THE COMING STORM

Jesus told us that in this life, we will have troubles. It doesn't matter if you are a Christian and profess to have faith in God. The fact of life is there will be storms in life and it will come, be it personal, financial, health, or physical. Storms as we know can be rather destructive. It can wash away that which you have built perhaps your whole life. Can we survive the storms in life? I believe so. We are tougher than we think. A preacher once said, "A man can do what he cannot do when he has to do it". We have had miraculous stories of how people survived literal storms both on land and in the open seas. Why do some succumb while others strive? What does it take to weather a storm and come out of it stronger?

Jesus gave us a clue when He gave us the parable of the wise and foolish builder (Matt. 7:24-27). It's all in the foundation. You build you house on rock, not sand. We need something solid. In the Bible, Jesus is the foundational rock that we are to build our lives on. He said in Matthew 16:18 that He will build His CHURCH upon a rock, referring to Himself. And here's the revelation. Our foundation to weather storms in life is His church which was built upon Jesus.

Church is not a social club, or a business corporation although many run church as such. The church that Jesus built is a FAMILY. Because of Jesus, today we have an extended family. I thank God for good worship. I thank God for good preaching. I thank God for good programs. But these aren't church. Church is FAMILY. Family is relationship. Family look out for one another. Family support one another. The church exist for two reasons. One is to declare the glory of God. The other is to support one another. In other words, you and I, we are to facilitate people's relationship with each other and with Jesus. We are to "love our neighbours as we love ourselves". Church is not a place to take care of number one (me). The church is a BODY that consists of many parts and each part needs one another. You cannot be a Christian and say, "I don't need church".  Jesus didn't come to die just for you and you alone. Like a seed, He was planted that we might be a family.

People do need people. Life is not a journey you must walk alone. The road ahead of us could be treacherous. Out of the blues a storm may come. Maybe a storm is brewing right now. If our foundation is built on His church, then we know we can weather it. Today, I give praise to God for Vineyard. I do pray that we will all truly understand and embrace what church truly is. With this God given foundation, we can weather the storms ahead of us. Let's be the church Jesus wants us to be. A place to CONNECT, a place call to call "home".