The Beauty of the Body

For the past several weeks my church has been going through a series of messages entitled "Welcome to Your Church" in which we have been learning the nine things a local church should be based on Acts 2:41-47.  Each week there have been a variety of videos played with different members telling what they love about the Body of Christ and there have been a few "live" testimonies as well.  It's been fun to hear all of the various random reasons, yet they all seemingly tie into one truth: that we stand on and live by the Word of God.  What has been the absolute coolest thing to me is that each week a different man has risen to the challenge of stepping into the pulpit and preaching a message from the Bible.  It has been nothing short of incredible.  These men are from all walks of life, run the gamut of testimonies, and have differing preaching styles...and all of them have a delivered a message that has resonated with me.  I feel incredibly fortunate to be in a church that doesn't depend solely upon the pastor to teach...but that there are at least 8-10 Jesus following, Bible believing men that can stand in the pulpit and deliver the Word.  That rocks!

Due to some challenges I have recently experienced, this past week's message was a special blessing to me.  It was on the subject of accountability.  The speaker did an exceptional job of teaching a concept that I really had never heard explained quite this way...implied accountability.  Because I would not do it justice in recounting the message (feel free to listen online at www.maplecitybaptist.com), in a nutshell, the truth that struck me was that when I decided to follow Christ, it was implied that other believers would hold me accountable for living biblically. 

And that is one of the biggest reasons I love my church family...not only is it expected that I will have my own walk with Jesus and that I will consistently ( NOT perfectly!) strive to live my life based on biblical standards, but there are godly people that will not only hold me accountable, they will put their arm in mine and walk with me as I endeavor to do so.