The Local Church

If we don't do the painful, humiliating, and liberating work of cheerfully bringing our failures out from the darkness, we're limiting our growth! We must bring our sins into the light acknowledgement before a Christian brother or sister.

The life, death and resurrection of Christ makes acquittal possible for us. In Christ, we are justified and have right standing before God. Sanctification is our growth in holiness. Justification is the not one-time vaccination that spares us from hell but food to nourish us all the way to heaven. It’s not the spark plug to the Christian life; it’s the engine.

You cannot overestimate God's love. You can only underestimate it. In fact, we do it all the time. Nothing that we can do could ever slow the overwhelming, never-ending, infinite love that Jesus has for us. To grow in Christ is to yada - to know - that love that he has for us. 

God desires union with us. Look to Christ. You will grow in Christ as you direct your gaze to Christ. If you take your eyes off of Jesus Christ and direct your gaze to your own growth, you will prevent the very growth you desire.

God's word tells us that despair is simply a gateway to joy. If you want to grow in Christ, you must first sink to the solid ground of self-despair. To the degree that we minimize the evil within, we lower the ceiling on how deeply we can grow. 

In order to grow Deeper in our relationship with Jesus, and become more mature disciples of Him, we need to understand His nature and what Jesus truly wants for and from us. Jesus is bigger than you can imagine, and Jesus is closer than you dare believe. He is more committed to your growth in Him than you are.

Paul ends his letter to the Colossians with some acknowledgements. These acknowledgements tell us that not only should the church be made up a wide and diverse group of individuals, but that people are imperfect and in need of God's grace. God is not looking for perfection, but faithfulness.

When we read and reflect on scripture, we can come across components of it that do not sit well with us. To us and the culture we find ourselves in, these parts of scripture can taste "off" and wrong to us. It's important that we understand the context on which scripture is written so that we can comprehend and appreciate what the author is really saying about us, God, and our relationships with one another.

Like Eustace & Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia, God wants to rip off our old clothes and dress us in new clothes. All of this starts with us dropping our fig leaves at the feet of the King who rescues us back into relationship: our God who is our father, and we his beloved children.