What is Church even for?

International Christian Center. Just the name invokes a sense of inclusion. And that’s our aim! We truly want all types of people to be a part of our church. Everyone experiences struggles through life and the goal of the church is to help! 
 
Why?
 
Maybe this cartoon can help explain…
 
You see, church isn’t about judging people or trying to show off what a GREAT Christian you are (I say sarcastically)! It’s about fellowship! Support! Encouragement! Love! Lifting each other up when we are feeling down, having a rough week, and not recognizing the blessings in our life.
 
And there are ALWAYS blessings in our life, seriously. Pastor Velters loves to say “You can’t out-give God” and it’s so true! You absolutely cannot because he has blessed us with so much, even when we don’t deserve it (and we usually don’t). 
 
When we don’t go to church, we find ourselves more susceptible to the enemy and temptations. And that’s the thing about life, the temptations NEVER. GO. AWAY. Matthew 26:41 says “…The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” That is a direct burn on us, we are the flesh, we are weak. We want to do our best to honor and glorify God, we want to follow His commandments and His Word, but then we have a bad day and wallow in our misery and go back to gluttony. Or rage. Or addictions. It’s the cycle of being in the flesh.
 
But in those times, we can remember that HIS WORD says we can handle it, 1 Corinthians 10:13 says “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” 
 
So where does church fit into temptation? Well, imagine life is a gym. You can go in and use the sauna and the steam room and the pool and just relax but it is NOT going to prepare you if you one day need to move heavy furniture. You are probably going to hurt your back. Bad. You might not even be able to because you are just that weak. You need to work out (read and study the Bible), you might even need a gym buddy (church fellowship), and you have to remain consistent and dedicated. And when the day comes that you need to move heavy furniture(temptation), you will be prepared. 
 
My point (if you got lost in that last one) is this: life DOES NOT get easier. Especially as a Christian! If anything, it gets harder! But with God’s Word and Christian fellowship, we become more capable of handling those challenges that await us; we can deny the wants of the flesh and pay attention to the needs of the spirit. CHURCH IS IMPORTANT. And we know finding the right church can be difficult. So this is me inviting you to become a part of our church, so that we can support and encourage you through life’s ups, downs, and heavy furniture.

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