We Are the Church

"Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord." -Ephesians 2:20-21

It seems there is a lot of confusion today about what is the church and what isn't. Often we get confused about the church building where we meet versus the people within the building.  But when Jesus references the church in the New Testament, He is referring to the body of believers, His disciples, that believed in Him and the power of the resurrection.

A man I know had a life-threatening disease at the age of 17.  Someone learned about it, and came to pray for him. The doctors said he had only months to live.  But, when the man came to lay hands on him and pray for him, miraculously, he was healed!  He became a Christian as a result of this miraculous healing.

Today, this man is alive and well and has lived far beyond the 17 years the doctors said he would live.  He has a family, a great career, and if ever God asks him to pray for someone else’s healing, he cannot help but pray for them.

We live in the midst of a hurting world, filled with people who don’t have any hope. Most of them will never set foot inside of a church building, and the only Jesus they will ever see is us.  Isn't it time we rise up and BE the church God has called us to be?  We are not a building - we are a body of people who believe that Christ died for our sins and rose up on the third day.  Of the 40 miracles in the book of Acts, 39 were in the marketplace.

Are you a part of this body of believers, the church?  Let God's holy Spirit flow through you today, so that you can be the true representation of Jesus that the world so desperately needs to see.

Building God's House

 

"This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,' says the LORD. 'You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?' declares the LORD Almighty. 'Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. -Haggai 1:7-11
 
Five-hundred and twenty years before the birth of Christ, a prophet named Haggai cited the urgency of rebuilding God's temple after the Israelites were freed from captivity some 18 years earlier. In Haggai 1:3-4, it states, "Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: 4 'Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?'"
 
Although only two chapters long, the book of Haggai is an important reminder for us to not loose sight of building God's kingdom on the earth and to build His house. Although we tend to live very busy lives, we need not be so concerned with our own houses that we forget God's. This is, after all, the place where we find our purpose - in living out our calling in Him.

When talking about the word "church", there are two distinctions we should make. There is God's house, as in His temple where we gather together and worship Him, where we establish roots and make connections with other believers, and then there is building His kingdom here and now by worshipping Him in everything we do, and together as a body of corporate believers. This doesn't depend on denomination or where you worship. "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?" 1 Cor 3:16 Revelation says that Jesus is coming back for His bride, (as in the church, "Ecclesia", the body of believers) and Ephesians talks about this bride being "without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." Eph 5:27

Building God's kingdom in both of these areas involves sacrifice. It involves giving up selfish desires so that God's nature can be revealed in us. Most often, this happens in three spheres: Time, treasure, and talent. Are we bringing our gifts as sacrifices to Him? God in turn promises to bless us when we honor Him with our sacrifices. "'From this day on I will bless you.'" (Haggai 2:19b) The local church is where we can offer up these talents and treasures and where blessing can flow from our lives. Being planted and connected to a good local church is like being planted next to a river with unending supply.

Are you neglecting the place where you bring your worship, your gifts, or your talents? May we each be connected to a healthy local body so that God's purposes in us might be fully revealed in every aspect of our lives.