Pensamientos para hoy (afterthought for today)

Integrated Hardware

Many computers have internal parts that are soldered together and so they are called "integrated". An integrated computer has its sound cards, graphics cards and other devices soldered to the "motherboard" (a large circuit board that controls the other parts). The problem with an integrated computer is that these other components cannot be replaced when they go bad because they are soldered to the motherboard. In other words, a defect in a small part renders the entire computer inoperable because they are integrated.

The local church is like a computer. Just as an integrated computer's parts are bonded together, so we too are integrated and inseparably bonded to each other. So each member of the church needs to work effectively for the entire church to work. One ineffective part makes the entire church less effective. The solder that binds us together is the love produced in us by God's Spirit. The Bible says, "[the church is] held together by the joints and ligaments (Colossians 2:19)."¹ These joints and ligaments are our love for one another--the love that God produces in our life as one of the fruit of the Spirit.

Some computers are not integrated. The parts can be removed so when a part goes bad it can be swapped out for a new part. In the local church, however, a member of the church cannot be replaced. Yes, in time God may bring someone to fill the void left by a defective member, but the hole left by the missing brother or sister can never really be filled.

Since we are integrated and inseparably bound together, we must do our part. We must not fail because our failure will hurt the entire church. We must stay true to God. We must be loyal to our church. We must continue to be strong in our faith. We must avoid sin and temptation and be filled with the Spirit so that we can stay connected to God and stay connected to our brothers and sisters in the bond of love.

Soldered to you,

Pastor Steve

¹ Colossians 2:19, NASB (New American Standard Bible). Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Jesus is the greatest teacher who ever lived. One of Jesus' techniques was to relate spiritual ideas to common everyday life. Pensamientos (afterthought) is an attempt to follow Jesus' method of teaching. Its title is in Spanish because we recognize the importance of multi-culturalism. We hope to translate some of these messages into Spanish soon.

Find more afterthoughts at Pensamientos (afterthoughts).

You can read recent sermons by Pastor Lorenz at Featured Sermon.