Moira
Baptist Church
a
church with a heart
Why
do we call ourselves a Church with a Heart?
In
some ways we see ourselves a bit like the Church in Antioch in
Acts 11.
1.
A church with a heart for evangelism – a heart
for the lost – for the gospel
They preached Christ in all His fullness and preached the need
for repentance and faith. They had a burden to evangelise. They
had a vision for the lost around them and for the lost far beyond
their shores. They had a passion for the glory of Christ in the
salvation of souls.
2.
A church with a heart for fellowship
They
were openhearted to God's people whatever their background, colour
or culture. And they were tender-hearted, always ready to forgive
and welcome. Fellowship was not just meeting together but doing
the will of God together.
3.
A church with a heart for truth – for the word of God.
A
church grows when it is fed good food. The people of Antioch loved
to hear the Truth and were always hungry for the Word of God.
Everything they did was based on the Truth.
4.
A church with a heart for service
This
church witnessed and sent missionaries. But their service was
also very practical, opening their homes to the church to pray,
to study God’s Word, to have the Lord’s Supper, usually
as part of a fellowship meal. They took responsibility for giving
out food to the widows and the poor. They used their gifts and
talents and resources for the glory of God and the service of
His church, however limited or basic they felt their gift to be.
5.
A church with a heart for God.
Worship
is having a passion for God. The Church in Antioch were not content
merely to reach the lost, to build each other up in fellowship,
to serve the Lord here with the gifts he had given them, or to
know and live by the truth. Vital as these things are, they were
empty unless they had a passion in their heart for God.
Barnabas
in Acts 11:23, “exhorted them all that with purpose of heart
they would cleave unto the Lord”. And they did.
May
God give us such a purpose of heart.
