I Still Love The Church

TL;DR Summary

Tauren Wells passionately shares his enduring love for the church, emphasizing its vital role in the life of believers. He reflects on his personal journey and experiences within the church, acknowledging both its imperfections and its profound impact on his life. Despite the challenges and criticisms the church faces, Wells remains committed to its mission and purpose, encouraging others to see the church as a living, breathing expression of God’s love and presence in the world.

The sermon draws from Ephesians 1:22 and Ephesians 2:19, where the apostle Paul describes the church as the body of Christ, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus as the cornerstone. Wells highlights how the church, despite its flaws, has outlived empires and continues to be a transformative force. He underscores the importance of being connected to both Christ, the head, and the church, the body, to fulfill one’s purpose and potential. The message is a call to embrace the church’s mission and to participate actively in its life and work.

Wells encourages listeners to reflect on their relationship with the church and to recognize its significance in their spiritual journey. He challenges believers to move beyond individualism and to engage with the church community, contributing their gifts and talents for the greater good. The sermon is a reminder of the church’s enduring value and its role as a conduit for God’s love and grace, inspiring believers to renew their commitment to the church and its mission.

Full Sermon Transcript

There is nothing like elevation nights and we have added three special summer dates we are coming your way tell them where we’re going to be I’m so excited about this so on July 19th we’re gonna be in Savannah Georgia on July 20th Greenville South Carolina and July 21st Nashville Tennessee we’re coming did you hear the lady that’s very soon you got to get your tickets right now so we can worship God preach his word everybody’s coming you better be there I’ll see you elevation nights here comes the word of God go to elevationnights.com and get your tickets and then to the message let’s hear the word I’m so grateful to be here with you all this morning just already so encouraged by what God is doing through his church in Charlotte North Carolina and throughout the world I’m encouraged by it refueled by it refreshed by you and I can’t say enough how much gratitude I carry with me up onto this stage this morning and the tremendous affection that I have for your pastor his wife this team and for you I really feel like it is a supernatural love that this morning is easy for me and it’s difficult because I feel like I’m preaching to people I love and you may not know me I’m just your little beige five foot something cousin that just pulled up real quick with some high waters on to deliver the word of God but I’m grateful for you Pastor Steve and Holly thank you so much for your friendship your kindness and for giving your boy an opportunity to speak today I love this team [Applause] Chris Dot Brown [Music] John salad Jenna Tiff LJ I mean I could literally list a hundred people right now chunks thank you for coordinating this getting me in the room are you ready to hear the word of God today now before you skip to a previous sermon Pastor Stephen recorded on YouTube just give your boy a minute because I do feel like I have a word for this church for this time and I wondered if you would join with me in prayer very quickly for what God wants to do in the next few moments Jesus we give you this stage this platform this room every room around the world where this message is reaching and more than that God would give you our hearts our hearts devotion our minds Attention our focus is Set On You Lord I pray that our faith would be reinvigorated this morning that there would be a supernatural transfer of passion and love for the thing that you love most God we give you glory and it’s in your name we pray a to the men touch two people and sit down touch two people just one two just a quick one two take a seat [Music] take a seat going to read from the scripture today in the book of Ephesians spin all year it is only six chapters but I dwelled in it and I’ve got marks all throughout this text and God has been preparing this word in my heart and as soon as I got the invitation to be here with you today I knew exactly what I was preaching and I feel like I have a mandate from Heaven to communicate this word to you so are you ready the book of Ephesians chapter 1 verse 22. y’all got it you also bring Bibles or I mean there’s no judgment I just wondered if if you got your phone you got your Bible it’s on the screen Ephesians 1 22. and God put all things under Christ and gave him to the church as head over all things what priority The Church Must Have if after God gave Jesus full dominion over everything in the world the first thing that he assigned him to was the church now the church is his body and the fullness of him who fills all in all you see there was a time when the humanity of Christ actually lived on the earth it’s documented it’s scientific it’s historical that the person the God man Jesus actually dwelt in the spaces and places that we Traverse through but as he was crucified put in the Tomb and Resurrected he breathed into a new living organism not into just brick and mortar spaces like the buildings we may find ourselves in today but