OUTWARDS AND UPWARDS

OUTWARDS AND UPWARDS
"Through Christians like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary
plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels !"  Eph
3:10 EHP People who have no faith and who do not worship God have strange ideas about
what happens when Christians meet together and worship. They think we
worship as a means of escape from the busy world. Or they assume we try to
jolly each other up by going through the motions of praying, reading the
Bible and listening to a sermon. It might just be, some assume, that we do
it to try and keep in God's good books. There are loftier ways of looking at it! Paul saw that the main purpose and
mission of the church, in all that it did, was to proclaim Christ. The very
existence of the church (it was a brand new innovation!) was a public
demonstration of God's power in raising Christ, as well as the inclusive
nature of his grace and mercy. But because it was not merely a national
religion but open to all it declared the "extraordinary" wisdom of God as
well. For that day and generation this was almost a "mind-blowing" thing. In
his excitement and wonder at how amazingly God was working Paul even dared
to suggest that the church was giving the message of God's grace and glory
to the angels as well. When you worship with your Christian community remember that there is a
wider dimension to your actions than just the impact on the community that
gathers. Their assembling is itself a statement to those who don't that God
is powerfully at work, that something is happening and that people are
interested in it all. It says, "Christ is alive". Prayer thought: Lord, inspire us to tell the world of your resurrection
power. GOD BLESS YOU!