22 But be people who do the word, not merely people who hear it and deceive themselves. 23 Someone who hears the word but doesn’t do it, you see, is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror. 24 He notices himself, but then he goes away and quickly forgets what he looked like. 25 But the person who looks into the perfect law of freedom, and goes on with it, not being a hearer who forgets but a doer who does the deed—such a person is blessed in their doing.
(James 1: 22- 25. Wright, N. T. The Kingdom New Testament)
It’s Sunday again. I get to go be with the other parts of the Body to which I am assigned. This week has been filled with horror in the news media, and in the midst of it I believe the Church and the Message we carry is the only solution to most of what I see around us. Sin and the heart problems it causes are driving people mad. For us, today is a chance to be confronted once again with the mirror of the Word telling us who we are and what we can do. This week in particular, don’t be one who hears and wanders off unchanged. The Church is an amazing thing. The world can’t afford for us to be less than who we are:
- God’s blood-bought people: Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. (Acts 20:28 NKJV)
- The Body of Christ: Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. (1 Corinthians 12:27 NKJV)
- The Family of God: For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, (Ephesians 3:14-15 NKJV)
- Purveyors of His wisdom: God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 3:10 NLT)
- The foundation of the truth: I am writing these things to you now, even though I hope to be with you soon, so that if I am delayed, you will know how people must conduct themselves in the household of God. This is the church of the living God, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:14-15 NLT)
- The Container of His Presence: Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. (Ephesians 2:20-21 NLT)
Hopefully, you get the point: Let’s be who we are! We can do this. We must do this!
pastorvirgil.com 