into flesh and Bone like you and I now the church say that’s me is his body we gonna fast forward chapter two you all love the word and verse 19. so then you are no longer foreigners and non-citizens but you are fellow citizens with the Saints and members of God’s household because you have been built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the Cornerstone in him the whole building being joined joint Temple in the Lord and I love this part in whom you also are being built together into a Dwelling Place of God in the spirit it’s amazing to me that as Paul writes to the church in Ephesus that he uses these particular words because you have been built on the foundation of the politicians no he he didn’t he didn’t say that you have been built upon the foundation of ethnicity and culture no he didn’t say that because all of the things that we believe make us us are actually just superficial layers that exist at the surface not at the foundation you see underneath all of this is this thing that the apostles preached and died for that the prophets preached and died for that Jesus Christ himself preached and died for this Foundation that was laid for the church was put together by flesh and blood sacrifice tears and we are being built on it to do something extraordinary this is just captured my heart God is fitly framing it together to create a space that he inhabits dwells in lives in moves in breathes into it’s beautiful I actually still love the church I know the church is under scrutiny I’ve been a part of the church now for 20 million years just long enough to be cynical come on just long enough to be critical if I could find some things boy I could find them I I know about things that happen in the church that would make you limp in your faith if if you only knew some of the bumps and the bruises and the scrapes and the scars that comes along with being fitly framed together as a dwelling place for the spirit of God I was nine years old and my dad ruined my weekend he came home on a Saturday from the gym and said Ren you can’t call me that just my grandma and my dad Rina we’re going to church tomorrow I said Dad thought to respect because I like living and breathing I I don’t think I can do that I gotta play street hockey with my friends It’s mighty duck season and I gotta get out there with the Goofy Movie soundtrack can skate [Applause] stand up some people have called me power line in a previous life I showed it to my kids and we were getting ready to do a talent show my son Lawson I said hey if if it goes bad just do the perfect cast some of y’all don’t know what that is that’s all right go watch the Goofy Movie shout out Tevin Campbell so he says we’re going to church I can’t do it he’s like well we gonna go to the mall first and get you get you a new look I said okay because as you can see I don’t put on clothes I put on outfits fixes yeah boy I’d be throwing fits like a toddler just just fits so we went to JCPenney you know before the rebrands when everything was just Brown [Applause] started walking through find my little navy blue blazer with the gold buttons ain’t nobody in this church put on my little khaki pants got them creased up so I wouldn’t get a whooping and then we went down to Rice’s shoes downtown Battle Creek Michigan picked up some suede loafers that nice light tan with the rust bottom you can’t scuff them so boy was ready to go to church but walked into the back of this little Pentecostal Church about 70 people in there I was definitely the youngest and my dad and I were the only people who looked like us in the room didn’t seemed to bother my dad so it didn’t bother me and I can tell you when I walked through those doors and I slid into that second to last green pew I felt something I never felt before there was a comfort a sense of belonging that I felt that I had never felt see my parents separated when I was little and things were unstable and God changed the directory of my life through my father’s decision to step outside of his dysfunctional habits to say we’re going to church I walked into that church and I fell in love with the church and I still loved the church still love it later on that year I went to church camp now I heard y’all talking about youth EX it’s the last week to sign up so make sure you get your registration in [Applause] only about 500 seats left so so I was I was fired up to go to church camp man it was not youth X we had basketball sweat and anointing oil that was it that was Recreation and church showers optional showers were terrible you didn’t want to go in there you came out more dirty than when you went in because I took one once and there’s just a trough running down to the main drain down there you want to stay out of the showers don’t worry about the girls I was nine years old and I was just living my best life at church camp now remember definitively the moment that I responded to an altar call don’t remember what my man preached don’t remember the sermon title but I remember the carpet that I was standing on as Jesus filled me with his Spirit as I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and it was an undeniable experience that has given me direction and purpose that same week I got my first solo in the camp choir oh yeah you think fully grown tauren sings high little nine-year-old T was straight soprano and I was singing Praise the Lord praise the Lord let everything that has breath praise the Lord I had to