Tag: Lord’s church

#44- Our Destiny

52 Reasons to Love the Church

By Kathy Pollard

Neal preached a lesson recently in which he mentioned that three times in Revelation Christ says “I will show you”:

  • what’s happening in Heaven (4:1)
  • how He sees the dark forces of the world (17:1)
  • the church’s destiny (21:9)

Imagine how comforting those pictures would’ve been for the persecuted Christians. As bad as things were, nothing could stand against the victorious Christ. As marginalized as they felt, they could look forward to a celebration as the honored bride of Christ.

While things aren’t as horrible for us as they were for them, it’s still encouraging to be reminded of the true picture: God reigns and we belong to Him!

Neal shared six things (alliterated, of course) from Revelation 21:1-9 that the church still has to look forward to:

  • relationship
  • relief
  • renewal
  • refreshing
  • residence
  • refuge

See if you can find them in the text below!

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” 

Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

52 Reasons to Love the Church

#14-Examples of Faithfulness

By Kathy Pollard

One of our church members just lost her mother. I overheard Neal’s conversation with her on the phone. He was listening to our member describing her mother’s diligent faithfulness and examples of quiet service. At one point he said, “Her life wrote her funeral sermon.”

I’ve been to funerals where it seemed like people couldn’t say enough good things about the deceased. Stories and tears and smiles were shared as they recalled their loved one’s thoughtful acts or influence or loving spirit.

In Hebrews eleven, the inspired writer gives a long list memorializing men and women whose lives were characterized by faithfulness. He did that to encourage the readers not to give up or turn back. He calls these faithful examples their “great cloud of witnesses” that should spur them on to “run with endurance the race set before them.” And then he tells them to “look to Jesus,” the “perfecter of our faith,” their greatest example of faithfulness (Heb. 12:1-2).

I’m thankful for my own cloud of witnesses, aren’t you? Those who have gone on before me and those who are still with me, whose examples convict me and inspire me. Some have shown me that faithfulness is possible even through overwhelming difficulties or harsh circumstances. Some have inspired me through their diligent service despite physical difficulties or health issues. And many have encouraged me through their lifelong love for God, the faithful legacy they are leaving their children and grandchildren. These individuals remind me of Jesus. They remind me to look to Jesus!

Thank God for faithful Christians!

“Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.”

(Hebrews 10:35-36)

My grandpa, Dale Gillaspie, and Neal’s grandpa, H.E. Mitchell

52 Reasons to Love the Church

#12- All the Connections

By Kathy Pollard

Don’t you love visiting a congregation while traveling and discovering some sort of connection with one of the members? It seems like no matter where you go, you find someone who knows someone you know. What do we say when that happens? “It’s a small world!”

It makes me smile when that happens because that seemingly random connection is a reminder that we are all united in Christ (John 17:22-23). We are one body, made up of many members (Romans 12:4-5). If you’ve attended a family reunion, you know that there could be people there you haven’t actually met. The first thing you do is discover how you’re related. They explain, “I’m your aunt’s first cousin’s husband’s sister.” You say, “Oh wow, that’s so great, nice to meet you!” What’s so great about it? Just the fact that you’re connected. And when it comes to family, the more the merrier! (Or maybe I just feel that way because I come from a relatively small family.) With that connection comes a sense of belonging, confirms that sense of belonging. And we all want that.

The fact that we’re all brothers and sisters in Christ whether we’ve met or not is already a beautiful blessing of Christianity. But there’s something extra special about those threads that bind us together when we run into people who somehow know our people. When that happens, it’s like discovering a “kindredness” because of the mutual connection. God keeps giving us reasons to enjoy being with His people!

“So in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

(Romans 12:5)

One big happy family!

Just got this message from Roger Johnson and had to share it because I love what he says at the end:

Several years ago, when Laura was about 14, we went to an annual family reunion of Joyce’s dad’s family (a large family, as all his brothers and sisters were still living). Accompanying Laura was a friend from church, so she wouldn’t get too bored I suppose. Anyhow, it was humorous to observe multiple family members speculating on who Laura’s friend was. “I think she’s one of Uncle Doug’s granddaughters.” “No, I think she’s with David and his wife. What’s her name?” “She might be Chester’s youngest granddaughter.” But nobody thought she was a party crasher.
We’ve laughed about that for 35 years.
There are no party crashes when we visit other congregations. Agree?