WHY CHURCH

Many times I have been asked what is the use of going to church, what good does it do me, what will I get out of it? It is like being asked what is the use of getting married, what good does it do me? If I answered such a question by saying, “Well, it is very useful to get married! You have someone to do the housework, the shopping, cook the meals, etc.,” it would clearly be a false view of marriage. No woman wants to be merely a housekeeper, kept because of her functionality. There is only one supreme reason for getting married—for love’s sake, for the other’s sake, for mutual love, self-giving, a longing for intimate communion, and sharing everything.
So in Christian worship, we worship God for God’s sake; we come together for Christ’s sake, motivated by love. An awareness of God’s holy love for us, revealed in Jesus Christ, awakens in us a longing for intimate communion—to know the love of the Father and to participate in the life and ministry of Christ.
Love always implies a communion between persons. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is a community of Love! God is Love! The Church (those adopted into the Father’s family of love) gathers in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—in love; to commune with the God of love and each other. We were created for communion – to be “co-lovers.” We are to find our identity, our fulfillment in this community of love—our true “being” is in “being-in-communion” with God and one another, sharing in God’s love for the world as “co-lovers.”
So, what is the use of going to church, what good does it do me, what will I get out of it? I discover who I am by realizing “whose” I am! I develop who I am by living in this community of love! I am deployed (or sent) into the world as a living expression of the God who is love!
Only as I commune with God in His “body” (the church) do I truly become the “image” of who He created me to be. Only in this atmosphere of love, THE BODY OF LOVE, can I really come to my fullest and highest potential in Christ.

The Power of Your Words

I thank God for the people who have believed in me through out my life. The words that they spoke over me and the encouragement that they have given me are beyond anything that money can buy. I think that we forget just how powerful our words are to those around us. Words are life or death. Our Father used words to create and to heal and He has entrusted us with the privilege of speech.

I was preaching last Sunday and I remember this story about Ben Hooper. It is a great story and I wanted to share it with all of you ... Please take the time to watch the 3 minute outtake of last Sunday. And remember you can make a difference in the life of those around you by your Words!

Pastor Quintin