The Global Church Pt. 1

The PCG Missions Departments are all amping up for our first ever Global Conference in Brazil. We are so excited for the Church around the world to come together to glorify God and to be encouraged as the body of Christ.

As we enter this season, I believe that it is important that we talk about the Global Church, what it is, and why it is important to know and take part of it as a disciple of Jesus.

The Global Church takes its biblical roots in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27. Here, the apostle Paul talks about the body of Christ, otherwise known as the Church. He ends this passage stating that, “But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” ESV

Often, we can have narrow view of the Church. However, I want to encourage you to expand your definition. The Church consists of every follower of Jesus. Often, they won’t do church just like you, they won’t look like you, they might even believe a little bit different from you. But God has created the body, the family, the community, the CHURCH for himself. Not only that, but we are to unify and stand together as one to fulfill the mission that He has given us, to encourage one another in our faith, to pray for one another, and to prophecy and speak life into one another.

Todd Johnson and Cindy Wu in their book Our Global Families, writes that, “The family of God encompasses thousands of cultures and sub-cultures, and languages. The family doesn’t always understand each other, they have their challenges, but are family, nonetheless. During the 2century churches outside of Europe and the Americas exploded and grew – these other continents had sent missionaries before, but the seed of the gospel really took root. For the past several years, Christians in Europe and the United States have been ‘the Church’ and the rest of the world has been ‘the mission field.”