Category: Church

  • Happy Anniversary Church – What is our future?

    A styled image of a church with the text Immanuel's 40th Anniversary - our lccal church is celebrating

    This weekend, our local assembly is celebrating its fortieth anniversary.  That’s both a huge milestone and a stepping stone for our little church. 

    Statistically, over 80% of new church plants last less than five years, so this one has done very well. Depending on which source you look at, churches that make it past the first 5 years last somewhere between 75 and 100+ years. There’s lots of time to go yet.

    Like most congregations, this one has ebbed and waned over the years. It’s presently undergoing significant change, with a much larger multicultural makeup reflecting our community as a whole. That’s a good thing.

    I’ve often spoken of the need for unity in the church, and an area that doesn’t often get touched on are cultural differences between what differing communities think of as “church.” I’m excited to see what we will look like at our 45th and 50thanniversaries,

    Will the music change? The service format? What about the ministries we are involved in? It’s likely. The question is by how much. Will we even recognize the church?

    Will you move as the Spirit leads, or will we fight change it tooth and nail because it isn’t the way we think church should be done?  Probably some combination of both.

    We can forget that it is never “our church”. The church in all its forms belongs to God. His pleasure is to use the church (both as the body of believers and the organizations therein) to fulfill His goal, of seeing all who will be saved come to Him, and as a training ground for believers to be shaped into His image.

    And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  Matthew 16:18

    And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.  Ephesians 1:22-23

    He is preparing His bride (the church) to present to the Father and will shape her as He wills.

    That’s great news for us. We don’t have to fret about change. We are free to simply follow the Lord as He leads and walk by faith.

    I don’t know what the next 40 years hold for Immanuel: growth, decline, or even demise.  I do know I needed worry. I can celebrate what God has done, is doing, and will do.

    That’s a good place to be.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

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    Every Member Is Necessary — 1 Corinthians 12

    Looking for a good church?

    Some thoughts on finding a good church

    Find a good church

    Live in Abbotsford? There are many good churches. This is where I attend.

  • What is the church? The hands and feet of Jesus.

    If you ask people, “What is the church?” they will most likely tell you about a building somewhere nearby. They might even know the name or the denominational (or non-denominational) affiliation of the building.

    Some people might be familiar with the service times or some of the better-known programs the church offers.

    If there is more than one, they will likely know something about the differences and have a preference. They might have questions about why there are two or three churches within several blocks of one another. It’s a valid question.

    There is a sense in which those answers are correct because we often talk about going to church, i.e., the place we gather for corporate worship.

    So,, what is the church?

    Someone once wrote (I can’t find a source), “Church people and God’s people are not the same thing. Church people go to church. God’s people are the church.” We are the hands and feet of Jesus.

    That’s a huge difference. The church visible, are all those who attend a church or claim an affiliation with a church, and all the buildings, programs, and baggage that entails. They may or may not be Christians.

    The church invisible is the true body of Christ, all believers in every culture through all of time. The word “church” is a translation of the Greek word ekklesia, which means “an assembly” or “called-out ones.” The root meaning of church is not a building, but people.

    Paul makes it clear that the church and the meeting place are not the same thing. “Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia.” Romans 16:5

    As believers, we are the church. 

    And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1:22-23

    For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:13

    When we start to think things like “the church ought to do something about that” or “someone from the church ought to,” it’s time to look inside ourselves. Are we being prompted by the Spirit to do something?

    If that something is too large for one person to tackle, we could join with others to get it done.

    The church isn’t a building. The church certainly isn’t perfect, after all, it is comprised of redeemed sinners in the process of being more Christ-like.

    Still, it’s the avenue Jesus chose to bring His message of help and hope to the world.

    There is a very real purpose to the church. We are the hands and feet of Jesus, guided by the Word and the indwelling Spirit to do His work.

    What an incredible responsibility! What an incredible privilege! We do what we can do, and the Lord does the rest.

    My friends, let us boldly BE the church.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

    Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 

    You might find this interesting

    The Church has a blessed future
    Finding a Good Church
    Every Member Is Necessary — 1 Corinthians 12

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    All contents, “Gleanings From The Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2025 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin, Gleanings From The Word. 

    Unless otherwise noted, “Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

    Some thoughts on finding a good church

    Find a good church

    Live in Abbotsford? There are many good churches. This is where I attend.