share a solo with the girl which I was not happy about but it was the first time that I felt my soul aligned with a gift in service of The Giver for the ministry of the church and I wonder if you have ever had that moment in your life a definitive moment a moment that you would remember a moment that would be ingrained in your mind and in your heart that you realize that God had called you into something bigger than yourself to accomplish something bigger than yourself your gift and soul aligned with the giver for the ministry of the church I still love the church at this point I’ve been to hundreds of camps conferences church services rehearsals award shows prayer meetings small groups and I still love the church yes I’ve experienced the shadow side of church because some of us started becoming worship leaders before you knew you could win a Grammy ah when I was 14 years old writing songs from my youth group the music industry was something that happened on another planet somewhere so to show up anywhere on a red carpet or on a stage or a TV screen was so far out that I didn’t even have the awareness to dream those types of dreams you know what I loved the church that’s what I love about this church Elevation Worship isn’t writing songs to win Grammys although if anyone’s gonna win some it might as well be them but I’ve talked to Pastor Stephen and he said every time he closes his eyes to write a song for this church he’s thinking about this church so I have a suspicion he still loves the church I was getting ready to uh lead worship at this major Gathering of young people one of the biggest gatherings in North America and I was so excited about it was going to be leading worship on a Friday night I was 23 years old and this would have been the biggest room that I ever would have been in far beyond my wildest dreams and because I had um been going to churches with my band and dancing I got canceled from the event and it wasn’t even like choreographed dancing it was just you know a little just a little just a little it had nothing major it’s funny in church you know you can dance as long as you don’t know what you’re doing we want everyone else to be good except for the dancers somehow being good is wrong so leave David alone let him do his thing he’s the joy of the Lord but I got pulled out of that conference it was someone from the church that had to sit down with me and tell me hey you know Hips Don’t Lie and you’re not leading worship pulled the same week I found myself in Sony music’s executive office sitting down with a record label having conversations about how my band could partner with Provident music and carry what we’re doing all over the world I only tell you that story to tell you this the church hurt me and the church helped me I’ve seen the shadow side of the church I told you all this the last time I was here with my wife and I got married we had our wedding invitations mailed back to us from church people because black [ __ ] white folks shouldn’t be doing all that I I felt the shadow side of the church I’ve seen headlines that have broken my heart I have been bruised by believers I’ve been shocked by the politics surrounding the church I’ve been stunned by reactions and mindsets and missteps by the church I’m still confused as to how some Christians managed to carry the weight of the cross and still possess the strength The Hurl stones at their brothers and sisters who are trying to follow Jesus as imperfectly as it may be but I’ve learned that I cannot judge the majority who are trying to do it right by the minority who got it wrong I still love the church I love the church because the church has outlived Empires and philosophical systems and persecution and sabotages from within it it’s Traverse countries and continents it’s transcended kingdoms and cultures from its Inception on the day of Pentecost to today the church has moved by the wind of Heaven to accomplish the Mandate that Jesus himself set when he said go into all the world and make perfect people no disciples come on and give God some praise for his church I still love the church the church is not dead the church is not atrophied the church is not irrelevant I can look around this room today and I can tell you that the church is alive [Applause] I still love the church I couldn’t sleep last night because I was so excited to get here I told my wife last week it was a Saturday I’m like I’m just getting excited for church tomorrow it was like I had to wake up at 4 30 to get to our rehearsal at 6 20. I never missed my alarm on a Sunday morning I’m just excited about it because I love the church I love the church because it’s not a political platform yeah yeah yeah it’s not a political platform it is the expression and embodiment of the Kingdom of Heaven alive and active in the Earth the church is not a museum filled with ancient relics of what God used to do it’s a movement of selfless believers who have decided to follow Jesus carry the cross and tell the world that Jesus Saves the church is not a showroom for pretty Perfect People it is the beautiful living breathing bride of Christ the church isn’t some empty ritualistic routine it’s not the equivalent of a non-profit or philanthropic organization although those are great and they’re great partners for the church but the church has the exclusive Mission and mandate to elevate Christ to preach him crucified and to tell the world Jesus still says I still love