Friday, August 14, 2009

Doing Our Part

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 
—1 Peter 2:4–5

I am amazed, as I travel around the world, at how there is a special bond I find with other followers of Jesus Christ. It transcends all other ties, even nationalities. I will sit down with people from different countries, and although we may see the world a little bit differently and may not agree on every political point, we can agree on the fact that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and that He has changed our lives. We are part of the body of Christ, as the Bible calls it—the church.

There is nothing this world offers that is like the church. The church may have many critics, but it has no rivals. There is nothing like it anywhere.

In the Book of Acts, we find the story of the church that changed the world, the church that turned the world upside down. Their success was found in the simple fact that every Christian believed they were called to do their part. Every person mattered.

And in the same way in the church today, every man and every woman is what the Bible calls a “living stone”: “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5).

It is easy to stand on the sidelines and be critical of the church. It is easy to say, “They are not doing this right,” or “They are not doing that right.” But it is another thing when you are in the game, playing. It is another thing when you are in the arena, fighting, when you realize that you are a part of it.

Jesus was committed to the church, and we should be too.

Copyright © 2009 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 

For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
and
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