Podcast-Feed4th October 2009 - Dave Holden - A Passion For The Local Church
Dave Holden spoke about God’s passion for the local church and how we should be passionate for the local church too. Dave’s key verses were Matthew 16:18 (“I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it”) and Acts 2:42-47 where Luke outlines how the early church operated.
Dave encouraged us that, even though our church may not seem like the early church model of Acts 2, we should still commit ourselves wholeheatedly to it on the basis that:
(1) The Church is Jesus’s Plan “A” and there isn’t a Plan “B”. Jesus gave his life for the church and he will never become disillusioned by it (even if, on occasion, we do).
(2) The Church is the answer to the world’s problems, as the church is where Jesus and the gospel message are made manifest.
(3) The church is the soil that shapes our lives as we grow as children of God. We cannot grow as Christians if we are outside the church.
To make this passion more than dreamy idealism, we need to:
(a) read God’s Word and develop a personal theological conviction about our need to have a passion for the local church, so that we are not disappointed by the trials and tribulations of daily life.
(b) have faith that Jesus will fulfill all the promises that are made about the church in the bible. The fulfillment of these promises does not rely on us but on Jesus, and Jesus will fulfill all these promises.
(c) understand that this passionate approach to the local church is 100% guaranteed to succeed. It is Jesus who will build His church, not us. Jesus has beaten the enemy and nothing will come against the church.
Listen now! (0:48min / 13MB)