Three Essentials

Of course We could make an incredibly long list of the essentials for Christ followers, but I've chosen to reduce my list to three items that are of absolute necessity. Of course, a personal relationship with Christ is the beginning point and is the mark of a Christian, but from there, here are the three essentials; they also happen to be our three areas of focus here at Malvern Hill.

1. WORSHIP--Bob Dylan once wrote a song with these words: "You're gonna serve somebody...it might be the devil or it might be the Lord, but you're going to serve somebody." Bob Dylan is definitely not on my top ten list of theologians, but in this case his words ring true as starkly biblical. The Bible shows us that worship is not only something we should do, it is something we will do...worship is what we were created for. God is the only proper object of our worship. You will worship something, it might be your bank account or your work-out schedule if it isn't God, but if you claim to be a Christian, the number one essential of your faith is worship. That is why we are committed to creating excellent worship experiences at Malvern Hill, because God deserves our best and he desires our worship.

2. WORD-- Christians should be people of one book. I'm not advocating ignorance or illiteracy here, you can read things other than the Bible and I encourage you to do so, but Christians should be biblical people. The only way you can hope to be biblical is by understanding what the Bible says and the only way that will happen is by studying God's word. At Malvern Hill, we encourage everyone to be involved in study of the Word through Sunday School and other Word Study opportunities.

3. WORLD-- Christianity is meant to grow. When new churches start, we use the term "plant" because churches (all churches, not just "new church plants") are intended to grow. Jesus gave the great commission so that we would obey it. If we are not working to reach our world, we are not honoring God fully. Understand, that does not necessarily mean packing up and heading to the African Bush (it might, and if God calls you to that, then praise His name), but it does mean that we should all be intentional about sharing the love of Christ within our own world. The Bible tells us that it is God's will that all should be saved and he chooses to use us to carry the gospel message so that people can be saved. At Malvern Hill, we are serious about reaching our world and we will do more than give lip-service to this idea.

So, there you have it, my three essentials and the three basic building blocks for our church. I hope that this helps you as much as it helps me to keep my priorites properly ordered.