All to Maturity, Many to Leadership

All to Maturity,

Many to Leadership

Why are we moving to a new building?  The answer to this question might seem obvious if you were at our Sunday gathering a few weeks ago.  We are close to having more people in attendance than space to accommodate them.  There is also the issue of having one bathroom.  However, solving the problem of capacity and hygienic services is not the marker of the church's health, nor are they necessarily indicators that we are seeing the purposes of God for his church realized.

There is no building in Rome with the capacity to hold the number of people in this city that need to hear the gospel and submit to the reign and rule of Jesus Christ.  The gospel creates a people submitted to King Jesus but doesn't stop at conversion.  The gospel is also where new believers and old are nurtured toward maturity in their faith.  Ephesians 4 describes the household of God as a body being equipped with the Word of God, growing as one into full manhood.  A building with space for instruction, equipping, and growing in the Word together is a marvelous and gracious tool for our good and God's glory. 

Throughout the New Testament epistles, not only are believers instructed toward maturity in their knowledge and love of Jesus, but some are called to particular functions within the church.  Older women are to instruct younger women.  Older men are to instruct younger men (Titus 2).  A few function as elders and deacons.  A physical building gives finite people a reference point for how and where these roles play out in the body.  But not exclusively.

The study and encouragement of the Word of God are to be carried to where you are throughout the week.  This is why we are prayerfully structuring a LifeGroup plan for certain homes around Rome to reflect the Word-centered discipleship we teach and practice on Sundays.

RIC is a church rooted in and established in the gospel of Jesus Christ, as found in all of the Scriptures.  May this move to a larger building be a place where the gospel grows us in the knowledge and grace of our Savior, Jesus Christ, where the truth is spoken in love, where disciples are made and taught to observe all that Jesus commands in his Holy Word.  In short, all to maturity and many to leadership.

Together for God's Kingdom,

Loren