Today, I want to talk about the church.
The church, filled with a body of believers, is the greatest influence on the face of the earth. The one institution that offers spiritual healing to hurting, bleeding and lost people.
The church is an emblem of hope. It provides resources to meet the needs of the hungry, guidance for the confused and directions for eternity. The church is the one place where everyone can come and feel like someone regardless of what they have done.
At church, they will hear a song that will lift their spirits and burdens. They will see children actively involved in singing praises to our Lord and engaged in teaching and training activities.
A choir full of men, not in the streets but in a church, are making a joyful noise unto the Lord.
They will hear a preacher’s word that can turn their lives around and hear about a savior who can take nothing and make something out of it.
No matter how bad they have been, or how low they think they are, they can’t be bad enough or low enough that God won’t save them.
I have heard people say how distraught, burdened and troubled they were when they came to church but expressed how much better they felt after they attended.
The building where God’s people join together for corporate worship has influence. We may not know this but the world is watching the church; those who attend the church then after they leave the church.
They are watching to see how we act when church service is over and to see if what we hear in church is being practiced during the week.
The church is under the microscope because it is the one institution that stands out among religions. The church is founded by a resurrected savior who rose bodily from the grave, and because he lives, no matter how dark the day or night is, we can face tomorrow.
The church is being watched because of the good things that it does and of the lives that are changed.
Others are watching to see if we really love each other. They are watching to see if we are unified in our worship.
Satan has watchmen all around scoping the church to find where he can kill out church influence from the world.
The church is the only institution that offers a salvation that can deliver people from bad habits and turn their lives around.
It can cause an alcoholic to lay his bottle down, walk away and never pick it up again. It can break the addiction of drugs so that drug addicts can become productive citizens to their families and society.
We, the church, have a message that can snatch a person from the gates of hellfire and brimstone.
Community, the church has a mighty powerful influence and if we play our cards right, are true to our calling, and lift up and glorify Jesus, we can win folk to Christ.
We can help someone and change situations within our community if we work together despite our differences. We will impress those that are watching and bring glory to God. That’s why we have to be careful because the “church of the living God” has influence.
In the book of Acts, the Lord was working and moving through the church. The Holy Spirit had come and now the church was on the move. The love of Jesus was at work among the Christians and the community was observing.
After Peter preached three thousand souls got saved.
The witness of the church is that souls were saved. This is the number one thing that every church ought to be doing; evangelizing and winning souls for Christ.
That is why the church exist, “to seek and to save that which is lost.”
The early church did more than just make converts, they also made disciples.
Community, they were all together, sharing their material goods and no one went “lacking.” This does not mean that they did not have differences of opinion but they didn’t let their opinions divide them.
Community, just look at this early church and notice how “they were praising God and having favor with all the people.”
The model for any church and wouldn’t it be nice if every church today was like the Acts church. They were not content to have church as usual and their Christian faith was a day-to-day reality, not a once-a-week routine. Look at the influence of the church.
There were three thousand saved one day and five thousand saved another day.
The Lord was adding daily to the church and the devil did not like the church.
The devil hates the church and he seeks to destroy the church’s influence.
The church is still standing because the church is built on a solid foundation.
Community, when we walk together in love, unity and practice what we preach, we will impress the community and obtain favor of the Lord.
That is the influence of a good church.
The Rev. George Ellis is pastor for Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church.
