OUR CHURCHES EXIST just FOR US?

BEAUTIFUL EMPTY CHURCH BUILDINGS
ABANDONED CHURCHES?
WHO OWNS OUR CHURCHES?
WHO DOES OUR CHURCHES REALLY BELONG?

"We can never be guilty of thinking so highly of ourselves that we start to think that our churches exist for us. The reason both your church and our churches exist is for the people who don't attend them yet. But they will.

               I said because it is true. They will. And they're not just going to come to our church, they're going to come to yours. And they will come because, at some point, you begin praying for them. By name, by need, you broke out your card and took every one of them to the throne of God every day, asking God to reveal Himself to them. You invited them to church, I just want us to get a zillion times, and they always declined. But you kept praying. Every day. Each one." PP. 144, Tom Mercer, "OIKOS Your World, Delivered"

              I know in my case, this revolved around the Bible study. As a pastor, I visited the community.  While doing this visitation, I usually found a church family willing to have a Bible Study, and then I would invite other neighbors to the Bible study. As the Bible study went on, and, became better acquainted, we really had a good time around this Bible study of about eight people. I did this in all the churches I pastored. Some church people would be coming, and we just had a good time together around the word of Jesus Christ.
             I believe that pretty soon, depending on how committed you are to it, these friends, in the Bible study, come to Christ, and they begin coming to your church. In my case, this was especially true because I was a pastor of that church, and they realized that I was a person just like them, and they could talk with me, and they could fellowship with me.

               If you do this with very many people (neighbors) the church (the assembly) is going to grow. While at first, you may be the center point of interest for these people, pretty soon they get acquainted with other Christians, and they began to mature in Christ and His word. Then Christ becomes the center point in their lives. They do need the assembly, because here they find support in living the life of a Christian, and they're growing in the word of God, which is a voice of Christ the real leader. Believe me, there develops a very sweet spirit of Christ around us, in this group. They really do care for each other. This group coming to the large assembly(we called the church, but now I'm not so sure which of these groups really is the church), anyway that sweet spirit naturally transfers to others. Unfortunately, sometimes this becomes a threat to some. (Believe it or not, in my case, this was older elders).

           So, in this case, I had to go (actually fired by these elders). I could say that I wasn't hurt or bothered by this, but that's not true, I was. And this didn't leave the church unaffected, because they did scatter into other churches. I never spoke against not going to that church or even starting another church in the area--I could have. The point I'm trying to make here is not to tell my side of a little story, but to point out we need to build people in Christ not in one person, as a pastor. I've been the incoming pastor, in other churches, where the previous pastor has suffered such a problem. Obviously, this kind of situation needs correcting, and there were times the Lord used me to do that.
            When the pastor has been used by God to build the church(assembly) to a very large assembly, such problems work a terrible toll,  The church(assembly) and the community around--actually anyone in contact with that boby.

          I'm not so sure that house churches are not the answer, and that's something I would like to take up in another study. But in any case the focus should be on Jesus Christ not on him one person--pastor or whomever. It's more difficult for young Christians, because they do focus on someone like a pastor, but if the pastors really doing his job he will refocus these young Christians on Christ. The main function a pastor has is as a conveyor of the truth of Jesus Christ's words and fit it into everyday life. With the world getting as complex as that is today, to really convey the truth of Jesus Christ words, that person should be committed enough to learn the original language those truths were written in.

               Tom Mercer's book contains some other good bits of truth. The body of Christ--the church, is not only for us but for those across this city, across the state, across the country. Jesus Christ died to save lost people. 

               "Local churches exist to facilitate strategic partnerships with local Christians, enhancing their success in delivering that message. Churches can misfire by not understanding their unique role. A great church finds ways to facilitate the Great Commission and the lives of believers who, quite frankly, don't feel that great at it." P. 142 OIKOS

             Jesus Christ's instructions, to the church--His Body, were, "to go, and in the going, make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you."