The Keys to a Healthy Church Jesus First About 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ of Nazareth came to this earth and dwelt among men. His life, death and teachings leave the ideal model for achieving a healthy prayer life, first-class leadership, inseparable community and world missions. While the activities listed are all great and ambitious goals of the Church, something greater is needed. True health, corporately and individually, can only come from an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. He is the emblem of the health of the Church and it is to Him that we must pay attention first and foremost. Because Jesus is the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and united through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God (Col 2:19). From Revelation 2.2-4 a clear picture emerges of what Jesus Christ is looking for from an ecclesial body. He says: “I know your works, your toil and your patience, and how you cannot tolerate the wicked, but you have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them false. I know that you are bearing with patience and bearing for my name's sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had in the beginning. Therefore remember from where you fell; repent and do the first works. The church of Ephesus, as the story suggests, had John the Beloved as its pastor and approximately 60,000 members. Looking at the stories contained in the Apocalypse the Church was very busy doing great works. They were patient, hated evil, had discernment, and suffered for His name, all without tiring. By any measure, Ephesus was an extremely healthy church. Yet one thing was missing, their first love. Jesus Christ is after...... middle of the page ......he does not gather with him he scatters. Works Cited Brown, Scott T. Return to Biblical Order in the Church and Home; Vision Forum Ministries Copyright 2001-2010 Vision Forum Ministries http://www.visionforumministries.org/issues/uniting_church_and_family/returning_to_biblical_order_in.aspxCannon, William R. The Book of Acts The Book of Acts, Copyright 1989 by W. R. Cannon, published by Upper Room Books .http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=693&C=933Grudem, Wayne A. Systematic Theology An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine; ISBN 9780310286707 Jefferson, Charles Edward. The minister as shepherd. By Thomas Y Crowley Company 1912 ISBN 0875087744Holy Bible; English Standard VersionMacchia, Stephen A. Becoming a Healthy Church 10 Characteristics; Next, Haddon Robinson; Afterword by Gordon MacDonald; ISBN 0801011779