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I hope you’ve had a blessed week and as we enter into the Sabbath, may God bless and encourage you as you seek to bless others through the love of Christ.

The early Church grew in numbers and expanded to reach people from other walks of life, cultures, and ethnicities. As the Church expanded, it was confronted with the ethnic identity of the Gentiles who were to become part of the people of God.  The main question asked of the Jews was, “what is to be required of the Gentiles who wish to become Christians?”. The Jews wanted the newly converted Gentiles to follow the strict laws and traditions of the Jewish people. This issue was mainly raised by those who were Pharisees among them. As a response, the early Church sent Paul, Barnabas and some appointed elders to Jerusalem to discuss the issue at hand.  We know this now as the Jerusalem Council, found in Acts 15.

The Jerusalem Council proceeded to give a few “rules” or “suggestions” that the Gentile Christians could live by. The rules where not based on a “must follow order” in order to be saved, but rather to build harmony between the Jewish and Gentile Christians. In other words, this committee came together to discuss, plan, strategize and pray on how to live and proclaim the church mission and message in a time of trouble, uncertainty, and confusion. And guess what friends? We as a Church, kind of have our own version of the Jerusalem Council. At a global level, we call it the General Conference Session, but at the local level, we call it the Church Business Meeting. Business, because we deal with the business of the Church. It’s the perfect opportunity to see the direction and mission of the Church but also be a part of the planning for the future.

Business Meetings are designed to empower the Church in its mission to make Jesus known to the community.  They are designed to nurture personal relationships with Jesus and equip the Church to make disciples. Christ’s love for the Church needs to be manifested within the Church by His followers and practiced daily.