11 / 16
The Amish Voice 11
To the saints and faithful brethren
in Christ which are at Colosse. —
Col 1:2
Then tidings of these things came
unto the ears of the church which
was in Jerusalem… —Acts 11:22
As you continue this study, notice how
the Lord directed the apostle Paul in
organizing and bringing structure to the
local churches. Paul writes:
For this cause left I thee in Crete,
that thou shouldest set in order the
things that are wanting, and ordain
elders in every city, as I had
appointed thee: —Titus 1:5
…to all the saints in Christ Jesus
which are at Philippi, with the
bishops and deacons. Phil 1:1
And from Mil-ee-tus he (Paul) sent
to Ephesus, and called the elders of
the church. Acts 20:17
Today, we have tons of people separating
themselves from the structured and
organized church movement that began
with the early church and was, I believe,
founded by God Himself. Those who do
so create their own little island and set of
beliefs. They are often bitter, rebellious,
and spend much of their time and energy
mocking the
local church
. Let me tell
you, that those who do so are outside the
will of God, and they will bear the
consequences.
Those who belong to the local
church are:
1. Ones who have been saved:
And they, continuing daily with one
accord in the temple, and breaking
bread from house to house, did eat
their meat with gladness and
singleness of heart, Praising God,
and having favor with all the
people. And the Lord added to the
church daily such as should be
saved. —Acts 2:46-47
2. Ones who have been baptized:
Then they that gladly received his
word were baptized: and the same
day there were added unto them
about three thousand souls. —Acts
2:41
Four times in 1 Corinthians chapter 11
we read:
when you come together in the
church
when you come together therefore
in one place…
Why did they come together?
For as often as ye eat this bread,
and drink this cup, ye do shew the
Lord's death till he come. —1 Cor
11:26
Conclusion:
In my 30 years of belonging to a local
church, I've seen what 200 people can do
when they pull their finances and prayer
support together. Each year, the church
family that I belong to raises upwards of
$125,000 for missions and helps 40 plus
missionaries in various parts of the
world. It feels great and it feels so right
to be part of a body working together for
the same purpose.
At times, members of our church family
have gone through spats, but then we re-
focus, forgive and move on. Other times,
members have fallen into deep dark sins
and we’ve had to stop what we were
doing and make things right. God always
blesses, and many times, lives have been
restored.
Just like any family, we have stood
together in tears and in joy. There have
been times that I wanted to run away, but
then the Lord reminded me that families
are families. If we stick together, we are
so much stronger and mightier.
It pains my heart to see hurting
individuals and families who live on their
own little island and point fingers at the
local church. To them, we may appear as
a system; however, I see us as an army of
believers working shoulder to shoulder
for the sake of Jesus Christ and spreading
the gospel to our generation.
If we are going to win this world over:
We must stand in unison, just like
any army, and march together.
We must lay our petty differences
aside and join forces with God.
We must show the unbelieving world
that we care about each other and
about them.
God bless you, fellow
believer! —Joe Keim
END
John 13:34-35
A new commandment I give
unto you, That ye love one
another; as I have loved
you, that ye also love one
another.
By this shall all men know
that ye are my disciples, if
ye have love one to another.