The Quest for the Perfect Church

2 Corinthians 3:5-6 (NKJV) "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

Some people are on the quest for the perfect church. Are you? I hope not.

Wait a minute, Pastor Ed, what do you mean you "hope not"? Shouldn't we be seeking out the perfect church? Shouldn't we be striving toward being the perfect church? Shouldn't we long to get back to the perfect days of the early church? No, No, and No. (By the way, there were no 'perfect' days of the early church.)

We should be longing for Jesus. We should be seeking to abide in Him. We should find our strength, sufficiency, and hope not in His church but in Him!

The church is not, and has not been perfect any where at any time. Why? Because people are involved; weak, flawed people make up His church. There are flaws in every church everywhere even if folks don't want to admit it. If we put our hope in a church, then we can look forward to great disappointment. But if we put our hope in Jesus, then even what disappointments we face in this life pale in comparison to the glory of His love for us.

Please, set your heart toward Jesus today. If you happen to be part of an imperfect church (all of us), then please pray for your church, for your pastors, for your leadership, and for your fellow believers. Thanks.

In His Love,
Pastor Ed

Response:
I wanted to thank you and commend you on this past weekends message. Very appropriate in the shadow of the anniversary of R v. W. I can honestly say that while I have only been a believer for 10 years now and a regular (weekly) Church attendee (CCA only since Sept. 09) after becoming a follower of Christ, I have, to date, never heard a Pastor speak on the topic. Since arriving in Aurora in 9/09 I immediately sought out a new Church family and CCA was recommended to me by my Sister and Brother-in-law, who are also members of CCA. I attended my first service the Sunday following my arrival in Aurora and saw no reason to continue searching for a Church in which to worship and fellowship, grow and minister. I have admired your passion for the Word of God and more so the teaching of it. The courage it must have taken to teach on such a socially "hot topic" in such a bold, yet compassionate manner was extraordinarily commendable. I also wish to add that I was one of a number of those that heard the message this weekend that were spoken to directly by you. As I too was confronted with the decision as a teenager in high school. The difference being... we chose to proceed with terminating the pregnancy. Not a day has gone by that I have not thought about that decision and been burdened by it. My child now would have been 24 years old. And the overwhelming relief I received when you referenced 2 Sam. 12:23 was a blessing of the most unexpected sort. Thank you for your love, your passion for the teaching of God's word and service to Him.