“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42, 27).

Church people love the last part of this verse – “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

Wouldn’t that be awesome?!?! I want to see that. Who wouldn’t want that.

It’s interesting that we get so fixated in that last part that we miss an important word in the first section of this passage: devoted.

DEVOTED.

Take an honest look at your involvement and relationship with God’s church. Would the word “devoted” describe our relationship with God’s church?

• Devoted to the apostle’s teaching – the Bible
• Devoted to fellowship
• Devoted to the breaking of bread – worship
• Devoted to prayer

What would need to change so that “DEVOTED” would be express our relationship with God’s church?

Wes Huff writes, “If you love Jesus you should love what Jesus loves. And that means you should be an official, active, and serving and giving member of your local church.”

Francis Chan is one of my favorites authors and pastors. He simply says, “In our impatient culture, we want to experience Biblical awe without Biblical devotion.”

Sadly, I think he’s right.

DEVOTED.

You in?

“Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior” (Ephesians 5:23).

“I love Jesus. It’s just the church I have issues with.”

“I love Jesus, but not the church.”

Ever hear something like that?

I get it. The church is flawed and the church and her people have messed up plenty of times. No particular congregation represents the totality of the Church of Jesus Christ. However, having said that, each particular congregation is an expression of the greater church. No particular congregation can represent the whole universal church, but each local congregation is an expression – albeit not a perfect expression – of God’s church.

Ok. James. What are you getting at? I’m glad you asked.

Even though no congregation is perfect, if you want to belong to Christ, you belong to a local church.

There is no other way to belong to Jesus without belonging to His body, the church. There is no other understanding of the church in the New Testament.

A person who says something like “I love Jesus but not the church” is claiming a relationship with the Head while rejecting the body He died to save. This is a relationship that the Bible knows nothing about.

Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior. If you love Jesus, you love and serve a local congregation because the church is His body.

You in?

Picture of Caesarea Phillipi 2022 with people from the Little Church. That’s where Jesus promised Peter that He would build His church. The cave you see, which descends into the darkness for hundreds of feet, is called the “Gates of Hell.” This was the location of human and animal sacrifice to the underworld.

“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18).

The church is the only institution on planet earth that Jesus promised to build.

So when you give your time, resources, efforts to your church, you are joining Jesus at building His church. Conversely, when you do not give and serve through the church, you are not only missing out at what God is doing through His church, but you are neglecting the very body of Jesus Christ.

I thank God for you at the Little Church. You are amazing about loving God by loving His church. Thank you for your service, your tithes, and your talents that you devote to see the growth and vitality of the Little Church. You are linking hands with Jesus to build His church!

For those of you who have not, this is your wake up call. Get involved. Start serving and giving. It is not only a good idea to serve and give, but this is what loving Jesus looks like.

If you need help finding a way to serve and give, give us a call in the office. We would be happy to walk you through this.

God is building His church.

You in?