In love with the local church

I absolutely love the local church....there I said it!

It was in the local church that I found my relationship with Jesus, that I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. It's where I met and married my husband and where I stepped into the calling God has for my life. Its where I've met the most amazing people that I get to do life with every single day, and dream about the future with them. Its where I've met and had the privilege to lead the most amazing teenagers who I know will continue to go on and change the world we live in.

I LOVE THE LOCAL CHURCH!!

Is it perfect? Absolutely not, but why should we expect it to be? The local church is meant to be a hospital for the broken, a place where we grow up and grow THROUGH our growing pains. Is there the possibility of getting beat up a bit along the way...absolutely! But how foolish are we, if we allow that to get in the way of all God wants and purposed for the local church to do!

I LOVE Psalm 92:12-13 "The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green." These verses tell me that those who are PLANTED in the house of God WILL flourish and we will continue to bear good fruit into our old age! How foolish to read that and still think we know better and think we don't need to be rooted in our local church!

One final thought: being planted doesn't mean we come in late each week and fill a seat either. It means we are sold out to the cause, active in the pursuit of winning the lost and serving/loving those who come through our doors each week. We never stop growing, never stop learning and choose to look past the things we may not like and remember there is a greater cause....the cause of Christ!