The Body of Christ is made up of individual believers. The Local Church is where individual believers come together in UNITY for the work of REVIVAL.
Jesus prayed: “Father, may they all be one as You are in Me and I am in You; may they be in Us, for by this unity the world will believe that You sent Me.” John 17:21 (The Voice)
Have you ever wondered what impact a faithful, loving and Christ-centered church would have on their neighborhoods? I remember a few years ago when my daughter preached and shared this profound statement, she heard at a Convoy of Hope outreach, that I will never forget:
“The reason our WORLD is messed up is because…
- Our COUNTRY is messed up, and our country is messed up because…
- Our STATES are messed up, and our states are messed up because…
- Our CITIES are messed up, and our cities are messed up because…
- Our NEIGHBORHOODS are messed up, and our neighborhoods are messed up because…
- Our FAMILIES are messed up, and our families are messed up because…
- We, as INDIVIDUALS, are messed up.”
Get the picture? How can a broken world repair itself apart from the gospel? It can’t. It’s impossible. Governments and laws cannot rescue the sinful heart…only Jesus can. Billy Graham said, “Salvation is an act of God. It is initiated by God, wrought by God, and sustained by God.” Therefore we, as individuals, must first be reconciled to God before we can see true change in our families, our neighborhoods…you get the picture. It has to start with us.
Now back to our opening question, but this time, let’s make it more personal: Have you ever wondered what impact our faithful, loving and Christ-centered church would have on our neighborhoods? We can’t forget, not only are we a church made up of individual members, redeemed by God, but we are a group of UNITED believers in Jesus Christ! That’s powerful! If you’ve made Jesus your Lord, then you are bought with Christ’s precious blood, you’ve been immersed into the very character and likeness of God through baptism, filled with His Spirit and claimed by His relentless love! Who you have in you is the difference-maker for our world!
When we, as a body of Spirit-filled believers, come together in unified prayer, and we begin to move forward under God’s direction, things begin to happen. Jesus said (after He commissioned His disciples), “And these signs will follow those who believe: they will be able to cast out demons in My name, speak with new tongues, take up serpents, drink poison without being harmed, and lay their hands on the sick to heal them.” Mark 16:17-18 (The Voice)
The gifts God’s instilled within each of us will begin to bear fruit as they are activated! Signs and wonders will accompany those who believe, and they will confirm the Word that we preach. It’s time for us to GO! God is sending revival. Our world is waiting. All of this will happen to serve one purpose: to bring salvation to the lost and reignite the “first love” in every believer.
Blog Post Contributed by: Kevin Garland
Photo by Daniel Tseng on Unsplash
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