The meetings of the church are not for consumers, but for people looking for service. They look to serve before, during, and after their meetings together. They search for someone to encourage to live in Christ. They meet with other Christians not to receive, but to give. They have the heart of God.
“I could not really love the Church in a rightly ordered way until I learned to love Christ above all.” —Rod Dreher
God wants a congregation to be a loving family that helps the weak, draws its power from the gifts of each one, and reaches out to draw others in to the forgiveness and freedom that prevails.
The world is warped and twisted. The world must not be allowed to enter the church of God.
The church can be defined in large part by what it does. “… the church offered earnest prayer to God for him” Acts 12.5 CEB.
The saints you can count on are those who don’t stay away from their spiritual family except when physically incapacitated. All others are motivated by convenience, not by discipleship.