by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
It is not what the church is doing for you, but rather, what are you doing for the Lord’s church?<\/p>\n
Jesus died and spilled His blood for the church. She is His bride, and she is special, purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28). He expects us to keep her pure, keep her fed, encouraged, nourished, and united.<\/p>\n
If you are part of her, you are expected to live for Jesus, to help keep all members focused, moving forward in spiritual growth, striving for the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:1-12), showing the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, gentleness, longsuffering, etc. You are expected to be an example of a believer in faith, in love, and in good works. You are expected to build up love and good works (Hebrews 10:24-25), not tear down love and good works.<\/p>\n
What have you been doing for the Lord’s church? Is the Lord pleased with how you have been treating His bride (Ephesians 5:23ff)? His church is not optional. His church is essential. Don’t neglect to help the Lord’s church be nourished and encouraged in love and faithfulness.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Terry Wane Benton It is not what the church is doing for you, but rather, what are you doing for the Lord’s church? Jesus died and spilled His blood for the church. She is His bride, and she is special, purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28). He expects us to keep her pure,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[448,544,104],"class_list":["post-37368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-church","tag-membership","tag-work"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":68479,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-self-examination-required-during-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":37368,"position":0},"title":"The Self Examination Required During the Lord\u2019s Supper","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33955,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-it-became-a-crime-to-assemble\/","url_meta":{"origin":37368,"position":1},"title":"What If It Became a Crime to Assemble?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton In China, it is reported that if you do not renounce your faith in Jesus you will be tortured till you do. If that is so, I wonder how many of us would renounce Christ? In parts of Nigeria, you will be killed for believing in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57963,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-lords-church-is-magnificent\/","url_meta":{"origin":37368,"position":2},"title":"The Lord’s Church Is Magnificent","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jim Ward via the Lost River Bulletin, Vol. 59, No. 2, Feb. 2009. The term church occurs nine times in the book of Ephesians with nine additional references to the church using the term body, and one each using household of God and temple, it is apparent that this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":81203,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-should-i-attend-every-service\/","url_meta":{"origin":37368,"position":3},"title":"Why Should I Attend Every Service?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Becky Rene Introduction What has Jesus done for me (I John 4:9-10)? Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the cross (I Peter 2:24) while we were still sinners (Romans 5:6-8; Ephesians 2:1-7; Revelation 1:5). Jesus rescued us from this present evil world (Galatians 1:4), and God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90936,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-leaders-god-wants\/","url_meta":{"origin":37368,"position":4},"title":"The Leaders God Wants","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer God wants leaders. The Hebrews writer indicates this when he wrote, \"Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93912,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/harvesting-the-fruit-of-his-spirit\/","url_meta":{"origin":37368,"position":5},"title":"Harvesting the Fruit of His Spirit","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Randall Caselman When Jesus genuinely, truly comes into our lives, things change. Opening our hearts to His presence means we'll never be the same. Go with me to a well outside the city of Sychar. Jesus, tired from the journey, sat down by the well. 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