The Local Church-the Hope of the World!
What comes to your mind when the word “Church” is mentioned? I wonder what the answers of people outside Sainsbury’s would be today if we were to ask them why they don’t attend church – dull, boring, irrelevant, and hypocritical. I wonder what your answers would be. I am sure there is everything from frustration, cynicism and disillusionment to contentment, curiosity, vision and aspiration.
The minister of one of the fastest growing churches in the world made the following staggering comment:
“The local church is the hope of the world. There is nothing like the local church when it is working right. Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is breathtaking. Its potential is unlimited. It comforts the grieving and heals the broken in the context of community. It builds bridges to seekers and offers truth to the confused. It provides resources for those in need and opens its arms to the forgotten, the downtrodden, the disillusioned. It breaks the chains of addictions, frees the oppressed, and offers belonging to the marginalized of this world. Whatever the capacity for human suffering, the church has a greater capacity for healing and wholeness.”
At the beginning of 1 Corinthians 3 Paul reflects this very real tension between the Church as, unfortunately it so often is, and all that it should be. He challenges the local believers and refers to them as childish. Instead of rising to Christ’s call to live together in faith, hope and love, here they are fighting and squabbling among each other. But he also uses pictures to encapsulate everything the church should be. He describes God’s people as the temple of God’s Holy Spirit. It is a picture of our lives reflecting the glory and goodness of God, becoming more Christ-like in all our ways, and as Richard Foster puts it:
“an utter transformation of our creatureliness into whole and perfect sons and daughters of God. You see, the goal of the Christian life is not simply to get us into heaven, but to get heaven into us!”
We are also described as God’s building, our foundations secure in Jesus Christ and our lives being used for His glory. All the building blocks need to reflect the harvest of his spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Everything that is not of Him will be removed on the Day of Judgment. There’s another image of the church here which I feel is significant for a church determined to develop and grow: “God’s field.”
We can expect a healthy tension between what we are now as a church here at Norbury, and all that we can yet become. There is no need for us to be negative as Paul was when he addressed the Corinthians. There is so much for which to be grateful here at Norbury. It is a church which reflects warmth and love, and a place where many people have found a sense of coming home or new life in Christ. However, where do we go from here? What vision do we have as a congregation? We have recently been taking the opportunity to consider different areas as we look forward together.
As we look forward there must be the importance of fellowship or friendship and one of the central questions is always “how do we care for one another in a large congregation?”
The more traditional approach in churches has been to have a number of leaders and church visitors with their own areas, making contact with church members and developing friendships. Such a system has many advantages and our pastoral care staff play an important role in our church. It is a challenge for us to keep in touch with everyone at Norbury but there is a more important task to fulfill which is to draw our parishioners into the centre of the church.
A more contemporary approach has been the development of small group ministry in many churches. One of the main reasons for churches growing in today’s world is through small groups. It would be wonderful to see many more of our church members more closely involved in Church, perhaps through organisations like the Fellowship Groups, Men’s Society, Mothers’ Union, the Walking Group or the Bowling Club.
We would also love to see our organisations growing at a much faster rate than they have been. Over fifty times in the New Testament the phrase “one another” is used to describe the relationship to other believers. We are instructed to love one another, encourage and pray for one another, accept one another, bear one another’s burdens, and build up one another. We were never intended to go it alone as Christians. By being a member of a church organisation you will be a New Testament Christian. The Book of Acts is very clear about how His people should grow. We will never be able to have enough ministers to meet all our individual needs as a church family. That’s why we want to see these church groups functioning as vital units of pastoral care in our church.
Moving on to evangelism, as always the fields are ripe for harvest! Let us imagine what life could be like here in our church in few years’ time. Imagine being able to send this postcard about our thriving church to someone:
“Dear world, Three years on, having a great time. Come early – the place is buzzing 24/7. It’s so exciting. You’ll never believe what’s happening. God’s blessing falls like the rain here. People healed of illnesses they’ve carried all their lives – and not just illnesses – families restored, marriages mended, children reconciled. But best of all, thousands of people giving up everything for Jesus, and becoming Christians. Coming home soon. Wish you were here. God is.”
This would be a wonderful picture of life brimming over! Our challenge is to bring Christian ministry right to the heart of our local community - a Church open seven days a week and drawing people in from the entire community.
Our Christian service must always have space for grace. It’s the love of Jesus Christ that conquers sin, wipes out shame, heals wounds, reconciles enemies, patches broken dreams and ultimately changes the world, one life at a time. And what grips our hearts should be the knowledge that the radical message of that transforming love has been given to the Church. That love must be pervasive and tangible as soon as people come into Norbury Church.
I’m not sure if I’d like to be in a church which has answers to all the questions, or part of a church that had everything so successfully sorted out that it had no need of God. Perhaps we should always allow for unexpected things to happen in a church. We need to be reliant not ultimately on manmade schemes, however prayerfully they are conceived, but on God! He is the one who we want to see moving, working and acting in his own sovereign way.
All Christians are called to service – everyone playing his or her part. The ministry team are thankful to the many people who are serving the Lord at Norbury, but there are many, many others whom we would love to be able to draw more towards the centre. If you love the Lord, then you have gifts of service. Have the courage to discover what those gifts are and use them for his glory. Together over this year and beyond we want to be exploring ways in which we can use greater numbers of people for God’s glory at Norbury.
“God’s fellow-workers are we; God’s field, God’s building are you.” This puts strong emphasis on the divine action. Ministers and those they serve are no more than God’s instruments. What is actually being said here is quite startling. The dignity of Christian service is being underlined. As someone has said, “Without God, we cannot; without us, he will not.”
There are many areas on which we could concentrate, but our targets under God for this next period of time will soon become clear. At the heart of whatever we do, we exist to be a Christ-centred and Spirit-led church community radiating God’s love and reaching out to make disciples of all.
God’s field! The local church is the hope of the world!
With every blessing,
Hugh Griffiths
