Recently, I have had renewed visions of what the church should be. In fact, I have spent considerable time in prayer simply seeking what God would do with His church. As pastor, of course, I bear a heavy responsibility to lead the church in God’s ways.

The church is the bride of Christ. He loves His bride. One day, He will present His bride without spot or blemish to the Father. What a grand day that will be. Today, the church is blemished, but in that day she will be unblemished.

Let me give you just one little glimpse of my dreams for the church.

Last week, I had the privilege of studying Scripture and teaching about Jesus’ calling of His disciples. If you would like to read what I wrote in response to my study, you can click here to read.

In the same week I had the blessing of getting to study and preach about the church at Antioch in Acts 13. Both passages point out the significant differences in those whom God uses.

One striking fact stood out to me. Jesus’ disciples had at least two men who were polar opposites in background. First, Jesus called Matthew (probably also known as Levi) the tax collector to follow Him. As a tax collector, Matthew had to collaborate with the Romans. Most Jews would despise any tax collector. Some would hate him and a few would want to kill him.

At about the same time that Jesus called Matthew, he also called a little known disciple called Simon the Zealot (to distinguish him from the better known Simon Peter). The zealots were what the Jewish historian Josephus called “dagger men.” They sought to overthrow Rome by the use of the sword. It’s hard to imagine these two men had anything in common.

With that background, can you imagine Simon the Zealot and Matthew the tax collector as part of the twelve? Can you imagine what it was like when they first met?

Isn’t the transforming power of Jesus amazing? They not only got along; they also shared life and mission together.

My dream for the church is for individuals to experience the power of Christ that transforms. I want the church to be a family and kingdom where we love one another as we love ourselves. I want us to treat others as we wish to be treated. My dream is for a church where we are filled with the Spirit and exhibit the Spirit’s fruit of love, joy, and peace

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