the church the church is the imperfect amplifier of Truth Justice and the sovereignty of God the church is Jesus love on display it is a symbol of Grace a conduit of mercy of Mercy a hospital for the broken a family for the lonely and the place where captives find Freedom I still love the church I still love the church because Jesus loves the church the church is his treasure the church is his bride the church is his love the church is his dream I’ve come to the realization that I don’t want to spend my life building my dream put my dream in the coffin and bury it Six Feet Under because God will use buried dreams to resurrect better dreams I want to be a part of what he loves of what he’s doing of making his name great not my own if that’s a byproduct of my obedience so be it I’ll live with the perks and the consequences because it comes with the cost but I want to build God’s Church he died for it I might as well live for it the church belongs to him I still love the church because I need the church oh hear me today I need it we need one another we need each other you want to look like Jesus get around some church folks who will poke at you and tell you when you gained a little too much weight and tell you when you need to be praying when you need to wash your car and wow you look a lot better than you used to people have said that to me in church but I I need the church some people say faith is a crutch yeah because we’re all wounded and limping and hurting and carrying pain so yeah I need something to lean on that’s bigger than me but I also need the church as a crucible that melts me down to make me pliable to be conformed to the character of Christ I can’t look like Jesus and not love his church I can’t look like Jesus and not be in relationship with his people I still love the church I went to uh the job site a few years back we were building a house somewhere in Houston we only live in houses for about a year and then we move so we weren’t there for very long but I went to that job site and I don’t know if any of y’all have been on a construction site I’m not Bob the Builder so can we build it no we can’t but I I went around this job site and it was absolutely disgusting I mean the workers are all in there doing God knows what they weren’t building the house that’s for sure it took forever but I was walking around and everything’s muddy and their stuff tracked all through and things are exposed and wires are hanging in the bathtub is filled with filth and I’m like this is a mess I’m supposed to live here how am I ever gonna take a bath in that that’s disgusting but it was in process of being built we cannot come into the church and expect to apply ourselves to a finished product by the time we got done with that house it was beautiful and we loved being in it and we couldn’t ever imagine leaving it but it was fitly framed together and they were it was noisy and loud and they were banging stuff together and nailing things through walls and it was messy and imperfect but when it was presented wasn’t a blemish to be seen in the same way God is building us together you can expect the mess you can expect the bumps you can expect things to be challenging and difficult at times because God is using the church to make us like him being a part of the church means sacrifice God I know we hate that word because it means the church is going to cost us something [Applause] but that’s what it is what price did Jesus pay for the church everything so what should I be willing to pay for his church coming early standing in a line having to wait to park to be a part of something greater than me that’s no cost being a part of the church means commitment when it’s hard laying down your personal preferences not because they don’t matter but because you’ve decided something matters more it means showing up when you don’t want to serving when you feel taken for granted being honest and vulnerable when you can build real relationships accepting shortcomings and Imperfections of others a mentor told me this recently he said if you follow Jesus long enough everything that happened to him will happen to you I want to be a part of the church I still love the church because God uses the church to bring us into his presence and I love the presence of God the presence of God is the promise of the gathered Church can he meet you by yourself absolutely but something happens when two or three get together and touch any one thing it commands The Authority the blessing the favor and the presence of God to show up wherever you are gathered I was shocked by this y’all I know pandemic was crazy covid was wild and now this search engine algorithm is going to bury this message but the average church member today these are people like you and me who say I love the church and I’m committed to it people’s Elevation Church that’s my church man that’s my pastor and Stephen Frederick man that’s my pastor on average we attend church once every six weeks I know you don’t think that’s true but if you actually looked at the time the average once every six weeks that’s about eight times a year that means your kids are in Sunday School learning the foundations of the faith in a community of their peers eight days out of 365. what does this say about the future of the church if this is the present reality of the church now you could say I’m weak because I need the church you could say man you’re you know you’re really struggling can’t