Unity, peace, joy and love. These are four words I daily ask the Lord to make describe our atmosphere at TRC.
We are a family, and like all families, it’s easy to get caught up in our feelings and undermine, often not intentionally, the unity, peace, joy and love of the whole church.
We are a covenant church who believes that church membership is not only biblical, but necessary for healthy families, local engagement and global engagement.
If you have any doubt about that, check out this article Is Church Membership Biblical?
If we are members of one another, and clearly 1 Corinthians 12 teaches this, then unity, peace, love and joy matter.
In certain seasons of life families take each other for granted, assume too much, and often take too much liberty. That often happens in the family of the local church.
TRC will be 15 years old in March of 2018, and we have passed through seasons of success, hardships, challenges, growth, and in all of that we have remained unified and on mission. To tell the truth, that is a constant leadership challenge.
Clear vision, strong and diversified leadership and God’s grace making it all effective have kept us strong.
As we continue to live out the Radical Life (UP / IN / OUT), don’t expect that attacks won’t come. Often they come from within. They have come in the past, and they will come again. The enemy likes to sow bad things when we get up in our feelings. Watch out for that.
As I look around and observe other fellowships around us, I’m reminded of how good things are for us. So, I want to remind us of the covenant we’ve made and exhort us to live up to it.
It’s good to remember our covenant with each other. All through the bible God calls his people to covenant renewal. Each week we take the Lord’s Supper together is a covenant renewal. We are reminded of the gospel, who we are and what God has done for us. That should cause us to be reminded of the body he has created in the local church that we are to be members of through the gospel.
If you are a member, here is the covenant we agree to together:
- I commit, as a worshiper of Jesus, to live a life of worship that reflects the Glory of God.
- I commit to knowing God and his Word, and I commit to apply God’s Word by the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
- I commit to be corrected by church discipline if my actions depart from the Word and dishonor Jesus and his cause.
- I commit to serve the Kingdom of God through TRC with my attendance and gifts.
- I commit to give financially and materially to the Kingdom of God through TRC.
- I commit to unity in the church. I will not allow my views on non-essential doctrines, personal preferences, or personality conflicts destroy that unity. I commit to love and honor my family of faith above myself, and to love and honor God above all.
- I commit myself to the vision and strategy of TRC.
These things matter, and when we are reminded of them, they help us to not take each other for granted. It’s not just about me. It’s about us together on point, Jesus who is over us and empowers us for his mission and his kingdom.
Unity, peace, joy and love. These are held up by the local church being in covenant together.
Strive for this, and don’t take it for granted.
Theology in the Dirt 
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