We need to understand that the most vital gifts to the church are not those that everyone sees, but those which produce the heartbeat of the church, and bring life to the church. The obvious gifts give the church identity, but not life. What a privilege it is to serve the Lord, don’t rob the church and yourself of the privilege of service to the body. You want to have a sense of belonging and a sense of satisfaction in your life? Use the gifs and talents you have to serve the body of Christ whether they express appreciation for those things or not. It is a blessing to know that there is One who ALWAYS notices the little things we do. Remember Jesus said in Mark 9:41 “For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.” Now go out and serve the Lord this weekend!… READ MORE

The church is formed, as believers are baptized by Christ with the Holy Spirit. It is not the Holy Spirit’s baptism but Christ’s baptism WITH the Holy Spirit that gives us new life and places us into the body when we trust in Christ. It is not possible to be a Christian and not be baptized by Christ with the Holy Spirit, nor is it possible to have more than one baptism with the Spirit. By this baptism the Son places all believers into the sphere of the Spirit’s power and Person, into a new environment, a new atmosphere, a new relationship with others, and a new union with Christ. We are not told exactly how this is done, any more than we are told exactly how God creates a new life in the first birth. But what is true is that just as a new person is established at conception, a new creature is established in the new birth, by being baptized with the Holy Spirit. Jus as their are no partially saved Christians there are no partially indwelt Christians. When we trust in Christ we are completely immersed into the Spirit and completely indwelt by Him. Just as … READ MORE

The human body is by far the most amazing organic creation of God. It is marvelously complex yet unified, with unparalleled harmony and interrelatedness. It is a unit; it cannot be subdivided into several bodies, yet we can no more separate Christ from His church than we can separate a body from its head. When Christ is referred to as the head of the church it is always in the sense of mind, spirit, and control. When a body loses its mind and spirit, it ceases to be a body and becomes a corpse. It still has structure but it does not have life. It is for that reason that the New Testament speaks of our being IN Christ and of Christ being IN us. His is more than simply WITH His church; He is IN His church and His church is IN Him. The common denominator of all believers is that they possess the very life of God (John 14:19). There is no true church life without Christ’s life. The significance of this is seen in the reality that we do not serve the Lord in our own strength, but because of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit … READ MORE