The nature of the church and our relationship with the local church

Ephesians 2:19 "You are no longer strangers and strangers." That word upstarts means as a relative, a person who is a last minute appendage, as not genuinely a member of the faith community of God's people.

"You are no longer foreigners or upstarts, but rather fellow citizens" – that is, we are all citizens, we are legitimate, we have legitimate membership in the Kingdom of God – "of the saints and members of the family of God, built on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, being the main cornerstone Jesus Christ himself in whom the whole building, well coordinated, is growing to be a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together for a dwelling place of God in the spirit.

The Apostle Paul is meditating on the fact that we have been grafted into this body that is based on the word of God and the prophets and Apostles that God used to give us his word through the centuries. And God is leading us towards a purpose as members of that body which is the church of Jesus Christ.

And the second passage is in First Peter, chapter 2, verse 9 and says: "But you are a chosen lineage - tell your brother, I am not just anything - a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people acquired by God so that you can announce the virtues of him who called you out of darkness into his admirable light. You who in another time were not a people but who are now the people of God, who in another time had not obtained mercy but now you have obtained mercy."

That is what we are. The Apostle Paul and Peter in this passage are talking about this wonderful body to which we belong, of which God has made us a part and that we belong to a caste, an extraordinary, exalted category, kings, priests of that body of Jesus Christ and we have reached extreme mercy.

I want to share with you some reflections on the nature of the church and our relationship with the local church, in this case with our León de Judá Congregation church. I want to continue reflecting on what we want and should be as a spiritual community. What are some of the hallmarks and what are some of the things, elements that we want to strive for to be a spiritual community, the community of the church here in Boston.

A point to start our reflection, the Church of Jesus Christ is the incarnation of the Kingdom of God in the world, it is the way in which the Kingdom of God, which is something eternal, invisible, spiritual, becomes visible in time and space. It is an institution established by Jesus Christ, installed in the world to carry out the purposes of the Kingdom of God, to negotiate with the kingdom on earth, the Kingdom of God. She is called to preach the Gospel, she is called to embody the authority of Christ in the world and also to bring others to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and to be disciples of the people we bring to the Gospel, so that they are solid believers in the way of faith.

The Lord constituted his church and said, "I have established my church in the world and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Amen. What a wonderful statement. The church of Christ is going to be here until Christ himself comes. Don't be scared by what you see around you and by the predictions that the church is going to stop being relevant. The church of Christ is going to be here even if the devil wags his tail in annoyance. The church of Christ will never be defeated by culture, or changes, or anything. Kingdoms come and go, cultures change, but the church of Christ remains forever.

The Lord established her as his representative here on earth. And she will always emerge victorious from any situation including this time that she finds herself. So the church is the manifestation of Christ on earth. And that Church is manifested in local communities like ours, the I becomes an i where the individuals who belong to those communities like ours, learn to coexist, to live together and to develop the principles of the Gospel in coexistence, and to carry carry out the work of the kingdom in the places where they are. All the things that we do, social missions, international missions, evangelism, teaching children, discipling adults, all of that is part of the work of the church, to negotiate.

The Lord told the disciples "Do business while I come," in a parable and that is what we have to do. We are always negotiating for the kingdom as the local church, doing our part to carry out God's purposes in our city and in the world.

I believe, brothers, and I am entering into one of the first principles that I want to leave with you. I believe that it is not possible to be a genuine Christian and not try to live the Christian faith in community with other believers. Now if you live in a colony on Mars or Pluto or the moon and there's no one else there, you're alone because they left you when the ship went back to earth, you don't have a chance to have community, that's fine, long live your Christianity alone. But if you are on earth, in a society, in a city, in a town, you must be part of a community.

I don't believe in eating cereal at 9 in the morning in front of a television and worshiping with a televangelist and occasionally sending a little check to a ministry that you don't even participate in. One has to be part of a community. If you go to China make sure you find a church when you arrive. Take off the motets and go at once and start looking, where is the local church here. If they speak Spanish, even better, but if not, speak in Chinese or whatever, but look for a community. Look for a church, be part of a community because you can't be a Christian, you can't grow spiritually if you don't belong to a group of other believers who are together seeking God's purpose for your life.

