MAY 20-24 | The Local Church
Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV): "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
The local church is a sanctuary where God's Word is faithfully proclaimed and upheld. In Ephesians 4:14,
Paul warns against being "tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.
Through sound biblical teaching and discipleship, the local church equips believers with the knowledge and discernment needed to discern truth from lies.
This does two things:
Creates a foundation for TRUTH
Creates a community of ACCOUNTABILITY
Within the local church, believers find a community of accountability and mutual support. In 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Paul exhorts us to
encourage one another and build each other up.
Through fellowship, prayer, and mutual edification, we strengthen one another's faith and guard against the influence of false teachings and deceptive ideologies.
Truth and Accountability are ways to keep ourselves from resembling the world. If there is no truth, there can’t be accountability to base our lives by it.
Someone says, “1 + 1 = 3” the truth would define this as a lie.
Someone says, “trans women are women,” the truth would define this as a lie.
Someone says, “sex before marriage is something that happens to everyone, drinking socially has no effect on your spirituality, pornography is a permanent problem,” the word of God would define these as lies.
Truth matters, accountability matters. The local church provides many things, but these two are fundamental.