believe you you need the church you know haven’t you seen this and read that and heard that yeah but I I follow Jesus not headlines I live according to the principles of the prophets the apostles and the chief priests Jesus himself not producers in Hollywood and when Jesus stands up to speak before the people in the synagogue the writer of Luke Luke write something very interesting he says and he came speaking of Jesus to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as was his custom he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day Jesus went to church well I don’t need the church it’s just me and Jesus Jesus come on wait to the church and then after the Holy Spirit win to the upper room and the New Testament Church was birthed the scripture goes on to say with one Accord they continue to meet not weekly daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house so we had theological tribes that say it’s church on Sundays and we have other tribes that say this should be house to house well if I look at the scripture which is the Authority for my thinking and my Paradigm it tells me they didn’t just meet at houses they met in churches okay this is this is where I knew this was going to happen so Jesus went to church the New Testament Believers went to church Paul started planted in pastored churches a quarter of our Bible is God’s instructions to churches so what should that say about our instruction our imperative we can’t reject the New Testament Church’s priorities and expect their power [Music] we can’t reject Jesus priorities and expect his provision I was in Louisiana recently Lafayette Louisiana Lorna and I were there which Lorna is here with me my beautiful wife can you just give her a hand for being anointed and beautiful Lafayette Louisiana and we were announcing the launch of the church with our our our friends and uh it was an incredible morning and I got up and I told the people that we were planting a church and everyone was so excited and they clapped and all that and there was a guy apparently sitting in the room and he said when you said you were planning to church I I thought I’m going to give you uh a thousand dollars and he told me this after and I was thinking wow thousand dollars that’d be absolutely amazing you know that’s that’s an incredible we can buy goldfish for the children’s ministry for a week with that that’d be that’d be phenomenal so so then he comes back and he actually gets a picture with us and he’s like when I walked away from the picture God spoke to me and said don’t give him a thousand give him ten thousand so I thought okay I’m gonna give you ten thousand dollars and he told me that right before we snapped the picture I’m gonna give you ten thousand dollars I’m like oh my goodness this is absolutely incredible it’s amazing well later on that evening we went out to dinner with the pastor he said I can’t wait till the end of this meal because I’m gonna tell you something that’s gonna absolutely blow you away I’m like awesome I can’t wait to hear it do we have to wait till the end because I’m on the Daniel Fast and this whole thing is torture so if you could give me some good news no I won’t be angry so so we get to the end of the dinner and he says two people call me today from the church each of them are going to give you one hundred thousand dollars to start your church I was in Ruth Chris [Applause] make a brother shut [Applause] so I was talking to the guy that was a thousand and then ten thousand I found out it was him he said I was thinking about it and God started talking to me this is a businessman on several businesses sold several businesses he said the Lord said you invest a hundred thousand dollars in businesses every year why don’t you invest in My Kingdom and he he was so excited about it most people would write a hundred thousand dollar check with Dread and trembling hands he was so pumped why because he felt his soul aligned with a gift in service of The Giver for the ministry of the church I still love the church because God uses the church to connect us to our purpose God uses the church as the context for the gifts of his people to be discovered developed and distributed we shouldn’t have to go into musical theater to develop believers who love Arts we shouldn’t have to go to coding camps to learn how to do technological things that I don’t understand we should be able to excavate the gifts of the people within the body of the church to meet the needs not only of the people in the church but beyond it you want purpose get your soul aligned with the gift in service of The Giver ministering to the church now I’ve got these uh guitar strings here thank you creative team for pulling this together and uh these are elixirs so they’re they’re really nice premium premium strings here and uh it’s actually their guitar strings so you have to know the context so that you can understand the design but what’s amazing about this string is that it’s free doesn’t it look free it’s just it’s free it it can move it responds it reacts you could probably do things with it I don’t know maybe you would want to lock your kids in the pantry with it so that you can enjoy 10 minutes of peace and quiet it’s just the thought I’d never do it or maybe if you were Balling on a budget and you found the one you could cut it and make a little guitar engagement ring because it’s love that’s all that matters I’m sure that it could be useful for a lot