The Christian life is lived with other pilgrims in some kind of coexistence. We must consider ourselves a part of the church of Jesus Christ. We see this idea throughout the New Testament, the great value that the Bible places on coexistence, the experience of Christian life in community. All the letters of the Apostle Paul, for example, are written to a specific community, to the Christians in Ephesus, to the church of Jesus Christ in Philippi, to the church in the city of Corinth, to the house of Lydia is always written to a community assuming that this is where Christian life takes place, in community, in the family.

And so we must also give great importance to the church of Christ. So principle number 1 is that, that one must live and develop the Christian life in community, in a family. The Bible also talks about not giving up gathering together. How many remember that good Pentecostal verse? Don't stop congregating. Congregate as the Pentecostals say. A good word.

Where do you congregate? A good word, instead of saying, where are you going? Where does it congregate? The church, brothers, is God's platform for the elaboration and development of the principles of the Gospel. Many of the principles of writing are relational in nature, having to do with the relationship between individuals.

And these principles require and presuppose that there is a relationship with other people and that these principles are applied in community. For example, principles such as love, forgiveness, patience, kindness, meekness, are impossible to develop if it is not with other people. Love, for example, unless you love yourself in a sinful way, let's say, you need other human beings, right? The Bible says, love is long-suffering, it is benign, what are you going to suffer if you don't have anyone to make you suffer? You need people.

So these principles… how are you going to exercise patience if there is no one to exercise patience with. The principles of writing for you to develop, to live, to embody require other people, right? That is why the church is important. That is the origin of families. Why is there family? God devised the family because to be truly human you have to have a community. You need a husband who steps on your keys from time to time to say, Lord, have mercy, I forgive you, and learn what God's love truly is.

Some annoying children to learn to be patient and to believe that in the long term they can change. In other words, these principles of scripture can only be developed in the context of human relationships and of a community where they can be observed, put into practice, incorporated into our lives and personalities.

I think that the boys, ideally, now if it's a boy who is an only child, amen, it's very good and many good things can come out of that, but I think that the boys often learn better when they are in a group, pulling their bows , fighting with the others, negotiating about I already played with the toy, now you play a little and all that. This is where children learn to socialize and develop character and social skills.

And so it is in the church. The church requires that community together so that you can truly become like Christ. What I am saying is that as Christians we must stay and be active in a Christian community, if we really want to be healthy believers who are working and working out their salvation in a legitimate way, engaged in your salvation.

I believe that working out our salvation requires that tug and pull of the Christian life lived in community. So first principle, don't stop congregating. You need a church and a local church, a Christian family in order to truly become a bona fide, bona fide, healthy, plump Christian.

Second, as much as possible one should stick with it for the long haul. Say long term with me. Long term in a particular Christian community. It is not just belonging to a church but staying in that church as much as possible. Before one fully enters a church, a community, one must explore it, one must visit it, one must kick the tires to make sure they are okay and observe the leadership, observe their common life, observe their government, the preaching of the word, the health of the town in general to which you are going to belong. And when you have observed the person you are going to marry as in a marriage, when you have observed the community and you are sure that the Lord is calling you, then you join that community and remain faithful to it. .

The church is to be a place where the word of God is faithfully preached and taught, where there is godly leadership, where there are sound principles of government, and where there is accountability, where there is emotional health among believers, even within one level. of imperfection because no church is perfect.

But when you have found those things, stay there, be a militant, continue against all odds, stay as long as possible, even if the church is not perfect, because if you are in it, that already guarantees that it will not be perfect. Someone has said, 'if you found the perfect church don't join it because you're going to hurt it.'

Churches are not perfect but when you find a solid, healthy, strong church, treasure it, stay with it. It does not have to be perfect, on the contrary, I believe that a certain degree of imperfection is required for you to grow in the virtues of the Gospel, because there you learn to forgive, to tolerate, to love despite, to forget offenses, to love the one you don't like, the one who goes out of tune when you're singing, the one who doesn't dress the way you want, but you learn to stay there. That is what makes a strong Christian who has the character of Christ in him.

