Viewpoint from Allan Jeavons 16/06/2017 

AL JEAVONSAllan Jeavons
Elder, New Wine Christian Fellowship, Martham


as published in the Yarmouth Mercury

I love the church, the people of God

Some years ago, the particular Anglican Church I was part of, argued at a Consistory Court that we were people, not a building – and we won!

From an outsider’s perspective, what is the church?

dove leftIt should be this - a community of people who follow the teaching of a man sent from God to explain God and to clear the path to God

That’s what it is, very simply put

The three top commandments were to love God, love one another, and love your enemy

What is so bad about that?

For the first 300 years that the church existed, Christians were persecuted and rejected because they believed that Jesus was their God and King, not Caesar.  So the main reason people rejected them was because of what they believed, not because of what they did and who they were

Wouldn’t it be great if the only bad thing people said about the church was that Christians believed Jesus is God?

Dove rightI believe that most people in the west, who reject the church, do it for reasons that are not to do with our faith

I rarely hear anyone say that they resist the church because of what a Christian believes about Jesus, although I have heard a thousand other reasons
The church should be irresistible; except for the fact that we believe Jesus IS our Lord and Saviour, and IS the Son of God

Maybe we in the church need to look afresh at what we do as our expression of church to those outside the church

So many people miss the point. Jesus just told us to “Follow Him”

(acknowledgement to Andy Stanley’s “ Brand New” series)


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