9/30/2024

Why the church?  Scott Sauls says the church exists for restoration, rehabilitation and redeployment.  Jesus’ vision for the church as a purposeful, healing, and safe hospital for the sin-sick stands in stark contrast to our all-too-common view of the church as an optional, shiny social club add-on to our lives.

Membership in a community that presumes to call itself “Christian” means joining your imperfect self to other imperfect selves to form an imperfect spiritual family that, through Jesus, embarks on a journey toward a better future together.

In his book Life Together Dietrich Bonhoeffer says that the person who loves his dream of community more than the Christian community itself, with all its weaknesses and frailties, dismisses Jesus’ first and foremost love.

How do we experience genuine love in the midst of an imperfect, messy community?  It’s been said, “Be kind, because everyone you meet is fighting a hard, hidden battle.”

All in the Journey community of faith are to love the church as the body of Christ even with all its imperfections, weaknesses, and frailties.  In the church that loves like Jesus, we realize that we’re not alone.  We are to offer encouragement to one another’s souls.

Biblical love is meant to reshape us into the likeness of the One who first loved us when we were not His friends but His enemies.  God demonstrated His love for us in this—while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

We in Christ’s body, the church, are to love not in a shallow, sentimental way, but in a sacrificial, costly way because the love of Jesus cost His very life on the cross—for us!

We are not a consumer good to Jesus.  We are His forever family—fully known and fully loved.  We are cherished daughters and sons of our heavenly Father.

Imperfectly, I know, but every day, as best I know how, I love and cherish you, Journey Church, with the love of Jesus.

-Michael