Why We Love the Local Church

Many years ago, my wife and I moved from Oklahoma to California, and I became the worship pastor at a church in Palmdale.

The lead pastor, Dave, was not only a great mentor and leader, but he became a treasured friend.

I’ll never forget what he said to me one day while we were driving in his car.

“Brandon, you’ll never know the burden of being a lead pastor.”

I had never realized the challenge, the weight, the responsibility of being a lead pastor, but that moment was what I call a “Holy Spirit moment.”

God allowed those words to pierce my heart and give me a passion for serving the leadership at my church and shouldering some of the burden my pastor felt.

Fast forward many years, and now I’m a Life.Church Open Network pastor. I wake up every day and ask myself, “What can I do to serve and support lead pastors and local churches—to equip them to fulfill their unique calling?”

Why the Local Church

Pastors and church leaders, we want you to know that we believe in the local church, and we believe in you.

In fact, we believe that the local church is the hope of the world, and that we can do infinitely more together than we can apart.

As the Church, we’re God’s Plan A to bring hope and healing to this broken world and introduce as many people as we can to Jesus.

We’re called to act urgently, doing anything short of sin to reach the lost.

This week, we want to celebrate you and the work you’re doing in your communities. Our whole Life.Church staff, the Open Network team, and our partners are rallied around you—the local church—through our #WeLoveTheLocalChurch social media campaign.

Will you join us?

Post a photo, shoot a video, or share a story about why you love the local church. Use #WeLoveTheLocalChurch and tag us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter @LifeChurchOpen.

I shared a little bit of my story and my heart for the local church in the beginning of this post. I’d love to introduce more members of our team, each with their own unique story and passion for loving the local church.

Instead of being influenced by the gangs and drugs in his neighborhood, Greg found Christ in his local church.

Scott found Christ in college because of his local church.

We each have a unique story about how the local church played a huge role in our lives, and our experiences fuel our passion for serving over 360,000 pastors and church leaders through the Open Network.

We love the local church, and we know you do, too!

Let’s all stand together and encourage one another to do the work God’s called us to do! Use the links to share your love for the local church below. Don’t forget to use #WeLoveTheLocalChurch and tag the Life.Church Open Network in your post.

 

 

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Special thanks to Brandon Donaldson, Life.Church Open Network pastor, for writing this post.