Christ and His Church in Perryville, AR

I can't think of anything to be more focused upon in the midst of all the changeability of mankind on earth than the reality of the enthroned Lord Jesus.

How dare we in any way suggest or contemplate that that for which Christ shed his blood is of little value.

Knowing God Through Jesus Christ

Want to know God? You've got to know Jesus Christ. In him was life and the life was the light of men. He upholds all things by the word of his power. He knows all things because he created all things.

He knows all things that have happened since he created it because he sustains it, he controls it, he has decreed how it is to be, and he bears witness to all that he has done, all that he intends, and he himself accomplishes it in his own person.

And that's why the church is called the pillar and buttress of truth.

I mean, you can find this outside the doors of this church even in Perryville, Arkansas. People that nitpick and clip and pick and choose the passages of scripture that they want to follow and discard the ones that they don't.

And they will even tell you the parts of the Bible that you're supposed to follow and not impose upon them any of the other parts.

Baptism, Church Membership, and Sound Doctrine in the Home

Don't tell me you're alive if you've not been baptized and you're not a part of the Lord's church doing the Lord's work. I don't believe you.

Families. Today, Christian families, families of the church need godly men at the church who will instruct their families in sound doctrine.

You don't have to do worldly things to attract worldly people. You do godly things and you openly state the truth that God has provided and you trust God to bring godly people. I want the spirit of God to sweep through the valley of dry bones and raise the dead.

Church Life as One Another Ministry and Gospel Adornment

Church life is like this. Elders loving their church members, laboring among them, leading them, admonishing them. Church members, here's church life, church members responding to their elders with full participation in the church, with love and with respect for them.

Church life involves loving one another deeply, even those who are difficult to love. It's not what the world does. The world says, you're difficult, I'm out of here. The church says, you're difficult, here's an opportunity to consider others better than myself.

That's church life. It requires knowing each other, listening to one another, and patience with one another. Think of the impact for Christ a church like that could have in Perryville and in Perry County.

Think of how it adorns the gospel and the power of the gospel to change lives.

Church Membership as a Lifelong Commitment

The church that I choose is crucial because my sons, my children are watching and they're not going to pick up and follow a program. They're going to follow the pattern set out for them by their leadership.

And church membership, the key is, it's not a punch in, punch out thing. It's not going to your favorite movie theater and you're only committed while you're there, then once you leave, you're gone. The life of a church is community, the life of the church is the one another's, the life of the church is being involved with each other and loving each other, caring for one another, praying for one another.

That's what you want to see.

God Is for Us and the Son Given for Us

If God is for us, who can be against us? Now listen to verse 32, he who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also graciously give us all things?

This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. He is honored and I get the glory. And by the way, it's even better because you see that building in Perryville, Arkansas? You see that one in Pechote, Mexico?

Do you see that one in Tuxla, Guterres down there in Chiapas? That building has my son's name on it. If you really believe the church is the building, the church is the house, the church is what God's doing, this is his work.

The Church as God's Masterpiece

If we really believe what Ephesians says, we are the poemos, the masterpiece of God. How are you going to respond?