Breaking the Paradigm of Church

Happy New Year Fountain Friends!  I just wanted to bring you a brief update from the Fountain.  Sunday we started breaking the paradigm of what we currently know as church.  Basically what we see in this age is a people that "go to church" rather than step up to "being the Church". 

Most people today expect the pastor of their church to study, pray, and hear from God, and then bring them His word on Sunday mornings.  They have the philosophy of, "He gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors and teachers for the Entertainment of the saints and the Work of the ministry".  2 Timothy 4:3 warns us of this, "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear."

Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF): People are the Church.  It is the individual's responsibility to enter into covenant relationship with Jesus through repentance and love (this is making Him Lord, not just calling Him Lord).  Then they are to enter into community with each other, to fellowship with each other, hanging out with one another.  Then they are to regularly come together as the Ekklesia - the Church gathered together for corporate worship and instruction from the Elders. 

If we will follow this example of the 1st Century church we will discover that individual worship of Jesus, throughout the week, makes the corporate worship a much richer experience.  If we follow this example we will find out that, by spending the individual time chasing after God throughout the week, having Christian Community won't need to be programmed but will become a natural desire.  If we will follow these examples we will find out that our relationship with Jesus will grow to the point that we no longer define freedom as time between sin cycles but that, out of love for Jesus, though we may be tempted by sin we will lose the desire to gratify the our flesh and gain the desire to please our Lord.

It's a New Year, I encourage, admonish (advise or urge earnestly), downright challenge you to ask the Holy Spirit to help you to desire to passionately run after God, to learn to love God with all of your heart this year, and watch your individual relationship with Christ, the relationship with your Christian brothers and sisters through community, and your corporate worship relationship (Ekklesia) grow exponentially in 2012.  Be blessed my friends!