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Why Belong To A Local Church? - Part 2

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household
Ephesians 2:19

Why belong to a local church (Parish)? Because: 1) It helps you develop spiritual muscle. Listen: "As each part does its own special work, it helps all the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy" (Ephesians 4:16). It may seem easier to be holy when nobody’s around to see you, but it’s a false, untested holiness. Isolation breeds deceitfulness. It’s easy to fool ourselves into thinking we’re mature when there’s no one to challenge us. Real maturity only shows up in the give-and-take of relationships. 2) It can keep you from backsliding. Not one of us is immune to temptation. Given the right situation, we’re all capable of blowing it! Listen: "Encourage one another daily, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness" (Hebrews 3:13). ‘Mind your own businesses’ shouldn’t be in your vocabulary. We’re called to be involved in each other’s lives! If you know somebody who’s wavering spiritually right now, it’s your responsibility to go after them and bring them back into fellowship. James writes: "if you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back" (James 5:19). Why belong to a local church? Because it gives us a purpose to live for, people to live with, principles to live by, a profession to live out, and power to live on. There’s no other place on earth where you can find all these benefits in one place.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank you for the people in your church, your body. As imperfect as they are – I fit in. Help us to help each other. In Jesus’ Name, Amen