We then become a members of the universal church, the Body of Christ. The Church has left the building, means that you and I who call ourselves Christians should be mindful that we take His name with us wherever we go. We were called to go out into the world and be witnesses of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Matt 28:19-20) When we say that we are Christians, we must be ready and willing to testify of His goodness wherever we go, everyday. We cannot continue to be Sunday "saints" and weekday "aints." We must remember to be the church that has left the building each day. Ministry and giving glory to God is not just a church thing, it is a lifestyle. It must be something all of us DO. God deserves All the glory. How DO we glorify Him when we do not love our brothers and sisters? 1 John 4:19-21 states, 19 We love, because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. Your brothers and sisters, are not only those in the church building. They are those who Christ died for, ALL people. Although each person is responsible for his own soul, we must always be cognizant that someone is watching our walk and hearing our talk. What are they seeing? What are they hearing us say? Are we aware that our actions are important? We must never be the stumbling block to a brother or sister that keeps them from following Christ. This includes not judging them. The Word of God and the Holy Spirit are the tools, God uses to convict all mankind of sin. He needs us to speak His Word in love, not condemnation. Romans 14:12-13: So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way. We must see all people as people that God sent His Son to die for or we would never tell them the good news of the Gospel.

Be encouraged today, to BE the "Church" that has left the building.