So I personally believe that God has included imperfection as an essential element of the church life so that we can be truly solid Christians. But if we're going to find a basically good, solid, healthy, healthy church, let's stick with it once we've found it. We must do all we can to stay in it long enough for that community to develop its formative influence on us. Because if you step foot in it since church got a little nasty, you missed the opportunity.

Churches have their ups and downs like all things, and if you leave early you may miss out on God's opportunity to form you. It's like an investment. When you invest in the market or stock market, investors say you have to invest for the long term. If since your investment dropped a little you get the money at once, forget it. The investments are at 10 and 20 years that yield their benefit.

And many times the purpose of God through your church is going to take time and if you are like a monkey, from stick to stick all the time, jumping from one church to another, you are never going to learn the characteristics of a believer. mature, solid, stable. And that is why it is so important that we let the church release all its essence through time. You should not jump from one church to another.

Sometimes I see the signs of what I call a consumer mentality in these times, which sees the church as just another merchandise, as another service, like a supermarket, or a clothing store. If they have the product that I want and they sell it to me at a good price, I'll go, if not, I'll find another. The church is not like that, brothers. The church has to be something like a marriage, we have to first explore its potential, make sure that it is indeed something good for us and then we have to make a long-term commitment and persist in that commitment even when difficult times come.

Why do they say in marriage in good times and in bad, in adversity and in prosperity, in sickness and in health. Churches go through their times, churches are living organisms and as a living organism there are times when things are not going to go well, there may be a bit of a process, a problem, difficulties, there may even be a crisis, but that is part of it. of God's design. And do you know who saves the churches in their ups and downs? The firm people, the ones who stay there, like a solid substrate, when there are those moments of threat and difficulty.

I thank the Lord for those faithful people who remain even though the pastor makes a decision that sometimes one does not understand well and things are not exactly... I thank you for being kind in giving us the opportunity to continue with what we have done 9 and 12. I appreciate that, brothers, you can't imagine how serious it is for us to do something like this and how much I feel your heart and how much I value your comfort. And also what I regret that sometimes some of you have been inconvenienced in this effort of what we are doing. But that is only possible when you have a people who are committed to the long term and who say, 'you know what? We are going to give the pastor a little space to see what happens to him and then we will shoot him, but now we are going to give him a little time to see how he is doing.’

That is important. You have to make a long-term commitment. In the 30 plus years that I have pastored this congregation, 34 with it since it began, I have seen it go through different moments and I thank those brothers who have been generous and have stayed there. And I believe they have been prospered and blessed as a result. And my heart thanks for that.

Now, there are times when you are going to have to move, for example Sister Marisol has been with us for many years and she went to Florida but she comes to visit Boston and there she is like a faithful warrior among us. Sometimes you have to move, sometimes God calls you to another congregation for some reason to serve in a position or something like that, there are reasons and I believe that there can also be moments of separation from a church and they should be done prayerfully, with a lot of meditation, in a deliberate way and amen, be sent with the grace and peace of the Lord. But don't run away from your church with unresolved issues because it will haunt you for the rest of your life. I'm not threatening you, understand.

I believe that it is important in the Kingdom of God that one must be orderly, one must be deliberate, one must do things well and sometimes even wait quietly and wait for the Lord to clarify things. That has a great benefit and God blesses us as a result of it.

But there are times when we are going to have to go out but it is with weight, not because I simply had 2 days in the hospital and they did not call me or because I gave a party and 3 of those I expected did not arrive or whatever, that the That little boy pulled my son's ear in the children's class and I didn't like that and I'm leaving the church, or that there was no paper in the bathrooms, whatever. Sometimes people leave churches for such silly things. He fought with someone in the church and then he already fell out with the church, as if the church had offended him. It was so-and-so, sit at the other end of the building. Ideally, you should reconcile but not leave the church because there is a little problem, give the Lord time to work things out and consider that an opportunity to grow in faith and to exercise the values and virtues of a mature Christian and have the character of Jesus Christ.

