Quotes About Church

I believe that the great tragedy of the church in our time has been its failure to recognize the importance of the spiritual gift of leadership. It appears to me that only a fraction of pastors worldwide are exercising the spiritual gift of leadership, organizing the church around it, and deploying church members through it. The results, in terms of church growth and worldwide spiritual impact, are staggering.

It's difficult to get the same fruit as the early Church when we value a book they didn't have more than the Holy Spirit they did have. To value the Scriptures above the Holy Spirit is idolatry. It's not "Father, Son, and Holy Bible." The Bible reveals God, but is itself not God.

look forward to the day when the Church will declare, "Don't believe us unless we are doing the works that Jesus did!" I owe the world a Spirit-filled life, for I owe the world an encounter with God. Without the fullness of the Holy Spirit both in and upon me, I will not be a surrendered vessel for God to flow through.

What God has planned for the Church in this hour is greater than our ability to imagine and pray.

The antichrist spirit has a goal for the Church—embrace Jesus apart from the anointing. Without the anointing, He becomes a safe religious figure who is sure not to challenge or offend us. Paul described this deceptive possibility as "having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!" (2 Tim. 3:5).

As we give ourselves to serving our city for the sake of the city—not for the sake of our ministry, our church attendance or even the church attendance across the city—we find greater open doors of influence.

When the Church discovers who she is, she no longer wants to be rescued. There's a big difference between being rescued from the big bad devil and being taken up for a wedding. And only one is acceptable for a believing believer.

Jesus gave people the right to disbelieve it all if there was no demonstration of power upon His ministry. I hunger for the day when the Church will make the same statement to the world. If we're not doing the miracles that Jesus did, you don't have to believe us.

Billy Graham is credited with saying, "Ninety-five percent of today's church activities would continue if the Holy Spirit were removed from us. In the early Church, ninety-five percent of all her activities would have stopped if the Holy Spirit were removed." I

I'll never forget the Sunday that the Lord informed me that it wasn't my service, and I couldn't do as I pleased. (Planning is biblical. But our diligence and vision must never include usurping the authority of the Holy Spirit. The lordship of Jesus is seen in our willingness to follow the Holy Spirit's leading. He wants His Church back!) But

I realize that true success is not measured in the number of people who attend church on a Sunday, as good a thing as that may seem. Success in God's eyes is seen in the impact the message of the Kingdom has on how people think and live in my city, region and nation.

What is free to operate in heaven—joy, peace, wisdom, health, wholeness, and all the other good promises we read about in the Bible—should be free to operate here on this planet, in your home, your church, your business, and your school. What is not free to operate there—sickness, disease, spiritual bondage, and sin—should not be free to operate here, period.

hunger for the day when the Church will make the same statement to the world. If we're not doing the miracles that Jesus did, you don't have to believe us.

Any revelation from God's Word that does not lead us to an encounter with God only serves to make us more religious. The Church cannot afford "form without power," for it creates Christians without purpose.

Too many times, the Church makes Christians feel guilty for keeping the Good News to themselves. Instead, we need to create a culture that overflows with God's extravagant love and power. When we experience His abundant goodness, we find it natural to invite others to partake.

When cerebral processes enter into sports, you start screwing up. It's like the Constitution, which says separate church and state. You have to separate mind and body.

What do we see God doing? What is He doing in our church? What is God doing in our community? What is He doing around the world? How can we participate in what He is doing?

the ancient Church of St Mary Axe. The church was originally called St Mary, St Ursula and her 11,000 Virgins, a reference to an entourage including St Ursula and her handmaidens who were beheaded with axes in 451 AD. Some thought the church itself was that old; others thought it was built a few hundred years later.

I'm more affected than ever by that sweet and powerful aura of the church; that marvelous spiritual essence flowing down by the centuries touches me as no other emanation does, but when I look at the authoritative layout, despite all the arguments in its favor, I still can't warm up. No affirmative conviction comes.

In early church polemics, Jews are deemed no longer worthy of their own Scriptures because they have failed to accept Christ as the Messiah.

We are tapping those people who are unchurched, people who feel they are not religious, those who are spiritual but are not at home with God, those who feel they are not worthy.

I was raised in a Catholic school, and I would always go to church on Sunday, and I would hear the same music over and over and over and over again, same gospels, hymns, everything.

You must all follow the lead of the bishop, as Jesus Christ followed that of the Father; follow the presbytery as you would the Apostles; reverence the deacons as you would God's commandment.

For where God built a church, there the Devil would also build a chapel.