Why Are We Here As A Church? | The Rev. Robert A. Jacobs, Deacon

03.9.20 | Community, Pulpit Posts, World

If someone were to ask you, “why is it we are here as a church?” Would you have an answer ready to give them? We might think we are here to have a place to worship. We might think we are here to hand out food. We might think we are here to encourage each other. We might think we are to do things for God. Those things are all good and we are thankful for them, but that’s not the big why behind why we are here.

The real reason we are here goes back to the beginning and it can be found in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believe in him should not perish, but shall have everlasting life.” We serve a God who is compassionate. We serve a God who is just. We serve a God who is loving, and we serve a God who cares about us.

Have you looked around lately and seen what the world has become? We can’t turn on the TV without hearing about a mass shooting, political resentment, discord among people, racial unrest. It really seems as though the world has gone mad. Yet God looks at the world and still choses to love the people in it.

When God looks at the world, he doesn’t see the divisions of race, ethnic groups, or socioeconomic classes. Our vision for the future should include being a church in which you can be sitting next to a person who goes out the door into a different place in society, yet they love the same Jesus that you love and that they would love each other.

Everyone should leave the titles and the positions at the door and recognize we all have to come to the same feet of Jesus Christ in worship. It does not matter how you are dressed; your goal is to come and worship the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our purpose in life is to honor and glorify God with our lives. That happens best when we are offering Jesus Christ to others in the way we live, in the things we do and in the words we share. Therefore, we want to use everything we do as an opportunity to let others know that God sent Jesus Christ so that they can be saved.

If you want to see God do great things in the lives of others, you have to first believe that God wants to do great things in your own life. If you’ve become discouraged in your walk with Christ, I want you to know that God has not forgotten you. You see one of the things God wants to give you is the gift of eternal life. In order to receive God’s gift of eternal life, you don’t open a box, you open your heart. You don’t take something out, but you let someone in. By faith, you let Jesus Christ into your heart. By faith, you receive Him as your Lord and Savior.

In Revelation 3:20, Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to them and dine with them, and they with Me.”

Eternal life doesn’t start when you die. It starts when you believe and lasts forever. So put your trust in the Lord and receive His gift of eternal life.

Our thinking should be we would want to make our church a church of hope. No matter how down and out one may be, we want to be a place where the Holy Spirit will meet you where you are and give you a helping hand.

photo by Zakkiyya Reece

Rev. Robert Jacobs

Rev. Robert Jacobs

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