Church Time

Hopefully everyone here goes to church, I assume that all of you go at least go once a year?
For a lot of us, church is a building that we walk into every Sunday morning. Repeating the same routine, go to youth service or go to service with parents, buy a soda, sit there and wait until you go home. This is the idea of church in America, a place where we go and get it over with. I hope this isn't the attitude that you take with you into church, but if it is lets take a look at who the church is and what the church was created to be.

WHO:
The church is not a building. Jesus made many statements about the church. The one that angered many Jews most was His announcement that if the Temple was destroyed, He would build a new one in three days (See John 2:19-21). Though Jesus was referring to the Temple that exised in the architectural sense, He was really speaking of His body. Jesus said that after this temple was destroyed, He would raise it up in three days. He was referring to the real temple-the church-which He raised up in himself on the third day (see Ephesians 2:6).
Since Christ has risen, we Christians have become the temple of God. At His resurrection, Christ became a "life-giving spirit" (1 Corinthians 16:45). Therefore, He could take up residence in the believers, thus making them His temple, His house. It is for this reason that the New Testament always reserves the word church (ekklesia in the greek) for the people of God. It never uses this word to refer to a building of any sorts.

WHAT:
The church was made to represent Christ on earth. Having Christ in our lives, in our hearts, and in our actions is the church being the church. The church is not about seeing how big of a building you can have and slapping the name church on it. The mission of the church is the same mission of the Gospel, to spread the news of Jesus resurrection and redeeming love. The church is not a building, but a movement of believers that share the love that has been given to them by God through Christ death and resurrection.

Questions to think about and respond:
1) Do you see yourself as "the church"
2) How has the church being inside of you and not a building changed the way you live? Has it changed the way you live? Have you ever thought about this before?
3) How can we continue to "be the church"?

Don't get me wrong here, I am not saying we should do away with church buildings. The reason for these buildings is a gathering place of believers to worship their creator. But when it gets distorted, when things get out of whack and people start to see the church as a building is when there is a problem. The church is you and me, not a building, it is our responsibility to continue to share the gospel and grow the church.

Respond