{"id":96,"date":"2013-07-24T21:03:15","date_gmt":"2013-07-24T21:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/thoughts\/?p=96"},"modified":"2013-07-24T21:03:15","modified_gmt":"2013-07-24T21:03:15","slug":"what-kind-of-church-do-we-want-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/thoughts\/?p=96","title":{"rendered":"What kind of church do we want to be?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What kind of church do we want to be? When people in the neighbourhood talk about North Springfield Baptist Church, how would we like them to describe us? <\/p>\n

A church with good teaching? A church with genuine worship?
\nA church with great children\u2019s and youth work? A church which brings all ages together side by side?
\nA loving church? A united church? An evangelistic church?
\nA church which welcomes everybody? A church where people find God?
\nA church where Christians grow to maturity? A church where everybody plays their part?
\nA praying church? A spirit-filled church? A church \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

What are our prayers, our hopes, our aspirations as a church? What kind of church do we want to be? Most important, what kind of church does God want us to be?<\/p>\n

Rev Dr Mark Stibbe of St Andrews Chorleywood once wrote this. \u201cI have a dream. It’s a dream of a church where the sung worship is so anointed and so fresh that people who visit and who don’t know Christ are moved to say yes’ to the invitation to follow Christ. It\u2019s a dream of a church where the gifts of the Spirit are flowing, and where there are regular testimonies of prophecies that have proved true and sick people who have been healed. It’s a dream of a house where Gods manifest presence is sensed by all. It’s a dream of a church where the Bible is preached with life-changing results, and where the people consequently have a hunger to read and study God’s Word on their own. In short, it’s a church of the Spirit and the Word.\u201d <\/p>\n

Jesus said, \u201cI will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it\u201d. (Matthew 16:18)<\/p>\n

Let us be praying and seeking God to discover what kind of church he is building us into.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What kind of church do we want to be? When people in the neighbourhood talk about North Springfield Baptist Church, how would we like them…<\/span><\/p>\n

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