A Note to my wonderful Church family at
Pasadena Bresee Church of the Nazarene

I have been thinking about why the local church matters as a force for God.

It matters, first of all, because it is right down in the stuff of life Jesus wants his church to be planted. In Jesus God left heaven and began to dwell among people. So it is the church enters into the life of the community and believers live their faith right there in the daily stuff of life.

The church matters because it is the only movement in the world teaching the truth that Jesus is the Messiah.

The church matters because there are no Lone Ranger Christians, no isolationists. Christians are in this thing called life together. We are so close to each other that we feel like brothers and sisters in Christ.

The church matters because her life revolves around the life of Jesus, and through Him it models what new life in Christ is like.

Together Christians form a community of faith that lifts up Christ as the hope of the world.

We are a small church in a big city and we are seeking to live here so as to make God look good. How are we doing? Whatever the answer to that question is let’s remember that we are on a mission to show people in our sphere of influence that “God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

We are a small church but we are serving a big God “who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Eph. 3:20).

May we, together,
offer a ministry
that brings a smile
to the face of God.