The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.
Church hurt is
Church hurt is
Approximately 24 million Americans may be experiencing church hurt.
Church hurt is
Jesus gets church hurt.
3 He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.
Isaiah 53:3 (NLT)
3 He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.
Psalms 147:3 (NLT)
18 The lord is close to the brokenhearted;
he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.
Psalms 34:18 (NLT)
- Disagreements
- Discipline
- Doctrine
- Discomfort
Church hurt is caused by
27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.
Ephesians 5:27 (NLT)
27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:27 (NLT)
1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.
James 4:1-2 (NLT)
Church hurt is
11 so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.
2 Corinthians 2:11 (NLT)
How we
14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.
Galatians 5:14-15 (NLT)
Stop the
17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. 19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the lord. 20 Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” 21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Romans 12:17-21 (NLT)
Look
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Psalms 139:23-24 (NLT)
Love
34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love one another. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.
John 13:34-35 (NLT)
Never
24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Hebrews 10:24-25 (NLT)