What is role of the church? Why do we meet? What makes a church gathering any different from a club?
My favourite passage about the church is found in Acts chapter 2:42-47. For me, this passage has always been a wonderful reminder of the role and function of the church.
"They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
The Early church believers were devoted to teaching, they were connected with one another through fellowship, prayer, praising and the breaking of bread. The depth of the community, the involvement in one another’s life and the depth of sharing with one another inspires and challenges me. It was this type of engagement and connection that the Lord blessed. Notice the results, there were miracles, as well as, spiritual and numerical growth.
As we journey together in our walk with God and in our community, it is my hope that we will follow a similar model. That we will be committed to developing deep relationships, committed to studying God’s word, committed to lifting one another up in prayer, and committed to praising and serving.
These past two months we have enjoyed Sunday morning teaching from our staff, Anto, Hunter, Monte, Pastor Michele and guest speaker Pastor Howard Mellor. Union Church has always enjoyed hearing from a variety of speakers and March will be no exception. As we approach Lent, we look forward to hearing from special guests, Dr. Jeff Greenman (president of Regent College), Dr. David Wang and Pastor Andrew Gardner. We hope to see you Sundays, but we also hope that you will be connected to a small group for study and prayer, connected to serving and connected to the people of God at Union Church. If there is anything we can do to help you get more connected we would love to hear from you.
Blessings,
Pastor Michele