January 19, 2025 - INSCRIPTIONS FROM THE HEART

Ivan Lebrudo

Going to church was just a regular thing that happened in my life. I was born into a Christian family (which is a good thing), so I had to go to church. But it felt like a chore to me. As I got the older, and wiser, I realized that church was an important thing in my life. I realized that not only is church important, but what church truly is. 

I realized that church can be a lot of things. It can be a place where we can serve, have fellowship with one another, encourage others, and use our spiritual gifts that God has given us. 

It dawned on me that church also isn’t perfect. There are a lot of brokenness and messiness in the church. But I remembered the verse, 1 Corinthians 12:27, and it says “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” WE, the church, is the Body of Christ. And I believe that if we are one body, then together, we must overcome the brokenness and messiness in the church.  

This also means that we each have a part to play in the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit has given us spiritual gifts so that we can play our part in the Body of Christ. For me, I think that one of my spiritual gifts is serving. Meaning that I can play my part in the Body of Christ, by helping set-up and clean-up church events, contributing to church groups, and sacrificing my time for others, etc. There are so many opportunities for me and you to contribute to the Body of Christ, all we have to do is to choose to contribute  

I believe there is one thing that the church must do above all else. Zach Zehnder talked about it on the Red Letter Challenge. He says “Nothing magnifies Jesus as much as when people grow in relationship with Him.” This is pretty connected to our churches Vision Statement. Now let’s all say the Vision Statement together… “Living for Christ, Impacting Lives”. I truly believe that as we, the Body of Christ, live for Jesus and grow in relationship with Him, together, we will impact lives and magnify Christ to the ends of the earth.