October 18th daily blog devotional by Keith Wayne Edwards
Read:
John 14:12
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father.
Also Read:
Colossians 1:18
And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
One of our favorite pictures of the church comes from the chaplain of the U.S. Senate, but before that, he was pastor of Washington D.C.'s large Fourth Presbyterian Church. He had been leading that church for years when suddenly, one night, he saw his church clearly for the very first time. He was flying into Washington one day at dusk. At that time the approach path to Washington's Reagan National Airport happened to pass directly over Fourth Presbyterian Church. He pressed his face against the window to catch a glimpse of the building from the air. But everything on the ground was shrouded in the shadows falling over the city as the sunset. He could not find his church, so he leaned back in his seat, gazing at the Washington skyline, always an inspiring sight. As his eyes followed the Potomac River, he could see the skyscrapers of Rosslyn, just across Key Bridge from Georgetown. Then, in the distance to the left, the White House, the lights of the Labor Department, the distant glow of the Capitol dome. As he stared out the window, he began mentally ticking off the names of members of his congregation who worked in those office buildings and government bureaus. Disciples he had equipped to live their faith. And suddenly it hit him. "Of course!" he exclaimed to the startled passenger in the next seat. "There it is! Fourth Presbyterian Church!" You see a church isn't marked by a sanctuary or steeple. Many get so caught up in the building, that they lose sight of what the body of Christ is about. They begin to maintain the building instead of making disciples in a pure way. There's nothing wrong with a building when it is connected to proper growth and how God builds. The church was poured out into homes, Washington, and neighborhoods. I want you to see yourself looking below the plane today. How many lives have you impacted in some way or another? You look down and you can't seem to find your church, but you see your school where you might have impacted someone. Then you see a large building where you led someone to Christ. As you are flying a little further, you see a neighborhood where you might have led a small group or touched someone's life. Just look below the plane today. You can make a difference.
Prayer:
Lord, we want to be the body of Christ in the way you want us to be. Give us a revelation of how Your church is not marked by a steeple or inward ministry alone, but by going outward. It is marked by the church making an impact upon our community and world. Help us to see ourselves as the new testament church, and we repent today Lord for seeing Your church in any other way but how you want us to see Your body, Amen
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