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1 John 3:2 – Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when [Christ] appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. (NIV)
Last Sunday at worship, the sermon dealt with the changing times and the closing of so many churches. It made me feel so sad, for I see the changes all around me. What can I do? What does Jesus intend for our future as a Christian body — His body? How does Christ's body change to meet the future needs of people who are caught in this changing culture?
Through the ages, everything has changed — even from my childhood to the present day — but "we shall see Him as He is" someday. Meanwhile, as a group of believing Christians, where will we meet to worship when there is no church building nearby? In the early church, where did John's people meet? Believing families of every age have met by the riverside or in someone's home, for instance. There being no church buildings available does not indicate an end to the church as the body of Christ. As John wrote in today's verse, "we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known."
As Christ's disciples today, we need to pray that God will intervene, for He will not let His Son's body vanish. Only God knows the way ahead out of the cultural confusion of today. Let us not forget that Christ's body is not a lot of buildings, however beautifully they stand. Christ's body in every generation is made up of people who continue to gather together to worship Him in faith and love. May the Lord show all of us how to answer the needs of people of all ages and meet the demands of the present culture so opposed towards Christianity. May we in prayer with faith bring our communities and families back to know the Lord Jesus and His love. He is coming again one day, maybe soon. "But we know that when [Christ] appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, come quickly into our lives today, for many are adrift, torn apart by a culture that so easily opposes everything that we stand for. May we grow to be like You, Lord Jesus. In Your love and understanding, please help each of us to share Your story with our families and friends. May they know that our beliefs are true, that You, Jesus, are real, and that You can never be taken from us. As we share our faith with people of all ages, please, Lord, give us the courage to tell our own families how God has sent His love and shared His forgiveness with all of us through Your life and death. This is what is most important to all of us: our faith in You. It is what keeps us all together, Lord, no matter where we meet. We look forward to that glorious day when You come again. Amen.
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Your words are very meaningful. Thank you.
Wonderful words of encouragement Iris and much needed. God bless.
Thank you, Iris, for sharing this encouraging word with us. Blessings.
Thank you Iris.
I trust all is well with you.
Thank you, Iris, for these beautiful truths so needed as reminders in a non-Christian society.
Lovely devotional again Iris. So very true of our present day situation. Thanks for Sharing!
(Ontario)
Dear Iris,
Thank you so much for the devotional you wrote on A Changing Culture. I need to be a better witness for Jesus and your devotional spoke to me.
Blessings.
I truly appreciate each PCC devotional and want to express my thanks to the writers for their submissions.
Today’s devotional was very meaningful to me Thank you Iris.
Blessings,
(ON)
Dear Iris,
Pray that the Word of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas.
Oh, God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ revive us personally, and cause that we will pray, and stand for You in all of our conversations.
Blessings, I pray for you, Iris.
Keep writing the truth– with hope in Christ.
Hello Iris; Very well put about the church situation. It’s sad to see church close their door. The sermon on the church a few weeks back really opened our eyes. It seems church have their Up’s and Down periods through history. We need Christ in our lives more then ever now and always.
You are in our prayers and may the strength of our Lord and Savor comfort you in your time of need.
Good morning Iris Ford:
I am of that aging generation that looks at the place of worship as a child and a youth, along with many others, of old line churches closing. Then I move to a city where adjustments have been made to meet the needs of the younger set and I see them building on and several congregations that are 300 to 1200 people attending every Sunday. I am realizing more and more that maybe Jesus and the entire Godhead are better at adjusting to the needs of the current congregation than I am. So I do my best to worship even though the music is different and the delivery of the messages are not like what I am familiar with.
I have grand children and great grand children and I need to communicate God’s love to them by allowing God’s Holy Spirit to flow through my living of life everyday.
Thank you for setting my mind to thinking and remembering it is God who does the work and it doesn’t always happen the way I am used to.
God bless you for continuing to share your thoughts.
Thanks for your devotional about the failing churches in our country. It really is a concern and one that does need to be addressed through prayer and also action.
I am writing to let you know that there are some churches that are actually growing and ours is one of them.
We have lots of volunteers who work hard and reach out into the community.
These are many way to reach out — provide things for our community and everybody feels a part of it. It is so positive that I wanted to tell you that it can be done.
Change must occur in the church but when it does, things happen. It is never easy but necessary and prayer is the key. Our music is probably among the best in Canada and there is something for everyone – that sure helps.
God has a plan and when we work at it, it works. It has been tough getting to this spot but we prayed, we faced the challenges and it was well worth the effort.
We have faced challenges but rather than giving up, we prayed and we dealt with them and it has been the right way to go. I challenge the churches that are struggling to get together, pray and push hard to the goal and it will be made available. Start with one outreach into the community and with everyone working together, God is there to help. When you are serving others, it helps you to grow.
I am excited to see God growing in our church and in our community.
God Bless.
Hi Iris,
Interesting that you talk about the churches having no buildings.
Some churches do start with “no walls”, but it seems that eventually they do end up in a building of some sort.
But the idea is key — the building doesn’t matter. When we put the value in the building we are losing the meaning of Christianity. If the building is more important than the message then we’re just a social club, that might be doing some good work.
I also went through this a few years ago when things came to a head with our church. We ended up with 3 choices — close the church, build a new church, or merge with another congregation. We merged. And instead of concentrating on raising funds to build a new building, we were doing mission work!!!
Thanks, for your words of wisdom.
Hello Iris.
I pray with you, and the many who have put their hope in Jesus. We can trust, that our Father, by His Holy Spirit, will maintain our strength in Him. Yes, while we clearly see the changes around us, it is becoming the same as was in the days of Lot.
In the early days of the Apostles, and Saints. Physical death was “Almost” before them every day! But, God was faithful, and gave to each the measure of faith needed to face the day. In Psalms 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. KJV.
We can relate to Paul’s words in 2 Cor 5:6.
(USA)