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“The
Church of Your Choice”
or
The Church
of Christ’s Choice?
Chuck Northrop
(recent speaker here in Duluth)
Probably
most of us have seen signs which say, “Join the Church
of Your Choice . ”At first glance, this seems to have
some appeal. However, with a
little closer examination, its appeal is not quite so vibrant. Why?
First,
because the church does not belong to me but unto Christ. No matter who I might be, the church
simply does not belong to me or any other person. Jesus purchased the church with His own
blood (Acts 20:28). Though men may shed their blood for the
church, men cannot purchase the church with their blood because men are
full of sin (Romans 3:23). Since Jesus purchased the church, then
the church belongs to him.
Therefore, men ought to be searching for the church
of Christ’s choice.
Second,
because man did not build the church, but Jesus built the church as He
promised (Matthew 16:18). Of course we are using the term “church”
as the Bible uses it — not with reference to a building but with
reference to a group of people.
Jesus established His church in the city of Jerusalem
on the day of Pentecost, fifty days after His death. Various men have built churches in
various other places and at various other times, but those churches
obviously would not be the church that Jesus built. Since Jesus built His church, men ought
to seek to be members of the church
of Christ’s choice.
Third,
because the church of my choice may not be the church
of Christ’s choice.
As a human, there are those things which appeal to me that may not
be appealing to Jesus. Because of
human weaknesses, I sometimes find myself thinking in only physical and
material terms. Because of human
weaknesses, I sometimes find myself striving to please self. And because of human weaknesses, I
sometimes find myself too lazy to do those things I know I ought to be
doing. “The church of your choice”
has you as its foundation. However,
the church of Christ’s
choice has Christ as its foundation.
Rather than striving to please self in the church of your choice,
men ought to strive to please Christ in the church
of Christ’s choice.
Now
that we understand we should desire the church
of Christ’s choice, how can we find such a church? The church
of Christ’s choice is revealed within the pages of the
Holy Scriptures, the Bible. She
was called by the name of Christ, not some by some man or some
doctrine. She has only one head —
Christ. Her worship is directed
towards the Father “in spirit and in truth. ”And God adds those who hear His word
(Romans 10:17), believes the
gospel (Mark 16:15,16),
repents of their sins (Acts 17:30),
confesses Christ (Romans 10:9,10), and are baptized for the remission of
sins (Acts 2:38) to His church
(Acts 2:47). Does this appeal to you? Then join us on the Lord’s day as we
make every effort to be the church
of Christ’s choice.
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to Contact us with Questions Click Here to
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