Highly Regarded

Below is the daily Bible reading I am doing for the West Side Church. Please feel free to follow along.

In today’s reading (Acts 5) an interesting phrase pops out … “No one else dared joined them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.” In this day the church is just in its infancy. They are still meeting in the comfort of the temple in Jerusalem. People know that they are followers of that man name Christ was hung several months before and whose body mysteriously disappeared. They don’t want to join for fear of ridicule and possibly even punishment from the Jewish ruling class. But yet the Christians are still highly regarded.

The following verses give us some insight into why they were highly regarded … people were being healed by the Apostles who were leading this new movement. The passage doesn’t give us other reasons as to why they were highly regarded, but I believe there were many.

I guess my thought after reading this passage is … Is your church highly regarded by those in your community? The first church I served at one time was viewed negatively from the community. This negative view was formed by some well meaning Christians who had a slight misunderstanding of God’s Word. The second church I served had no reputation in the community at all. One time when were passing out door hangers for our fall festival, one lady who lived a half mile up the street didn’t even know where the church building was. The reputation in your community is very important if your church seeks to save the lost.

I hope that your church is highly regarded in the community and has a good reputation for seeking and saving the lost. What are some ways your church can improve your reputation in the community and become even more highly regarded?