New Life Christian Fellowship

Senior Pastors

BUDDY & ABBY MELOY

The most important institution outside of the home is
the local Church. Sometimes we don't recognize the
important role that it plays. In recent days, the role of
the Church in society, and even in our relationship with
God, has been greatly downplayed. And yet it is the
Church that Jesus Himself said that the gates of hell shall
not prevail (withstand) against. I really believe that the
greatest contributor to this decline is the attack on
the initial divine institution of marriage.

Over and over the Church's relationship to Christ and the relationship between husband and wife are used as illustrations of one another. For instance, the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the Church. Or the wife is to be subject to the husband as the Church is to Christ. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it. Christ loved the Church so much that He gave His life for the Church. In fact, the activity of Christ is to nourish, strengthen, mature and cherish the Church. He loved it as His own body.

Paul calls this a great mystery. But I believe that we have diminshed our view of the Church as a divine institution because we have diminshed our view of marriage as a divine institution. We are to have a Christ-like view of His Church.

How is your view of His Church today?

E-mail: bmeloy@nlcf.com