We had a great time today reflecting together as a church family on they past year, and planning and praying for the one ahead. If you missed all or part of the day do drop Ellie an email and she'll send you a link to the audio of the sessions you missed.
Over the last few months as we've worked through the letter to the Ephesians the Lord has been speaking powerfully to us about his design for his church - this song's a great summary of a lot of what we've seen.
Lyrics below
I’ve been saved from sin, saved from Him
I was once His enemy, but I’ve been made His friend
And He promised, He’d make His dwelling place with men
and in Jesus, this way was arranged, amen?
its by faith in Christ our salvation’s’ gripped
gospel baby! No, I’m not ashamed of it!
But the truth ’bout this life that He gave us is
He has gathered us up; we were made His kids
Though foreign to God we are forged in the body
of Christ to show His “amazing-ness”
arms to shoulders; legs to fists
all joined, each member receives varied grace His gives
it’s for maturity, that He gave us gifts
it’s His wisdom to best get the saints equipped
so to dismiss is dangerous
because His glory is shown through the church’s relationships
HOOK
(We gotta’ take ‘em to church!)
We live life linked up to be joined with
the called out ones Jesus anointed
for our growth and enjoyment
in the full knowledge of Christ, its the means He’s appointed
(We gotta’ take ‘em to church!)
So we’re lovers of god and God’s people
in the covenant flock of God’s sheepfold
we live peaceful
we show love as disciples of Christ, to show that He frees souls!
We ain’t the sole ones to run this
yo the Church, gets her worth if you know who the Son is
the bride that He died not to punish
but to summon, the saved to abide in our oneness
there’s trials it comes with
but how do we love Christ, if His bride is the one we can’t stomach?
we’re saved from our nature that covets
shown through the way that His people display how He loves us
sacrificial, it’s manifest yo
commitment to a local congregation’s not for dismissal
of course we’ll have issues. people are sinful!
still we’re called to live as His priesthood and temple
it’s quite simple, to see what He’s after
His glory shown through the people he’s gathered
we call Jesus our Master?
well the Church is the means He’s decreed so we have to…
HOOK
We can chop it up wit less-traditional teaching
As long as we break bread with expositional preaching
Just like the news at night, shows crime for crime
Pastors should take time and go line for line
The word is packed like a hospital triage can be
A healthy church gots to have sound theology
The church could be meaty but dry, that’s not so gravy
If we don’t evangelize and preach the Gospel baby
As we venture out, wit missional excursions
Make sure we preach true biblical conversion
Next we advocate discipleship and membership
Explain the heart and fruit of Church discipline
Then we can mature and grow with eagerness
As we’re governed by biblically qualified leadership
To the world, I’m sure we, sound like an odd story
That’s because the church exists for God’s glory!
The blog of the Emmanuel Bristol churches