There must be compelling reasons and as I say, when we remain in a congregation for a long time then the church can exercise its formative influence, mold us until the image of Christ is formed in us. The church requires time for that. Principles such as love, patience, long-term vision, forgiveness, require those contexts of imperfection and that we stay there. Many times discomfort produces something extraordinary.

We have all heard the illustration of a pearl. Know what the pearl is – there are other precious materials that are forged in the crucible of discomfort. They know that the pearl is the product of an oyster that gets a grain of sand inside. The oyster is a living being and that grain of sand irritates the skin, irritates the structure of that oyster and then, to protect itself, the oyster begins to throw out a substance that covers the grain of sand and does so little by little and that substance that is accumulating is a pearl. How good was that! the pearl is the product of an original irritation.

And what about a diamond? What is a diamond? A diamond is carbon deep in the earth in which the great pressure of the mass that is on it and around it is compressing it, compressing it, until it produces this wonderful object that is a diamond. Imagine that. From a piece of coal to a diamond by pressure.

And I believe that, that most of the Christian virtues are produced in that irritation with each other. And I know that some have more capacity to irritate us than others, but it's the idea that this collective irritation, that brother's friction with his brother produces... and it takes time, little by little through the years of you overcoming different things , you are growing in faith. But if he leaves, he quits as Puerto Ricans say, before his time, he lost the opportunity to be formed by the long-term influence of the church of Jesus Christ. So commitment is required, attendance is required, stay is required.

And thirdly I want to offer you the idea that churches are more and more like a refuge, healthy churches should become a refuge, a substitute society where believers are able to find most of the nutrients they require for a healthy life. satisfactory social and spiritual life. I know I lost them about 3 minutes ago but I'm going to explain what this means.

Every day I see more and more than one church in a world as terrible as the one in which we live, where every day this world becomes more hostile to the values of the Gospel or more hostile to what are the elements that are required for a life good and noble, where the world is corrupting more and more every day. And I believe that then the churches should become a substitute for the world where you come from, like a supermarket that has a pharmacy, food, all the nutrients that are needed and you buy everything. The church should be a spiritual Bj's, where you buy everything.

A church should be a place where there is worship, where there is Christian teaching, where there is an opportunity to make friends, where there is an opportunity to attend a good event and have healthy fun, where there are even opportunities to get a job, prepare academically. Churches must provide everything that is needed for a complete life. And I believe that this is part of what we have to do more and more every day, provide for all the needs of the people of God. And it is a refuge where you take refuge and your children receive word to be able to counteract what they are going to find in the world when they enter school or go to the university, where your marriage can receive strength to be able to resist the ravages of modern society. that militates against the permanence of marriages, where you can get sincere and good and noble friends who are seeking God and can eat together and go out together, and have a different society from the world, without completely separating ourselves from the world, because we never we cannot and should not do it because we have to be salt and the salt has to be mixed.

We are in the world but we are not of the world. We work, we trade, we do everything a normal person does, but in the church we are nurtured and strengthened to remain different. There is a tension and that is what we have to learn. And I ask the Lord, "Lord, make our church a place where our brothers and sisters practically don't have to go outside at all, where they can find everything they need for a happy and fruitful life."

They must be communities in the broadest sense of the word while living in this world too, not loving the world. You know that in this time I believe that there is a whole doctrine that has developed in the church, in our desire to serve the world, affirm the culture, not see ourselves as self-righteous people who consider themselves better than others, we have gone to the other extreme and We have wanted to mix the church with the world and for the church to lose its distinction with the world. We want people to think, not this guy is the same as me, that's good, come here, we're going to enjoy life, you're a Christian, me too. No. The church has to be different.

As Christians we are separated, we are pilgrims, we are foreigners of the world and we love it and we would give our lives for the world and those who are in the world as Christ gave his life for humanity, but we also know that there is an evil and perverse generation, he says the Bible, without feeling superior to anyone, loving everyone and knowing that we too are, by the grace of God, only members of this Christian community. There is always going to be tension in the call to be separate from the world and to find what it takes to be a happy human being and to be in the world and to serve the world as well without embracing its values.

