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Experiencing the Word of God


Partakers of the Divine Nature: What is Theosis?

"Just wanted to let you know how much all of us appreciated your remarkable comments on Faith and Medicine last week. Your observations about how it is impossible to heal the body without also healing the soul and the spirit were not only powerful, but also eloquently stated. Many have commented about how beautifully you capture what so many of us feel, but find very difficult to put into words. Thank you for helping us illustrate the strong interplay between faith and healing."

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Friday
Jun172016

Building the Body of Christ

The Church is not a building but the people of God who accept the invitation to join His family through the sacramental participation in His very real, very current, Life. Oftentimes, God sees fit to bless a family with growth in numbers. When a family grows in numbers, it usually considers whether or not there is room in its present facilities. If its present facilities do not meet its needs, an addition is one option, as is a different house altogether.  It is reasonable for a church to plan ahead and be sensitive to the growing needs of the church family.
For a church to be expanding in a Godly manner, it must explore and discover that its motive is to be used by God to build up the body of Christ, to disciple the Orthodox to the Glory of God, to heal the lost, to strengthen families. When we build a Church facility, we create sacred space in which we consistently come before God as a people to share in prayer, in communion with one another, and in the significant turning points of our lives. We mark and invoke God’s presence at life’s major thresholds:   baptism, marriage, death, unction and recommitment to God. When we do so, God lifts our efforts to enrich us more than we can imagine.
The purpose of this talk is to inspire us and to assist us in clarifying our purpose as a physically expanding Church in Christ.

The Church is not a building but the people of God who accept the invitation to join His family through the sacramental participation in His very real, very current, Life. Oftentimes, God sees fit to bless a family with growth in numbers. When a family grows in numbers, it usually considers whether or not there is room in its present facilities. If its present facilities do not meet its needs, an addition is one option, as is a different house altogether.  It is reasonable for a church to plan ahead and be sensitive to the growing needs of the church family.For a church to be expanding in a Godly manner, it must explore and discover that its motive is to be used by God to build up the body of Christ, to disciple the Orthodox to the Glory of God, to heal the lost, to strengthen families. When we build a Church facility, we create sacred space in which we consistently come before God as a people to share in prayer, in communion with one another, and in the significant turning points of our lives. We mark and invoke God’s presence at life’s major thresholds:   baptism, marriage, death, unction and recommitment to God. When we do so, God lifts our efforts to enrich us more than we can imagine.The purpose of this talk is to inspire us and to assist us in clarifying our purpose as a physically expanding Church in Christ.

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