Assemble the Body
Rising from the rubble is the church that will share the greatest message that the world needs right now. A message of hope, a message of grace and mercy and love that has been forgotten over the past year. That’s the mission the church has been given. The mission has never changed.
The way we accomplish the mission hasn’t changed either. The message of the good news of Jesus Christ was always distributed by the Body of Christ. That’s you. That’s me. That’s we.
You have a role in the Body of Christ. You need to allow the Spirit of God to lead you to your role. Why? The church needs you! We need you so that we can assemble the team that God has brought together right here at FCC to rise from the rubble and revive the world with the Love of Christ.
Heart of Christ
Acts 6:1-4 tells us about a time when the Apostles faced a challenge at the start of the church. The widows were being overlooked. When the Christians were making the rounds to care for some of these women, they were not taking them the food they needed. As a church today we also face challenges. How can we handle all God is calling us to? A phrase we all have heard before is, “Teamwork makes the dream work.” God gifts each of us to help build up the church body, not just run the church, but really take care of each other and love each other during this time.
Goodness
We carry the imprint of God in our souls; we were created in His image, “So God created mankind in his own image….” (Genesis 1:27) Jesus is the perfect model of goodness, and as a church, we are designed to live out that goodness through good works. However, we can’t do this on our own; we have to have Jesus Christ as our Savior because no matter how hard we try, we will fail at some point. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)
Equipped for Empathy
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. To be empathetic we must be willing to listen to another’s story, be in their story with them and most of all, don’t look for a way to turn it into our story.
Jesus elevated everyone, every hurt, every opinion, every situation, every choice above his own. The cross is the ultimate picture of that elevation. Part of Empathy is humility that allows the goodness of God to shine through us. It’s as simple as asking, “When someone is hurting, who are you placing at the center?” Is it them, or is it subtly becoming you?
Freedom from Fear
Love is a word we often use flippantly. We say we love food, clothes, and cars. But when love is used in the Bible, it’s almost always being used about people.
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God (1 John 4:7 NIV).
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13 NIV).
God is clear that we are to love one another. Memorial Day is a special time to remember those who loved us and sacrificed their lives for our freedom.
Living Out Humility
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less,” C.S. Lewis.
In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the father’s humility is often overlooked. The father saw his son in the distance, and his heart went out to him. He ran to him, embraced and kissed him. A prideful father would have stood his ground watching each humbling step, forcing his son to feel the weight of his transgressions. Instead, the father threw off his dignity and pride, not mentioning his son’s past misbehavior.
Living Out Humility looks at how we should imitate Christ’s humility by valuing others above ourselves, displaying tenderness, compassion, and forgiveness.
Trustworthy
Our whole mission can be summed up with one question, “Are you for me?” It is that simple and specific. Because when you know that someone is for you, is wanting the best for you and is pulling, for you and have you at the center of the story and not themselves, it changes everything about how you hear anything from them. When I believe you are not for me, it breaks down trust and I start to assume that you are selfishly trying to manipulate me and count me up as a project. Which is all the negativity that our world has towards the church right there.
The people of this planet need to know everything Jesus did was for them because he is for them. Every person who walks in the door of your life is someone whom Christ loves, someone for whom Jesus gave himself. Therefore, every person needs to know we are for them, and they are worth it.