21 Feb 17

Ephesians 4:16
From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

I just got back from spending three days in the middle of nowhere, Texas, at a camp with the Fort Hood Garrison youth group. Specifically, I was the middle school boys' leader and group preacher. I want to share with you something that I shared with them this weekend as we moved rocks to form trails, moved rocks to even out landscaping, moved rocks to make BMX tracks, and moved rocks to fill in holes (notice the trend?). I think a lot of times people believe they can do this whole "faith" thing all on their own. That because someone, somewhere, once told them that it was about a relationship and not religion they believe that they don't need the church or Christian community. That's a bold faced lie. It's like trying to win the super bowl without a team... although Tom Brady might be able to pull that off. You need the body. You need to be able to contribute to the body. There isn't a single person who doesn't have a job to do that is drastically and dramatically important to the world's salvation. But, when we separate ourselves from the church, from community, we always stagnate. At that point we will only be as much as we ourselves can be. In fact, the verse prior to the one above states that in order to mature in our faith we HAVE to be part of a community otherwise we stay immature, stunted, childlike, in our understanding. So, who are you connected to? What part are you playing to build up that community?