I recently read a book called the "The Shack"
This is a book I highly recommend which talks about how God relates to us as Father, Spirit and Son. Here, I would like to bring you to a conversation in chapter 12, in which the narrator is speaking with God
“Then what’s with the pearly gates and gold stuff?”
“That stuff, my brother, is a picture of me and the woman I’m in love with.”
Mack looked down at Him to see if He was joking, but He obviously wasn’t.
“It is a picture of my bride, the Church; individuals who together form a spiritual city with a living river flowing through the middle, and on both shores trees of growing with fruit that will heal the hurt and sorrows of the nations. And this city is always open, and each gate into it is made of a single pearl…” He opened one eye and looked at Mack.
“That would be me!” He saw Mack’s question, and explained, “Pearls, Mack. The only precious stone made by pain, suffering and-finally-death.”
And if we go further down....
“You’re talking about the church as this woman you’re in love with; I’m pretty sure I haven’t met her.” He turned away slightly. “She’s not the place I go on Sundays,” Mack said more to himself, unsure if that was safe to say out loud.
“Mack, that’s because you’re only seeing the institution, a man-made system. That’s not what I came to build. What I see are people and their lives, a living breathing community of all those who love me, not buildings and programs.”
Mack was a bit taken back to hear Jesus talking about “church” this way, but then again, it didn’t really surprise him. It was a relief. “So how do I become part of that church?” he asked. “This woman you seem to be so gaga over.”
“It’s simple, Mack. It’s all about relationships and simply sharing life. What we are doing right now-just doing this-and being open and available to others around us. My church is all about people and life is all about relationships. You can’t build it. It’s my job and I’m actually pretty good at it”, Jesus said with a chuckle.
So you see, it is really God's plan for us to build relationships, and build lives in Church. Think about it. If everyone chooses to only go to Church on the weekends and not participate in any giving whatsoever, would the Church survive? would there even be a 'Church' that you can go to to fulfill your religious duty. Would people find fulfillment? would their problems be solved? would their needs be met?Would there even be a Chinese, Dialect or JAMs Church if there were no volunteers who were willing to contribute? As individuals, the Pastor can only talk about 1 particular issue at a time and it often flows with the Church vision. This may be different from what you need right now as an individual and that is why it is important to build a foundation in Church through the rising up of individual cell leaders and cell groups
Growing bigger as a Church
Because we choose to build a strong foundation to meet needs and heal hurts as a cell group. Rising up leaders so that the net of outreach is not just limited to the Pastor, but each of us individually.
Pastor Kong always mentions that we must grow bigger and yet smaller as a Church. To take more effort to heal hurts and meet needs while at the same time soaking in the presence of God and worshiping Him with our full force at services.
Friends, its never about religion, but relationship. It is not about receiving, but giving... it is about building the Kingdom of God so we can fill up the streets of pearls and gold in heaven! Each of which represents something more precious, which is salvation and life!
I would like to take you guys to 2 verses
Prov 31:11
"A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds. Her husband trusts her without reserve, and never has reason to regret it. Never spiteful, she treats him generously all her life long"
If you look at the Contemporary English Version of the verse, it says
"Her husband depends on her, and she never lets him down."
If you put this in context of Jesus as the groom and the Church as the bride, then we can understand how Jesus wants the Church to be. He already thinks we are worth "far more than diamonds". So can we be a Church which Jesus can "trust without reserve" and "never regret" choosing to pay the price for us? Isn't it a powerful imagery that God chooses to "depend on us" and as He believes we would be someone who would "never let Him down"
Can we as the Church be "generous" to God and each other all our lives long?
Let's talk abit about diamonds.
How do we judge our worth? In a way, some people would say that our worth is dependent on what we achieve in life. In the Christian context, however, Jesus already said that we are only "a little lower than God" (Psalm 8:5)
If this is true, then surely we can have the same power and authority that Jesus had to accomplish great things! This is why Jesus said in John 14:12
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father."
Romans 8:11
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Because we know our worth is already extremely precious, than surely we can reflect that to the world by the "greater works " that we can do for the world! Just like diamonds which sparkle so brightly, we can shine for Jesus because we were made to sparkle by what Jesus did for us on the cross and by each good work we can shine brighter and brighter for Him to bring glory to His name!
And what is the purpose of diamonds? Other than just sparkling, It exists to makes others look good (hence, we should be living our lives to be a blessing to others) and more importantly, it helps build families and life because it is a symbol of engagement. In the same way, we shine for Christ because we want to build life to expand the Kingdom of God!
And if you look closely, Jesus didn't say you are the bride, but the Church. All the more it is not so much about us individually but us corporately helping one another and growing each other spiritually and in all aspects of life!
To end, I would like to share another verse which I would say is a vision that we could aim for as a Church.
Rev 21:2
And
I saw athe holy city, bnew Jerusalem, ccoming down out
of heaven from God, dprepared eas a bride
adorned for her husband.
Are we prepared for the second coming of Jesus. Let's prepare ourselves by edifying, expanding and loving the Church as in due time, we will form the Holy City, a City which Jesus can be proud of ! A city which you will see the salvation of the people whom you love together with you, rejoicing and praising God for his goodness and mercies. A city built on sacrifices that are worth it for God as God is the creator and giver of LIFE! Are we ready as a Church to walk down the ISLE and meet Jesus?
Photo courtesy of Masterfile
Thank you for reading this series on building lives, the first project I decided to undertake to be a blessing to you all. Your feedback and comments are much appreciated and here's hoping this message has blessed you and helped you grow in your faith! you can email me @ danielfoo85@hotmail.com
Regards,
Daniel Foo
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