It is important that we understand this, that the church in that sense of a castle, a refuge, a substitute society, the church is a place not where we attend from time to time, sporadically, we come and go like one goes into a supermarket, or in a an entertainment site. No, the church should be our room, it should be our place of dwelling, it should be our spiritual refuge, where we come to stay, to prosper, to grow, to work, to learn, to be trained, to be discipled.

I want us to adopt that sense that I belong to a community, I am a member of it and that church is forming me, I am establishing a relationship with it, it is working in me through Christ Jesus, I am serving it, I am blessing her with my belonging and together we are growing in a direction where God wants to take us.

A fourth point, if churches are going to try to provide those services that are needed for a full, normal life, then we have to become active servants, participants and resources for those efforts that the church is trying to provide. What I mean by that is that if the church is going to do its job of providing resources for the people, then the people must consume those resources.

For example, this event on October 12 in Northfield, I believe that God is going to use it in a very blessed way and I am working to make it something that blesses not only our church but the entire region, with other pastors, other believers. But now one hopes that once the food is prepared that people will come and sit at the table.

If your church does workshops for marriages, if it does women's retreats, if it does youth retreats, if it has discipleship classes, if there are evangelistic and prayer efforts and you don't make it then you discourage those who are trying to provide you with the nutrients to a normal life.

If an event is offered and the church prepares and strives and people don't show up, then there can't be… Do you know what I mean? A church that provides resources and is a substitute partnership requires people to participate in that partnership. And that means that when your church makes these efforts you should try as much as possible to reciprocate and be a part of that effort.

The church is a place where you actively participate. You have to do everything you can to support and participate in the things it offers. Of course, with the necessary wisdom, because a church like ours produces a number of activities continuously, there are retreats, I wanna, retreats for men, for women, meetings of this, meetings of the other, and if you try to do it, everything will go to having to be a professional Christian 24/7. It's not about that, but that you choose certain things and that you make an effort.

There are many of us brothers who didn't even attend one thing and I don't want to make him feel guilty, or maybe I do want to make him feel guilty. But the church is not only to come on Sunday and see if it is the only day you can come, glory to God, amen, but as far as possible I want us to get out of that idea of Christians on Sunday.

No, our identity is an identity 24 hours a day. We are members of the Kingdom of God, we are a race redeemed by the blood of Christ Jesus, we live for eternity, we are in the world passing through, we do not love the world, we love the affairs of the Kingdom of God, we are instruments for the advancement of the Kingdom of God, my life is worth to the extent that it is used by God to advance the interests of the Kingdom of God. And every day we have to acquire more and more that idea of active citizens, active participants in the affairs of the Kingdom of God and of our congregation, because this is the incarnation of the Kingdom of God, in your life and in this city and in your family.

So, you have to participate as much as possible. There are times when you won't want to come to an activity but you will because you say, hey, if I'm not there my presence will be missing. And you don't have to come to things simply because you want to, many times you will come out of commitment, out of duty. There are times when I don't even want to come to church, I tell you the truth, brothers, but I come and when I arrive I feel happy that I came. You have to do it.

If you only come to church when everything is right, when all conditions are perfect, and some people have a list of 50 things that have to be right before they come to church on a Wednesday night, a Friday, or a activity outside of Sunday. It is not like this. One comes to church not only out of desire but also out of commitment, out of duty, to support their church, their pastors, their leaders, and that is what constitutes a healthy church, brothers.

If that were the case, all our legitimate activities would have a lot of support, because one day a group would come for this, another group for the other, another group for the other, no one would have to be overloaded, but the activities of the church provided for the blessing and the The brothers' support and food would always have customers, they would always have a good clientele, so to speak.

So remember if you're a member of a church you have to participate in supporting, endorsing, showing up for their activities so that church can feel like, wow, that's great, we're providing services and people are consuming them.

