After many years as a Pastor I have seen that it is not people outside the Church that hurt the church, it is people inside the Church that hurt the Church
Ephesians 5: 25 ‘…Jesus loves the Church…’
If Jesus loves the Church we should do all that we can not to hurt the Church, but to love it too!
1/ I will not cause division in our Church
Division is the # 1 trouble in all churches worldwide
Divisions starts by someone having a bad attitude about the Church
The bad attitude turns into complaining
“I don’t like how things are done in this Church”
“I don’t like the Leaders in this Church”
“I don’t like the Bible teaching in this Church”
Their complaining soon poisons the minds of other people Acts 14: 2
We must protect ourselves against complaining people
Romans 16: 17 “I urge you, my friends: watch out for those who cause divisions and upset people’s faith and go against the teaching which you have received. Keep away from them”!
Jude 1: 19 ‘These are the people who cause divisions, who are controlled by their natural desires, who do not have the Holy Spirit’
2/ I will not speak negatively about our Church
Some people think it is OK to complain and criticise the Church
It is not OK!
Proverbs 18: 21 ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue’
Are we speaking ‘death’ into our Church or ‘life’?
Our speech should be ‘life-giving’
‘Life-giving’ speech encourages and builds up people in the Church
3/ I will not reject a genuine seeker who comes to our Church
All different kinds of people come to our Church
We must accept and love them all
Different cultures: Matthew 28: 19 ‘…make disciples of all nations…’
Poor people: James 2: 5 ‘…God has chosen the poor to be rich in faith…’
Deeply troubled people: Matthew 5:3 ‘Great blessings belong to those who know they are spiritually in need’
Example: Deeply troubled people – Richard
4/ I will not abandon our Church in prayer
Without prayer, our church will have people in it, but, it will be empty of God’s presence
Mark 11: 15-17
Jesus found the House of God full of people. They were there for… social reasons only, buying, selling, gossiping, eating and drinking and having a good time
Jesus kicked them all out and said…‘My house will be called a house of prayer for the nations; you’ve turned it into a place to hangout…’
5/ I will not withhold my finances from our Church
Because you gave today…
We can pay for these facilities
We can pay our Pastors
We can pay all the Church’s taxes and bills
We can send money to support our Ministries
Lack of finances cripple the work of God
That’s why the Bible says; 2 Corinthians 8: 7 ‘I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving’
Let’s love our Church as Jesus loves our Church!
1/ Create and guard unity – no division
2/ Speak life – no death
3/ Accept and love all people – no prejudice
4/ Pray for God’s presence – no ‘empty’ religion
5/ Give generously – no lack
Then God will be glorified in His people!
revdotdavid 
Very good David. Are these your words or do they come from another source? regards from Ruth
Hi Ruth,
I preached this Message about 12 months ago in our Church. Glad to hear you are up and about again. I will do a Paul and Ruth Update in Church next Sunday. Many blessings!