The solution is for the church to be the church

Posted byoakhillcrossvillePosted inUncategorized
Good morning everyone,
 
Our theme for this month: “Be the church”
 
Our Bible verse for today: “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 (CSB)
 
Our thought for today: “The solution is for the church to be the church”
 
I have just ended my annual summer vacation and as I turn my attention back to the life of the church, my primary task for August is to prepare the church for the new church year which begins in September. That will include preparing the new budget and appointing people to their ministry assignments for the new year, and it will also include preparing the church in mind, heart, attitude, and focus, for the challenges awaiting us as we go out into the world to be the church, on-mission with Jesus Christ.
 
This is important. Our nation desperately needs the church to be the church. Not just Oak Hill Baptist, but all churches, everywhere. Our communities need our churches to be actively engaged outside the walls of the buildings they meet in.
 
But being on-mission with Jesus in the world we live in today will be no easy task. We live in a post-Christian culture that has already drifted far from God and which is rapidly becoming not just unbiblical, but anti-biblical. The old saying, “The longer you stay on a slippery slope the faster you go and the further you fall,” is certainly being proven true in our society today. The anti-biblical mindset is most easily seen in the realm of sexual ethics. But we also see it in the Marxist ideology that is becoming increasingly pervasive, especially in colleges and universities; we see it in the socialist sense of entitlement that is pervading our entire society; we see it in the surge of criminal activity in our cities and communities; and we see it in the general lack of truthfulness that is becoming so widespread and so widely accepted in our society today.
 
But still, in Matthew 5:13-16, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus called us to go out into our very messy, very confused, very lost world, and be salt and light. In other words, to speak Biblical truth, minister in love, and to make a meaningful difference for the kingdom of God. That’s what we are called to do. That’s how we are to respond to all that is going on around us in our world. We are to simply be the church, on-mission with Jesus, out in the world. We are to do it with boldness and confidence, and we are to do it in love. The solution is for the church to be the church.
 
We’ll spend the rest of this month thinking about that.
 
God bless,
Pastor Jim
 
(If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville
 
 
God bless,
Pastor Jim
 
 
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