That it is not like the parable that Christ made where he said that a man made a great banquet, he prepared everything and then he called the guests and no one showed up because everyone had an excuse. And that happens many times, the church offers a number of things and if we believers are not prepared and simply believe, no, I go on Sunday and that's all. I put a peseta in the basket of offerings and I've already complied and until next Sunday don't bother me. It is more than that. You are a servant, a child of God 24 hours a day. His entire being is permeated with that Christian identity.

So, we have to support, we still have to support with balance and balance, because we have to take care of our family life, our married life, our children, it's not that you don't wear yourself out either, but still from one extreme to the other there is sometimes a long way there and what we are asking for is a balanced life of commitment to the things of the Gospel. Make sure that each of us is doing our part to support and agree to what a healthy church offers.

And this brings me to a sixth point. We must support our church not only with our personal and active participation and our support by attending and agreeing to the activities that our church does, but also financially. Hold that one while I send you the other one, with our tithes and offerings.

You have to support the church. I'm being very specific here. because a church is an institution like any other, it has lights and electricity to pay for, air conditioning, heating, pastors, seats, cleaning, missions, social services, different types of services, maintenance, legal issues, insurance, you don't know, brother , all the things that the biology of a church demands. Apart from the beautiful occasion in which we adore and the place is filled with the incense of the adoration of the people of God, Monday there are bills to pay, there are things to do, there is a physical, material, concrete, financial platform that supports the moments of spiritual exaltation.

And that is where we have to be aware, each one of us supports a little bit of the weight of this ceiling with our financial support. If each one of us visualized the fact that my church has certain very great needs and I am a little bit of that force that keeps it upright. Because the Bible says that he who is given a lot of wealth also consumes it quickly, Solomon said that, not me. A church with 3 buildings, with thousands of people we serve, burying people, marrying them, presenting their children, counseling them, ministering to them, teaching them in many ways, has a lot of escapes, things we do, services.

I have rejoiced in these days that people have come from Mexico, as you know, from Argentina, from different parts to tell us, we are blessed. This sister who came, Dr. Aurora Durán, who is currently on her way to Mexico, stayed here in Boston for a week because she wanted to come and meet the León de Judá congregation personally. Since 2012 she has been listening to the messages and offers of León de Judá and his life has been shaped by internet programs.

The Cavallo family that came from Argentina, in the same way, 5 members of that family, since 2011 their life and their church have been blessed by León de Judá, but that costs a lot of money, tens of thousands of dollars. Our radio show, you know how many people I know who tell me, I listen to your show, they don't come to church but they are blessed, they are strengthened and one day they will be members of a Christian community. They are edified in the morning when they are driving a truck or a taxi or washing dishes in the house. And I sometimes complain, it's $35,000 almost $40,000 dollars that we paid. In total that program costs us $40,000 almost $50,000 a year and you don't hear me asking for money from that program. But you bear it, you bless a large community that listens to those programs.

So, there are many things that you don't even imagine that the church, our internet costs at least $100,000 dollars with all the things, cameras, equipment, people participating in it, all of that requires money. Brother Ernst Diehl in Berlin maintaining all that apparatus and many other things that are done are miracles of God. A world church, a church that is serving the Lord through its discipleship, through its various programs, its messages, who supports, who supports that? yes, the Holy Spirit but you, every Sunday when you faithfully give your money to the Lord, you keep the biology of the Lion of Judah alive and make it possible.

I beg you, brothers, to always keep that vision. When you put your money in the basket, see mission, see evangelism, see discipleship, see keeping my church alive and prosperous and blessed because I believe this church treats the money of God's people responsibly, brothers. I say it here before the Lord that we take it very seriously, so that as the Apostle Paul says, we cannot even provoke suspicion of how the money of the people of God is used.

So you can give it safely and with confidence. You have to see, throughout the scripture we see that call... believe what you believe about the tithe, there are people who say theologically that the tithe is not for our time, what you can see in the scripture is this, you have to give generously. I think no one can fight against that. You have to give generously. We must give beyond our strength, the Bible says that too.

