10 Reasons to Serve in the local church

There is a desire in every person to be part of something significant, something that matters, something bigger than themselves, something that gives them purpose. A desire to find where they belong and put their hand to something that brings fulfilment.

It is a common expression to tell people, "Do whatever makes you happy." So people go from job to job, relationship to relationship, holiday to holiday, trying to find something that makes them "feel" happy. The problem with that expression is that the moment someone mistreats us, we quickly look for the next thing. As a result, our roots are never able to establish and we never truly find fulfilment because we haven't found the place where we belong.

This is why I believe that God, in His wisdom, established the Church. It's in the Church where people find their purpose, place, and family. The church is where we are to plant ourselves and establish roots. A place where we learn who we are in Christ and discover who God designed us to be.

Yes, the Church is made up of people, and yes, people will make mistakes and hurt us, but that doesn't change the fact that God designed the Church to implement His will on the earth.

If you want to build your life on something that matters, then find the Church that God has called you to be.

Here are 10 reasons to serve in the local Church:

1. You are getting involved with what Jesus is building.

Matthew 16:18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it"

- On the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, is the rock that He is building His Church.

2. God operates and implements His will through the Church.

Colossians 1:18 "He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything."

- Jesus is the Head, and the Church is His Body. The Body carries out the actions and plans of the head.

3. You are building the house of God, representing and standing for truth.

1 Timothy 3:15 "but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."

- You are building the very thing where truth can be found.

4. What you do in the Church has reward, both in this life and for eternity.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 "For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work."

Hebrews 6:10 “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labour of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.”

- What we do in the local church matters to God.

5. You remain under the protection that God has designed for the Body.

John 10:3-5 "The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."

- There is protection in the Body of Christ. Jesus is the Great Shepherd who protects us.

6. You are building what Jesus shed His blood for.

Acts 20:28 "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood."

- If Jesus believed that the Church was so precious that He died for her; how does that impact the way we get involved with the Church?

7. The Church is where you can establish your roots, find your identity, and flourish.

1 Corinthians 12:18 "But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased."

Psalms 92:12-15 "The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord Shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing, to declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him."

- The Church is built upon the blood of Jesus, and therefore eternal, there is nothing more sure, more steadfast, more immovable to build our life on.

8. You are part of something that Jesus Himself walks among and keeps a very close eye on.

Revelation 2:2,9,13,19, Revelation 3:1,15 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands…."

- Multiple times throughout Jesus' messages to the seven churches, He says, "I know" That word in Greek means "to see, perceive, understand; knowledge gained by personal experience or personal observation" Jesus is interested in what is taking place in His Church. He walks among the churches to observe and see what is happening. He knows what you and I are doing for His Church, and it matters to Him.

9. You are building the Bride of Christ, the very thing Jesus is coming back for.

Revelation 19:7-9, "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he said to me, "These are true words of God."

- We are building and serving His bride, the Church whom He loves dearly.

10. You are functioning in the place God has prepared for you.

1 Corinthians 12:18, "But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him."

Ephesians 4:16 "from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."

- God has a place for each of us, designed uniquely for us and according to our gifts that He has given us.

We are created with and for a purpose, equipped with a desire to do something that matters. If God values and highly esteems His Church, then how should we value the Church?

Remember we love you, and we are praying for you.

Blessings, Chloe