Righteous

“For, because all of us are inclined by nature to hypocrisy, a kind of empty image of righteousness in place of righteousness itself satisfies us.” In the sermon last Sunday on John 5:19-57, we learned that a person’s only means to life—to righteousness—is righteousness himself, Christ. The verdict is set! And yet, as Chuck preached in the sermon, even those of us that follow him are inclined with the Pharisees to replace him with empty images of righteousness. We believe in ourselves and our own perception of what is righteous over the Bible’s sound word from the mouth of righteousness. Our own perception is so often skewed, and our feelings so often do not mirror the truth that we must turn continually to Christ and ask him for righteousness. Any effort of our own without his intervention is merely an empty image of the real thing.

Don’t forget! This Sunday is our October Members Meeting. Our Members Meetings are always intentionally filled with important information, prayer, decisions, and testimonies for our family to share in. In this meeting, that will be reflected in the devotion we show to each other through our care in discerning the elders God seems to be preparing for us. If you’re a member, recognize that this process is one of great importance. Shepherds (elders) are called to care for the church body in their faithful teaching and leading, and the congregation is called to install elders that meet biblical qualifications and follow their humble leadership. Join us this Sunday from 6:00-8:00pm (with something sweet to eat).

Did you know that most of the letters in the New Testament are written to individual churches, not individual people? This means something often overlooked by the modern American Christian: God designed our Christian walk to be lived in community. We’re to be encouraged, exhorted, rebuked, and challenged by pastors and fellow members. You’d be hard pressed to find a single Christ-follower in the New Testament who didn’t gather with other believers in an intentional, shepherded environment—church! If you’d like a refresher on membership, would like to learn more, would like to help others who aren’t members learn about this, or if you’re not yet a member of a Gospel-centered church, we’d love to have you on November 4th from 9:00am-4:00pm in the West Wing.