Keys To Plugging Into A Church Successfully

The following is taken from Stephen and Alex Kendrick, with Randy Alcorn, The Resolution For Men (Chapter. 14).

“Here are four keys to being successful in how you plug into a church:”

1. Show up and get involved. How can you feel connected, loved, and ministered to if you’re never there?  Attend consistently, not just every once in a while. And don’t sit on the back row on Sunday morning and then jet for your car during the closing song. Get involved in a small group Bible Study. Find a place to serve. Don’t stand at a distance. Dive in with both feet and join the fun.

2. Fix your eyes on Jesus, not on people. Jesus won’t fail you, but people will. So give them permission to be human, and forgive them when they disappoint you. Extend the same mercy that you would hope to receive from others. Be hard to offend and quick to forgive.

3. Be a blessing, not dead weight. Let love be your motivation for what you do, not merely to be known and loved. Instead of expecting everybody else to do everything, you do some of the pedaling too. Don’t just take. Give. Serve. Encourage. Use the gifts and talents God has given you to be an edifying member of the body. It is what each person contributes that keeps them most connected, ‘as each part does its work’ (Ephesians 4:16).

4. Finally, share life with other believers. Invite them into your world. God wants us being part of each other’s lives: Challenging one another; loving one another; serving one another; helping one another; weeping together; rejoicing together; doing life together.

Conclusion: The church needs you, and you need them. God designed it so that as Christians, we multiply one another’s joy and divide one another’s sorrows. The more we intentionally are knit together with other church members, the more we can celebrate when a member gets married, gives birth, has a prayer answered, gets a job offer, breaks an addiction, or is reconciled to an estranged family member. Their joy is our joy because we are one body.

It’s a family sharing in the very joy of God (John 15:11; 17:13), not a country club. It’s God Himself, delighting in the unity and good of His people (Psalm 133:1). So invest your life in a Bible-believing, Christ-exalting local church, and increase the joy of others while giving yourself more opportunities to rejoice!

God will match and exceed your faithfulness to the church with His faithful love.