Quotes About Church

If the Apostle justly prohibits the use of unknown tongues in the church, much less would he have tolerated these artificial musical performances, which are addressed to the ear only, and seldom strike the understanding, even of the performers themselves.

Even if the church began to grow on its own, the members of the dying church would only accept the growth if the new members were like them and if the church would continue to "do church" the way they wanted it.

When the early Jerusalem church members devoted themselves to prayer, they were doing a lot more than reading names off a list. They were fervent, intense, and passionate about prayer.

When the church is engaged in meaningful prayer, it becomes both the cause and the result of greater church health.

For where the money of the church goes, so goes its heart.

The money, though, was symptomatic of a heart problem. The church cared more for its own needs than the community and the world.

So if we approach church membership from the perspective of entitlement, we have it upside down. You always ask first what you can do for your church.

In other words, if you aren't focusing resources and time on your church website, you are thumbing your nose at the Great Commission. And that's not an overstatement. A church with a lousy website is committing the sin of Great Commission negligence.

It's really okay for low-hanging fruit to fail. It means the trial run did not work, but the church did not invest the resources in a major endeavor. Successful low-hanging fruit efforts are evident to almost everyone in the church. At the very least, there is a sense of encouragement in the congregation that something went well. Typically, though, the evidence is so compelling that the church becomes highly enthused. The excitement is palpable.

Pastors simply need three characteristics to satisfy all their church members: omniscience; omnipresence, and omnipotence.

Many of our churches have become cluttered. So cluttered that people have a difficult time encountering the simple and powerful message of Christ. So cluttered that many people are busy doing church instead of being the church.

Unity in the church will not happen if members have unforgiving hearts.

If given a choice between life and death, most church members and church leaders choose death if they have to make substantive changes in their churches.

We should not "go to church" to get our self-centered needs met. Instead we go to worship the one true God as we serve alongside other believers.

For many Christians, all other activities have become mandatory while the worship service has become an optional afterthought.

Praying Together as a Family for the Church One of the many lessons I learned from Bob was to bring my family together to pray for my church. Following Bob's leadership, I would learn to pray for the leadership of the church in a number of ways: For spiritual protection. For protection from moral failure. For the preaching of the Word. For their families. For encouragement. For physical strength. For courage. For discernment. For wisdom in their leadership.

few things can destroy the unity of a church like gossip. A unified church is powerful. Gossip tears apart that unity and renders a church powerless.

I don't understand it," he said. "We would welcome them if they came. And they must know we are here. You can't miss the big white columns out front." "Perhaps," I said with trepidation, "your church might go into the community instead of expecting them to come to you." "Nah," he said with a hint of indignation. "They're not interested in us. If this church dies, it will be because of the community.

it all affects the whole. To have a simple church, leaders must ensure that everything their church does fits together to produce life change. They

One of the principles of leadership in any organization, particularly a local church, is the law of unintended consequences. It points out that any significant change in an organization will have reactions that extend well beyond the change itself.

I simply know that if something is important to the church, it really cannot be over-communicated.

Pastors and other church leaders make mistakes. Church members often exacerbate them.

The denier is one of the most difficult to lead in change because he or she does not think anything needs changing. The church is just fine the way it is, and there is no motivation to do things differently. Denial is the fastest path to death.

As a church member, I am responsible for encouraging and leading my entire family to worship together in the church.