Endurance

In the biblical vision, those who seek wholeness do not flee the pain that comes upon them. They endure…Those who endure draw their capacity to endure from two primary sources: the community of faith and the living God in whom they ground their life.
-- Steve Doughty, To Walk in Integrity

The purpose of Church

This is a vision of church worth building. - Ed

Barbara Brown Taylor in her recent book, Speaking of Sin, gives this description of the church. “The church exists so that God has a community in which to save people from meaninglessness, by reminding them who they are and what they are for. The church exists so that God has a place to point people toward a purpose as big as their capabilities, and help them identify all the ways they flee from that high call. The church exists so that people have a community in which they may confess their sin — as well as a community that will support them to turn back again. The church exists so that people have a place where they may repent of their fear, their hardness of heart, their isolation and loss of vision and where — having repented — they may be restored to fullness of life.”