At The Family Church here in Gainesville, a new sermon series has begun: No One is an Island. The first message, presented by senior pastor Philip Griffin last Sunday, was titled Why Church? and addressed the reasons why Christians need a church, as opposed to going on their own. The Biblical passage of focus was in the New Testament book of Hebrews, Chapter 10 Verses 19-25...you can read it in the New International Version through the following link to Bible Gateway: [link]...
Pastor Philip structured his message around our need for the church, elucidating four areas where fellowship among believers helps us: we are strengthened when our hope wavers, we receive spoken truth into our lives from others, we are shaped by an environment of grace, and we are motivated into acts of service. Philip, drawing from the passage in Ephesians about putting on the Shield of Faith, made an analogy with the Roman army, in which the soldiers would lock shields during battle, thus protecting each other all around, not just in front...that is kind of like what being in community is like when our faith is attacked or under stress. With speaking truth, believers need to have deep spiritual relationships with others marked by transparent, mutual accountability. As for the environment of grace, part of experiencing God's grace is experiencing it through others with whom we are in purposeful community. And regarding service, we each have our own role to play and can discover that calling by engaging with other believers. In sum, church is not just a "crowd" that meets and disperses on Sunday mornings, but rather an interdependent spiritual body. No one is an island...
The Family Church has a YouTube channel through which you can watch past messages...here is a link for last Sunday's: [link]. Sunday morning services, which feature the weekly sermon, praise music, and prayer, meet at 9:30 and 11. The church is located at 2022 SW 122nd Street...
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