People are watching! Ask a thousand people what they “see” when they look at the “church” and you will get a thousand different answers, and sadly, many of them will be negative. Many would say they have been hurt by the church, or disappointed by the church, or even “turned off” by the church. They see the church as an institution that exists for its own purposes and a growing number of people are declaring they don’t NEED the church. Even some who testify that they believe in Jesus see no benefit from being part of “the church.” But the Bible presents a radically different view of the Church, the Body of Christ! As Paul writes his two letters to the believers in Thessalonica, he was encouraged by their “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Thessalonians 1:3). He saw the fruit of the Gospel in their lives and was confident of the presence of the Spirit at work among them. Their lives were being transformed and were providing a powerful testimony to those who were watching them. Though they were facing ridicule and persecution, they received the truth of the Gospel and placed their hope in Jesus Christ, trusting in God’s forgiveness and resting in His grace to sustain them and to deliver them from the coming judgment of God. The Church in Thessalonica was a “lighthouse,” a beacon of light to those around them who were living in the darkness of spiritual blindness. The truth had set them free, and it was obvious. Can the same be said of us?? What do people “see” when they look at Lighthouse Community Church? Are we a beacon of light in a world filled with darkness? Do our lives testify to the power of the Gospel at work among us and within us? May the Gospel bear fruit in us so that we may fulfill our calling as we live together as part of the Church, the Body of Christ!!