Shalom FriendZ !
Self admittingly, I've been somewhat averse to becoming too caught up in the pitfall of this season of Increased Knowledge and the ensuing social media Addictions which are seemingly drawing us away from the 'TRUTH of this WORLD', ...
a living Word of God Kingdom Covenant relationship with our very 'personal' Lord and Savior as well as one another.
That said, I'm judiciously increasing our Social Media activities and posts with Prayers that more people might 'SEE' and 'FEEL' the 'FULNESS' of
THE WAY of the EARLY ACTS CHURCH
which we follow here at
UNITED in MESSIAH
'A Picture's Worth 1000 Words'
Join Us as we Gather in the Spirit of One New Man
SATURDAYS, 11:30 AM
KITTERY COMMUNITY CENTER 120 Rogers Road, Kittery Maine
God’s Purpose for the Church? … A brief introduction to the church and to the Biblical way for Christians to meet together. The church is the heavenly, mystical Body of Yeshua/Jesus, that is, the fullness of Messiah, and as such is His expression on the earth today. This Body is composed of all its many members, namely, all those who ever have or ever will believe in the Lord Yeshua/Jesus our Messiah as their Savior.
These Jewish and non-Jewish (gentile) believers in Yeshua/Jesus have been born anew with the divine life and nature of our Lord, Creator and Savior, to become the real, genuine children of God. Thus, they are now called into the church here on the earth as God’s family and the fellowship of God’s Son.
This one unique church exists practically in the many local churches as the golden lampstands to be the testimony of Christ in this dark age. Ephesians 1:22-23, Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 John 1:12-13, 3:3-8 2 Peter 1:4, Ephesians 2:19, 1 Corinthians 1:9, Revelation 1:10-13.
TOGETHER WE BURN BRIGHTER !
Today new believers often feel that they must join a church. However, in the New Testament there is no such thing. The moment we believe in Christ we become members of the one unique church, the Body of Christ. We are brought, not only into Christ Himself (Rom. 6:3), but also into His one Body , to partake of “the fellowship of God’s Son” (1 Cor. 1:9), … this is the organic life relationship of all who are in the Triune God (John 17:20-23).
Still, in this age the believers can’t all meet together in one place. Thus, we must consider, how can we form different churches without dividing ourselves into different sects? The answer, of course, is in the Bible. Here we see that the only way churches are ever designated is by their city: the church in Jerusalem, in Corinth, in Ephesus, etc.; there is no exception to this rule. Thus, the Biblical way for us to meet as Christians is to simply come together as ONE BODY and in ONE ACCORD, … as ‘ONE NEW MAN’.
It is in this Spirit of Biblical Unity we will gather, this Saturday at FORT FOSTER !
Some denominations as they call themselves, may separate themselves into sects and call themselves by other names, but by standing on this ‘ONE NEW MAN’ ground and meeting simply as Christians, we ourselves can still keep the oneness.
The Apostle Paul’s ONE NEW MAN keeps us in the oneness we already have in the Spirit (Eph. 4:1-6), for if we stand on this ground we avoid any exclusive fellowship and are thus one with all the believers where we live. And as we keep the oneness in this way we will receive God’s blessing of life (Ps. 133); grow together for the building up of the Body (Eph.4:13-16); defeat Satan (Rom. 16:20); and fulfill of God’s eternal purpose (Eph. 1:10, 3:10-11, Rev. 3:8-10, 21:9-11 ). This is why the proper Ground and ONE NEW MAN model is SO CRUCIAL ! … Hence, our initiative at this Saturday’s FORT FOSTER gathering.
LET THERE BE PEACE on EARTH, … AND LET IT BEGIN WITH
‘WE’ !
God’s eternal purpose is to have the church built up to be His expression, His Body. This purpose could never be fulfilled by individuals, nor by any Christian sect, but only by believers coming together in the genuine oneness of the Body of Christ. How precious is this church to God! True spiritual warfare relates mainly to the building up of the Body of Christ, and standing against Satan’s efforts to divide the saints and frustrate the building work, for it is the believers built up in the local churches who will ultimately defeat Satan (Rom. 16:20; cf. Eph. 6:10-20).
THE LORD’S PRAYER
“That they all may be one, even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, that the world may believe You have sent Me.” John 17:21
Here the Lord prayed for His believers to be one in such a way as to cause the world to believe the Father had sent Him. That is, He was praying, not only for a mystical oneness, but for a oneness that would be manifest on the earth. The Lord surely knew, even as He prayed, that His believers would eventually become divided. Still, we must believe that despite all the sad divisions today among God’s children, eventually this prayer will be fulfilled; the Lord will indeed call some of His believers out of the sects and back to the genuine oneness of the Body of Christ as a testimony of the grace and the salvation we have we’ve been been blessed with and have received in Him.
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