I love the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. I always have. Even as a teenager when I thought I never would want to be the pastor of a church, I loved the church.

We know why the church is special. It belongs to Christ. It is made up of those redeemed by the blood of Christ. It is the people and family of God, and Christ has given to his church the responsibility of taking the good news into all the world. All of this–and more–makes it special.

With this in mind, what can you and I do to help make the church special?

First, we can seek to live holy lives. My definition of holiness is doing every thing God wants and nothing that He doesn’t want. Holy lives exalt God and set the church apart from the world.

When people see that we live differently, the church will be understood to be special and significant.

Second, we can make the church special by being people who are characterized by mercy and truth. I recently read a book that emphasized mercy. The author repeatedly showed how mercy and truth are often coupled together in Scripture.

It’s easy to emphasize either mercy or truth, but God emphasizes both. Holy lives and merciful attitudes are a beautiful combination that helps show the specialness of the church.

Third, we make the church special when we love it as Christ loved the church. Remember, Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. We should do the same.

Therefore, we ought to be people who fulfill the ministry of the church. We must pray for the church, including its outreach and leadership. We must be people who attend regularly and who don’t “forsake the assembling of ourselves together.“

Finally, we make the church special when we speak fondly of our church and its ministry.

You and I are the keys to having a special congregation that pleases God and reaches its community with the love of God.

Let’s do this together.