Church part 1 - Growth

I have a lot of issues with the church.  A lot.  I do not deny that.

However, I still believe that it is God’s chosen instrument for bringing salvation and freedom to those in need.  Not that I believe that there is no salvation outside the Church (God is pretty good at surprises after all) but rather that I believe it was the best idea He had, and He gave it to us to run with.  So who am I to have issue with it?

Jesus could have left us with a fixed picture of his Church.  Like a blue-print for a house.  Then we could have built it exactly to his specifications and design, using lasting material.

The problem with that idea, is that there is not a lot of room for change in a house.  It has solid foundations, but it also has solid walls and roofs.  It doesn’t change easily to adapt to changing times and geography.  

So Jesus left us something better.

He planted a seed.

He planted a seed with the teaching he left with his disciples.

Then he gave them the great commission to start growing it. 
Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Then the seed started to flourish, and it was fertilised on the Day of Pentecost by the Holy Spirit. 

And as it is watered every day with Living Waters, and exposed to SONlight, that seed has grown into a mighty tree.

The Church of God.

<More to follow tomorrow>