Let’s Be The Church

August 26, 2021

We have come a long way in a year. “Normal” church was interrupted. But, praise God, our commitment to being the church has not been disrupted!

As you know, like most places last year, we closed our building doors in response to the coronavirus pandemic. We swiftly implemented digital worship and fellowship opportunities, but we also worked hard to establish a safe, neighbor-honoring in-person environment. In all this our staff and many volunteers have done a truly amazing job bringing ministry to adults, students, and kids in creative and effective ways. They deserve our heart-felt thanks!

We’re now preparing to begin a new program year and, wherever we are, we need re-engage as a church. We need to continue to emphasize corporate worship, new learning and training, regular fellowship, and service within our ministries and our community. We need to re-affirm our commitment to being the church together.

We Have Purpose Together

The church was created with a purpose. “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden,” Jesus said. He is speaking not only about who we are as the church but what we have been called to do.

The coronavirus is not the first challenge to the life of the church — only one of the latest in its long history. And it will likely not be the last. Remember the early church suffered severe persecution that resulted in widespread fear and retreat. Yet it was challenged to maintain its internal witness among its membership and its vibrant external witness to the world.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hebrews 10:19-25

This passage contains three key principles about the importance of being the church that should challenge and encourage each of us today.

Begin With Worship

As we draw near to God in worship we experience the assurance of our faith, the cleansing of our conscience, and a renewed freedom as children of God. We are accepted in him, helped by him, belong to him. Only in worship is our wrong thinking challenged and our eyes opened to the truth about the world, ourselves, and God’s great love. Only the worship of a holy God can draw us away from our own selfishness and the lies of our present culture.  

When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.

Psalm 73:16-17,26-28

Hold On To Hope

This is not a hope for a better tomorrow or even just a hope of heaven. It is the living hope we have today in Jesus. He is the anchor of our soul today — our stability, our confidence, our strength.

But to grip this hope tightly we must release any false hope or security were holding on to. We are not experiencing the church the way we once did. Yet despite the challenges we need to stay engaged in the life of the church.

Know that Browncroft leaders are working hard to do everything we can to make sure that whether you are on campus or at home, we can all tighten our grip on this hope together.

We who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

Hebrews 6:18-19

Be There For Other People

Two times in this short passage we see the important role we are called to play in each other’s spiritual lives. There are many things that are necessary for your growth you will never do without the strong encouragement of another believer.

You can receive sermons at home but not wise counsel or loving rebuke. Only by listening to others’ hopes and aspirations can we help them become their God-given best selves. And only by others listening to ours can each of us be all God has created us to be.

This is the kind of church that can’t be hidden.

Our world needs us to be the church more than ever.

Let’s go church!

About The Author

Further reading

God’s Hand at Work: Our Students’ Week in Peru

As many of you know, Browncroft has a partner church, Alianza Cristiana de Miraflores, in Lima, Peru. This July, a team of twelve-- five adults and seven students-- traveled to Lima to join forces with the Miraflores Youth Group for work and outreach projects at the Westfalia Orphanage in Cieneguilla. To give you a glimpse into our experience and the impact it had, we’ve asked some of our incredible students to share their testimonies. Here is what they had to say.
Read more

The Power of Rooted

What do you do when you feel spiritually dry? What do you do when following Jesus seems mundane? When I encounter these seasons, I find that God ultimately calls me to do something seemingly uncomfortable.
Read more