Are you frustrated with your Church?

This is an interesting question, especially with myself. As those of you who have read my previous posts will know i have been on somewhat of a journey to find what Church is really all about.

A yearning for a better Church can be helpful, but it does have a lot of pitfalls as well. I believe that we should always strive for the best in everything that we do. But the problem comes when you see the problem instead of the people. People are first and foremost the most important thing.

Mark 12
28One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.[e] 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'[f] 31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[g]There is no commandment greater than these."

This is something i feel i did forget at times along my journey for Church. Bill Hybels says in the book Courageous Leadership that "The local church is the hope of the world", which i believe. I also believe that him downstairs believes that too, so he does what he always does. He puts all his efforts into making us stray away from the original truth.

Extra long times of polished Worship, awesome relevant teaching, cultural relevance are all great things to aim for. But the heart of Church is and always must be relationships.

Our Family
Matthew 12 46While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you."[a]
48He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" 49Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. 50For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

I like these verses in the way that they illustrate that we are all family. There was a Disney Film produced a few years back called "Lilo & Stich", my daughter loves watching it. There is a great quote in it about family. "Oh hanna! Means family, and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten." I like that a lot, especially when we put it into this context of Church Family. I will leave you to think about how that phrase helps us think about issues in Church.

I recently had some close friends i could see falling into the same trap i fell into, there hearts were to help extend the Kingdom of God. But they were forgetting what they had already. I encouraged them to meet others in the Church on a more intimate basis like Cell groups and the like. They have and seem to be thriving on it.

I have also had friends that have decided to start there own form of church not happy with the current model; and have cut themselves off from the church (family) that has been walking the journey of life with them. I recently heard that they are now separated and likely to get divorced. Which is really sad, now i am not saying that is a direct result from leaving the church. But we all need help from one another, church is about being united. United we stand! Divided we fall.

I recently saw a great film with Michael W Smith in called "The Second Chance", its really great i recommend you to watch it. Its about an assistant pastor of a big church with televised meeting massive music group and abundant funds, who finds himself working in a sister church in the poorest part of the city, and rediscovered what church is really about. I found it very moving and inspiring.

So i will leave you on this thought. Which relationships in my church am i investing in at the moment? And who else could i invest in?

God bless you all.

If you want to get a copy of the film i mentioned its called "The Second Chance" its stockcode is 6023410112 its probably available from your local Christian Bookshop, and is also available on the web. http://www.eden.co.uk/shop/the-second-chance-film-dvd-120657.html