Churches come in all different shapes and sizes. Are you looking for fellowship, friendship, and a sense of belonging? There’s a church for that. Do you want to be moved emotionally by passionate and contemporary worship? There’s a church for that. Do you want to hear a dynamic and uplifting message of grace and hope? There’s a church for that. Do you want donuts and coffee in a relaxed come-as-you-are atmosphere? There’s a church for that.
The church you join says a lot about who you are and what you are looking for. “My church” is usually the group that best meets “my needs.” For this reason, churches have made it their business to tend to the needs of their community. The style of their worship, structure of their service, and focus of their ministry is largely determined by what people are looking for.
Yet God would urge us to change our focus. The Apostle Paul passionately defended the purity of his intentions when he stated, “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10). As servants of Christ, our greatest concern should not be what people are looking for in church, but what God is looking for. I need to be in search of “God’s Church,” not “my church.”
Do you want to please God above all else? Do you want to follow His word and His will in everything you do? There is a church for that. Where do I find this church? It may not be the church with the impressive building or the exciting worship production. It may not be the church where all your friends are going. It may not be the church you were raised in. Yet there is one place you can be sure to find this church… within the pages of your Bible. The church we read about here is the church that belongs to God and was built by Jesus Himself. Are you part of that church?
At Eastside, that is the church we are striving to be. We know we are far from perfect, but we pray for God’s grace to mold us more and more into the church He wants us to be. We look to the New Testament as our pattern and King Jesus as our only authority. We invite you to do the same.
Over the next few weeks we will examine God’s church as we read about it in the New Testament. We will see how it ministered, taught, evangelized, and worshipped. We will focus on the example and teaching of Jesus to guide us. And we will compare what we see to the religious culture around us. How does “my church” match up with the church of the Bible? Can I truly say I am part of God’s church? I challenge us all to honestly evaluate our religious commitments in light of the scriptures. May we all have the courage and resolve to follow God’s word above our own personal preferences and God’s will above the approval of men.