He says, they did not give only according to their strength but beyond and that is why the Apostle Paul praised them. You have to give joyfully, the Apostle Paul says that God loves the cheerful giver, not the sour giver like a lemon giving because the pastor is pushing him to give. The Bible says that if we sow bountifully we will reap bountifully. He talks about sowing, he talks about the God that when we realize this, as we said on Wednesday, in our favor. When we give we are investing in the Kingdom of God and we are investing in our own lives.

That will come back to us multiplied, blessed and will manifest itself in our family lives, in our joy in the Lord, our spiritual growth and also our material prosperity. You have to strengthen your church.

The Bible says, bring the tithes to the storehouse, that is, to the place to eat and that there is no lack of food in my house. And the Bible also says that those who benefit spiritually in some way should materially bless those who receive. And I don't apply that to myself, although if you want to do it, glory to God, but the idea is to the church. If the church blesses you spiritually, bless it materially. If you grow, eat, receive, are blessed, your children are blessed, your spiritual life is advanced, you can participate in that substitute society that is the church, bless it and make sure that it has everything it needs, that there is no shortage of food in her, that there is no anxiety for being the church.

God does not want his church to live in anguish like a house that lacks food. God wants there to be blessing and tranquility. And I tell you that there is enough here so that no one has to suffer too much in giving if we all embrace this call to be part of the financial needs of a congregation.

And now I finish, two more final observations. A penultimate remark, when we commit to a community as the local church after we have cautiously explored its beliefs and teachings and its leadership, and we believe it to be a strong, good teaching, good Bible teaching church, then we must submit to authority. spirituality of that church.

We have to submit to spiritual authority and that is a challenge for many of us. And that is why many times many people leave a church because that church made a decision that you did not like and instead of submitting yourself in faith to it, you take a foot and go to another where you can be more comfortable and don't have to suffer with that decision.

If you look through scripture and through church history century after century after century, the idea of the church as an entity of spiritual authority becomes inescapable, where if you believe that its pastors and its leaders are people of God who preach the word, who have the best intentions in their dealings with your life, then you must submit and in that submission you will grow and you will be spiritually blessed, you will not be lowered.

I am not talking about an abusive, oppressive, exploitative doctrine and that you submit to it. No, run for your life if so, but if your church is comprised of sound, biblical teaching and you see integrity in your leaders, look, submit to them. In that there is blessing. I believe that part of the problems of this society and this culture is its rebellion. All the problems we see today in this nation is rebellion against authority in one way or another, be it divine authority or civil authority or whatever.

And I have learned that when we hold on then we are exalted. There is an inverse dynamic in the Kingdom of God, whoever humbles himself will be exalted. When we enter the Kingdom of God we come as steeds kicking like a wild horse, full of strength and vigour, and the job of the church is to take that wild steed and subdue it little by little so that it is a work horse, that is useful. It is not that I am insulting you either, but that it is useful for the ways of the Lord.

A wild horse can be of no use to anyone except to run on the prairie and show off, that's all. And many believers are like that, they live running through the prairie from one place to another and do not spend enough time under the divine rider. How well that came out! until God tames and breaks them and then they can serve others. Submit to the authority of your spiritual leaders.

That is why I believe that Christ says that if we do not become like children we cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. In this world there is a lot of corrupt doctrine today, a lot of sacrifice of the truth and the church has to be a place where if there is good teaching you receive it. If you are confronted by something, look, salute in the name of the Lord and submit and let God show you the truth and benefit of what you are accepting by faith. Submit to your authorities, if they are good, if they are legitimate, if they are upright before God and accept the yoke of truth in your life.

Preaching many times will make you feel uncomfortable, it will challenge you, it will confront you, it will question your paradigms with what you came from the world, but the church is that spiritual mother that embraces her son and holds him until he learns and that requires an attitude of disposition, availability, respect for the values of the Kingdom of God. Without subjection to authority there is no blessing, brothers. Where there is rebellion against the truth of God there is also judgment.

