…but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God. And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. Acts 15:40-41
Okay, I know I hit this point a lot, but in our day in which so many who profess faith in Christ have no commitment to a local church—we need to hear it.
What did Paul and Silas do? Did they go out about to encourage Christians? Only indirectly. The inspired Word of God states that the went about “strengthening the churches.” Obviously, the Christians were encouraged by this, but as a result of the Apostle’s commitment to local churches.
Yes, every believer must come to faith in Christ individually, but every believer is then instantly a member of Christ’s Church (the Universal Church) made up of all believers. Because Believers are to be found here, there and everywhere, it is impossible for us all to worship and serve practically unless we are committed members of local churches.
The Apostles went about planting local churches, and then following up on and strengthening those local churches. They did this, not only in person, but by writing letters. Two whom did they write? Individual Christians? No, they wrote to local churches. Paul wrote 13 letters that are included in our Bibles. Only one (the shortest, Philemon) was to an individual—in whose house a church met (v.2)! Three were addressed to pastors of local churches (1 & 2 Timothy & Titus). The other nine of his letters were addressed to local churches! And by the way, the book of Revelation contains seven more letters written to seven more local churches!
If people in those days wanted to hear God’s Word from an Apostle, they went to church where those letters were read to the congregation. Today we can read those letters on our own, but to get the fullest impact, we attend meetings where those letters are read and explained—in a local church!
I know that most who will read these words already know this and are members of a local church, but countless numbers of people who profess faith in Christ are not. Let’s us pray for these people, and graciously urge those we know who are in this “churchless” category to join us at church!