When I was fifteen years old at a little Baptist church in Guntersville, Alabama, I accepted Christ as my Savior.
I joined that little church and was baptized into the fellowship of the church. As a young Christian, I truly did not understand the total meaning of that commitment. But as I grew in the Lord, the meaning became clearer. My husband, Larry, was called into the ministry at twenty-two years old; I was nineteen.
In 2018, after serving in pastoral ministry for forty-three years, He retired. In 2019, our only son passed away. At that time, we had not joined another church. Our membership was still at the last pastorate.
I’ll never forget the day of the funeral as I stood ready to receive visitors, looked up the aisle, and saw the faces of precious church members from many of the congregations we had the privilege of serving. My heart was overcome with such gratitude and wonderful memories of years gone by and how they each had affected my life.
When you are part of a church, they are not just acquaintances; they become your family, the family of God. We had the wonderful pleasure of experiencing with them their salvation, rededication to the Lord, marriage, births, and the opportunity of ministering during some of their greatest trials, especially the loss of their loved ones. This was our greatest loss, and the family of God held us up and stood in the gap before the Lord on our behalf.
2020, the year of COVID-19, affected the church greatly, and we still are affected by the ramifications of it. Given the world of technology at our fingertips, many of us were blessed to still view worship and listen to sermons online. With churches shut down and many not assembling during the pandemic, it became a source of encouragement when we all were separated from our families, our jobs, and our fellowship. As much as we were thankful for this new avenue of reaching out in ministry. As the months rolled on, I will have to confess I missed the gathering together of my brothers and sisters in Christ. There is no doubt we are better together.
The Greek word Kaleo means “the called out.” Christ called twelve disciples, and he established the first church through them. He called them unto Himself intimately and taught them how to pray, to have fellowship one with another, and gave them authority to teach in His name. Before he ascended, He told them:
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, Lo I am with you always…” Matthew 28:19-20 KJV
Did you know if you are a Christian, you are a recipient of the good news from the first church? I think often we take for granted the sacrifices they made to spread the gospel. It was a hard way, a way of prison, beatings, hunger, and death. No comforts of home and no place to assemble, so they met from house to house.
Today, we are so blessed (sometimes with churches on every corner of every city), and yet the attendance is declining at rapid speeds everywhere. Do you think, as Christians, we have forgotten our first love? The two great commandments coming from the Father are to:
“…love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” Luke 10:27
The Bible teaches us that we are the body of Christ. He is the head, and we are the body with many members. While not complete, the body is able to function without all the parts. However, in your absence, the church is missing the gifts the Lord placed within you, and you, in turn, will miss the many gifts the church has to offer you.
I’ve heard so many ask, “Do you have to go to church to be a Christian?” The answer is “no,” but why would you not want to go and honor and worship the one who sacrificed so much for us? If you do not want fellowship here, how do you anticipate heaven to be? “Where two or three are gathered together in his name, he is there in the midst of us” (Matthew 18:20), and the more there are worshipping and praising him, the more of his Spirit is among us.
My heart grieves for the times in which we are living; our culture is changing every day. My prayer is that we may not be conformed to the world but, as the church, be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit within us. Empty pews across the land want to be filled by those that the Lord has called out to be a peculiar people so they can be equipped to have the wisdom to share the plan of salvation and reach a world that is lost.
Christ and His word call us by numerous names throughout the scriptures. Here are a few to remind you who we are in Christ’s church: you are the light, the salt, the ransomed, the redeemed, the bride of Christ, lively stones, trees of righteousness, and one of my favorites is ambassadors.
I recently read this statement; “if we are ambassadors for Christ, then the church could be called the embassy for heaven.” Whewwww weeeeee did that one shake up my heart?! The physical representation of our homeland. Why wouldn’t all of God’s family want to meet and learn more about our heavenly home?
When Larry retired in 2018, we thought he would do pulpit supply for churches in these later years, but the Lord has surprised us again with the gift of pastoring a new church. We are so excited to have a new opportunity to serve and be served with God’s family. Eddy Baptist Church has already brought so much joy and fellowship in the short time we have been there.
Our Lord and Savior is soon coming, and He told us in His word to not fail to assemble, and so much the more when you see that day appearing!
“He that haith an ear let him hear what the spirit saith to the church.” Revelation 2:11
“And the Spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth say, come. And let him that is a thirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17
My prayer for us (the church) today:
“May we all be used for His glory till He comes!”
Diane Mann
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#dianemannblogs
