Esther Paige Becker

I believe the true meaning of church is this, I call it: the WORD.

W- Worship. To worship means to leave all of your belongings at your home and physically leave to walk through the doors of church. As Jesus Christ told the disciples to put their fishing nets down and to physically follow Him, should remind us that we need to physically put down our belongings so we might not be sorely distracted while we worship the Holy one. To truly Worship means to set aside our valuables to be with the Lord. And It will be challenging, but if you truly love the Lord and want to give him all of our praise, then you will do whatever it takes to be with Him.

O-Obey. The Lord has asked us to obey Him by going to church, so we can be with Him, and to be able to discern, and comprehend what He’s trying to communicate with us. We also obey Him by reading his Word (the Bible) so it motivates us to go to church. Because when we know Him through His Word, that will automatically make us want to be with Him more and more.

R-Respect. Have you tried to listen to a sermon while this kid is being disrespectful to the preacher by squirming in his/her seat, and is looking for something to do? Or maybe you’re the one who’s distracting the congregation from the sermon? Well, we all need to be respectful in the Lord’s house, because He is Holy, and He deserves to be respected. If you’re a child who’s reading this, have your parents or guardians ever told you something like this, “ˆSweetie, when you disobey us, you’re really disobeying God/Jesus.” 

At least my parents always told me that. And they aren’t wrong! God has commanded (told them) your parents to obey him by telling you what’s right and also what’s wrong. (To all) When we are being disrespectful to our elders/pastor, we are really disrespecting the Lord. So we need to gather all of our effort together in order to respect others. 

D-Discipline.

(PART ONE) What is discipline? The word discipline means “disciple.” And God has commanded us in His word to “Go, and make disciples of all nations…” We need to help those that are in need and hungry for something life changing, and something that will satisfy their bodies…God. Who am I supposed to disciple? Well, that’s a great question. Search in your local church for someone who looks lonely, or depressed, or maybe they need financial help, whatever it is, we need to share the gospel with all nations! Don’t be nervous! That’s the evil one/satan trying to hold you back from doing the right thing.

(PART TWO) Now, let’s talk about discipleship. Discipleship means to help those who know about God, or are kind of believers, or maybe they claim to be Christians, but they are struggling to have a sturdy relationship with the Lord. My mother has been discipling for almost my whole lifetime, and once I got older, I started to find my heart getting hard, and unsteady. And for a long time, I couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. Then, suddenly I realized that the young adult that my mom was discipling made me so mad. I felt like my mom was leaving me in the dust and ditched me for this other person I barely even knew. But let me tell you something, being envious or mad at someone means that you need a heart check. I didn’t realize you had to let someone into your life in order to disciple them. I needed to be humble, and I also needed to know that person needed help as well.   Now, often it’s not easy to disciple someone. You don’t just knock on their door and say, “Hey Anne! I’m here to disciple you! Want me to make some lattes to drink while we talk?” And that’s when Anne decides to shut the door in your face. I would try to approach them kindly, and ask them if they need anything, or offer them something that will bless their tender hearts. And most of the time, it will end up like counseling. (And often the person that you disciple will be a little rude, sometimes they won’t want you to pray for them. But no matter what, change their lives through Jesus. They need you).