of things but it’s only designed for one see this string is free to do what it wants but it was created to be connected and we will never see the full potential of this single string until it is connected to something greater than itself come on E where’s EA come out here eat yeah yeah yeah grab your grab grab the guitar grab the guitar cause we about to preach some of you have been trying to operate in your maximum capacity and you feel Limited you’re not limited when you get connected you’re limited when you’re disconnected there’s only so much this thing can do by itself but it’s only activated in its purpose when it’s connected to the guitar now here’s the beautiful thing can you got some rope can you come out here a little bit you turned up yeah cause you’re about to shred here’s the amazing thing is called a headstock it’s the head of the guitar this is called the body there is a connection point between the head and the body and it’s a guitar string and the only way for the string to operate and its potential is to not just be connected to the head which is where most of Christianity is right now me and Jesus got a thing going on me and Jennifer and talk together driving the car together really for me and we think that that’s the definition of following Jesus but will never be fully connected to our purpose until we take what is connected to the head and connect it to the body you gotta get connected to the body this is the living breathing Body of Christ he doesn’t just build buildings he fills people with his spirit and when you get connected to the house you operate to your maximum capacity come on and give God some praise right now he gave you a purpose but your purpose is connected to other people here’s the problem with our society we have elevated individualism over everything else being you and being an individual is at the highest premium in value the problem with that is when individualism is the highest value oh God help me say this we end up cannibalizing each other our gifts our talents and our dreams to climb to the top of the tower of success only to find out that loneliness is the name of the hotel and there is no one else there but us we made it but we’re alone I want to be connected when we want autonomy not attachment that’s why we’ve been dating her for 10 years I got a guitar string right here we can get it right today that that’s why that’s why we go into the job looking for the back door because we think autonomy is the greatest aspiration but when that happens we limit ourselves now here’s a beautiful thing e just play one string just one [Music] wow isn’t that impressive play it play that string one more time well special it’s special now now play it in harmony with some other strings like maybe just a chord okay so that it’s a little bit better okay now give me just like a little something where you use the fretboard a little bit and just move on it just a little bit uh-huh go ahead he [Music] [Applause] better play yay I’ll catch the Holy Ghost right now [Applause] here’s the interesting thing you know what creates the sound the tension see so many of us want autonomy and not attachment because we don’t want tension but where you feel the tension is where you find your purpose foreign [Applause] to just fling around out here and do my thing there’s no sound that can be developed because there is no tension but when you are connected to Christ who has become the head of the church and you are connected to the body and you are willing to put yourself in tension you become God’s intention for the body that you are serving here’s how I want to tell you if you see a problem you’re probably the solution if you wish my church did this and my church did that and my church did this and my church did that if you’re able to recognize the problem why don’t you recognize yourself as the solution because the thing that you see is a thing that you can solve so instead of criticizing what the church isn’t doing why don’t you get yourself connected to the body so that he can do something Supernatural through you come on and give God praise for the church I still love the church I still love the church where’s the band at clock is right God wants to accomplish something and he’s going to use his church to do it your gift was designed to impact the church not just the culture thank you don’t lay your life down for the culture don’t let your family down for the culture lay it down for the church because God has designed the church to declare Jesus on the mountain and Jesus in the streets Jesus in the ghetto Jesus in the White House Jesus in every country Jesus on every continent he wants to use you to do it it’s more revolutionary than Apple it’s more valuable than an nft it’s more virtuous than a social agenda it’s more exhilarating than SpaceX it is his track and the Gates of Hell shall not Prevail against Church raises sound of praise and worship in this place as a fresh commitment to what God wants to do throughout hey thank you for watching the Elevation Church YouTube I want you to subscribe that way you can know when we go live and post new content make sure to leave me a comment let me know what spoke to you today where you’re watching from and what we can pray for you about and if you’d like to support the ministry financially you can click the give button now and help us continue reaching people around the world for Jesus Christ thanks again I’ll see you next time