Being the Church

If you read the "Untimely Ramblings" email, I always conclude with the phrase: "Don't just come to church, but be the church." I saw this statement on the back of a person's t-shirt one day 10 years ago. I could not get its truth off of my heart for several days as I thought about what it means to be the church. I began to realize how powerful a mandate the statement makes.

Being the church means to find our identity in Christ, model our lives after him, and put on the full armor of God. This enables us to be faithful, available, and teachable—through the work of the Holy Spirit. To be the church, two things are most important: one is to have a relationship with Christ, and second is to strive to live a Christ-centered life.

The mission of FUMC is to encourage you to be the church! No one can make you do it, you must decide for yourself to be the church at work, in public, in your conversations and actions, and on and on.

By loving in this Christ-Centered way, we are the church! As you read through this publication, I hope you will remember with thankful hearts some of the ways we were the church in 2018 and be excited about how we will be in the church 2019. God is faithful!