The Well Church OKC

The Church is to: Bring glory to God, through the salvation of the lost and the maturation of the followers of Christ. So that, in due time, we will be fully restored to our God, our sin erased, to abide with Him forever in His perfection. We see this vision lived out in the missional lives of Christians who seek God and obey the tendencies of their new natures in the daily living out of their faith.

Last week, we looked at the first of seven churches described in the book of Revelation. Each of these churches was located in the area of modern-day Turkey. Consider, for a moment, how this land which was the very birthplace of the Church of Jesus Christ, has now lost its footing on the pathway of truth. Christians in Turkey face growing persecution and the recent story of imprisoned pastor Andrew Brunson reminds us that this hatred for Christianity is not an ancient problem, but a current reality.

I sometimes wonder about the fate of churches I have known over the years. Growing up, I have been a part of, or acquainted with a number of local gathering of believers. I can recall several churches over the years: In Topeka, Kansas, in Chillicothe Missouri, in Marquand Missouri, in Conowingo, Maryland, in Makati, Manila, in Gabut, Amulong, in Tuguegarao, Cagayan, in Shawnee, Moore and in Oklahoma City. While we have certainly not church hopped over the years, life has taken us to a number of fellowships, each unique and each possessing of a different personality, as it were.

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I was recently reading an article by Adam Davidson entitled, “Church as we know it is over. Here’s what’s next.” The title had me pretty quickly. (And, since it’s on the internet, it must be true, so I better read it pretty carefully.)

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Acts 6 The Transformed First Century

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The health of the Church is critical. It is how we are able to be the human, physical, tangible expression of the love and beauty of our Savior. It is where we are able to do the work of Jesus. I cannot imagine anything more important than this.

This is one of the questions we have all asked on many occasions during our lives, most likely. In fact, many of us have this question pop into our minds nearly every day. We ask it at the most intimate level - “Why am I here?”, we ask it collectively speaking of humanity writ large or at a somewhat more local level when we ask why our local body of believers is “here.”

What are the identifying traits of a local body of Christians which would clearly indicate that they are a collectively healthy, high-functioning body of believers?

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Christians, if truly transformed, should be known as a people who are collectively different than others. What does this mean? How is it that those who follow the man from Nazareth are to be in our day and age?

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