The last principle that I want to leave with you is the importance – I have pointed out the importance of supporting financially, of supporting with our assistance and personal physical support, the last thing is the importance of serving and evangelizing. In addition to attending, being present, supporting financially, it is important that you be servants in your church.

A church has so many things that it does, right now our children, they tell me that there are about 200 children, now with the 12 o'clock service that is more nourished, these people are there with their tongues hanging out, running after all those boys and people are needed help there, volunteers. Eric needs mentors many times, volunteers to teach English or Alfa needs help in his efforts…he survives on volunteer efforts.

This church does so many miraculous things, because it has a group of people who give and give themselves and surrender... Brothers, this building is the product of generosity and service. That carpet was installed by a free brother, brother Ramón, with his skills, he gave sacrificially day and day. I think that there came a time when he regretted having offered.

Many brothers offered, pastor, I'm going to do this, and then I saw that face that grew longer each time because they didn't know what they were getting themselves into. But glory to God, we have this place. He knows that people sometimes think that León de Judá is richer, they think, no, this church is rich. No, it is rich in people who are generous, giving, sacrificial, voluntary, who give and make so many things possible. They serve the Lord.

You enter the elevator lobby, there are two nice cushions, some seats and that was a brother who works in a hotel in the city and the hotel donated those chairs for beautification. People say, wow, look at the church, me giving my money and the pastor buying these things that are not needed. No. They are things that generous brothers in the congregation give, brothers, understand. This church is stingy, it fights for every penny and the Lord blesses us and prospers us because when a people is generous, the Lord says, I am going to send them a blessing until there is no more.

You have to serve, be volunteers. If you give 6 weeks of your year to serve those children, God will bless you, you will prosper. A lot of people think, no, I'm skipping church and I need an escape and I come to church for an escape. Escape there and give to the Lord there and God will give you intravenously what you are losing by not coming to the service, God will bless you spiritually. It's like you're getting a sermon all to yourself by working with those kids, because those kids take the holiness out of anyone. If it's there, they're going to take it out.

But if we do not serve, brothers, we do not learn. What the greatest servant of all did, which is Christ Jesus, who for serving us stripped himself of his glory. The Christian grows by serving, I tell you that myself. So we have to give of our time, our energy and in that there is growth, there is blessing, there is exaltation. When you serve despite your desire to nurture yourself and care for yourself, you are in complete communion with the one who did that, emptied himself of his glory, did not take equality with God as a thing to cling to, but who emptied himself, took the form of a servant and became obedient to the point of death and death on a cross, for which God gave him a name that is above all names.

The one who sacrifices himself and serves God blesses and exalts him, as he did with his Son. So brothers, we are going to belong to the church, we are going to stay in the church, we are going to serve the church, we are going to support our church financially, we are going to submit to its authority, we are going to evangelize so that our church is greater, we are going to give generously so that he has everything he requires for his health, we are going to be militant soldiers in the Kingdom of God.

And God will prosper us and bless us and the blessing will be until it overflows. I bless you in the name of the Lord. God is doing something wonderful in our midst and is taking us to other levels, brothers. We are going to be an exemplary people, a people that our children are going to prosper. God is going to bless us materially and spiritually, we are going to be an example to the nations, we are going to build the destroyed walls, we are going to strengthen the gates of our city. God is going to bless us greatly.

Let us invest in faith for the Kingdom of God. Get some of this message into your heart right now. eat it make it yours Somehow I know that something has touched you. Say, Lord, from now on I am going to support my church by serving, as a volunteer, my finances, my attendance, I am going to get up thinking that I should support my church today because I am a member of the Kingdom of God constituted in this local community. I bless you in the name of the Lord. Father help us, help me to embody these principles, Lord. I know that we bring you delight when we genuinely and authentically live this precious Gospel that you have given us. Save this community, Father, save it and protect it, Lord. Protect her from all the attacks of the enemy who hates your life when he manifests himself in the world, Father. And erect walls around us of protection, of harmony, of love, of mutual support, Lord. Keep us and protect us even from ourselves, Lord, but keep what you have built for your glory.

We bid farewell to your people with your total grace in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.