That’s All The Instructions You Get!

That’s All the Instructions You Get
By Pastor Todd Crofford
I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.
-Matthew 16:18 NLT

The verse above is one of TWO times Jesus used the word church.

That is not a typo… two.

The group established to carry on His mission gets two mentions from Jesus’s lips. You would think He would have left a very specific instruction manual.  

Meet this many times per week, break your budget down in these percentages between buildings, staff, and ministries. Play the music at this volume, make your nursery this big, and take communion this many times per year.

And for heaven’s sake make sure your carpet is the right color!

Nope, we don’t get any of that.

Those questions and a thousand more are left wide open for us to figure out by following the prompting of the non-audible Holy Spirit’s voice.  Since that is true, let me make a few simple observations and let your mind go where it will.

Since people are all so different, it is OK to have different types of churches.
There is no perfect church.  We do our best to honor God, but we fall short.
Hold tightly to Truth; hold loosely to methods. My way and your way are not the only ways.
Celebrate every church that succeeds. Real Life is not in a competition with other churches.

If God had been looking for the most efficient way to complete His mission, He would not have chosen us to do it.  Yet God is always about relationship, and so we get the privilege of knowing and serving Him and bringing others into that fold as well.

So, join with me in loving the church and being the church this week.