Dear Grandchildren:
There has been a lot of discussion about the problems for Christians because they can’t go to church these past several weeks. For Grandma and I, it’s been over three months since we last physically went to church. The problem isn’t we have to be in a building, but God calls us to gather as a Body, which is the true church. Think about this, Grandchildren: After the resurrection of Christ, the believers didn’t have a place to gather, so they gathered together in homes and wherever they could to share their experiences in Christ.
Most folks think the church is an old building with plenty of stained glass and straight wooden pews. But it turns out, calling a church a building is like calling a Jesus follower a two-by-four.
It turns out, church has never been a building. Church is all those Jesus’ followers gathered together in his name. The plural of a group of Jesus’ followers is called “church.” It’s a way for the followers of Jesus to say “we” and “us”.
Jesus never meant for his followers to be alone. The first thing Jesus did to start his ministry was to call his followers together. In Matthew 18:20 (NIV), Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I with them.” God has always made it clear that he doesn’t live in a building built by humans.
Remember, in the 2nd Chapter of Acts when 3,000 believers joined the kingdom. The followers were all together in prayer, sharing communion together, and having all things in common, even selling their possessions and sharing the monies with the poor. This was the real “church” or body following Jesus, and every day they grew in numbers.
Starting with the early formation of the church, a striking thing happened: these Jesus’ followers became a family-a family of God. These Jesus’ followers started calling one another brothers and sisters.
The goal of the Body is helping one another to follow Jesus. This is the key reason to gather, to build up one another in our faith in Jesus Christ. And since death is a non-issue, we gather to share our experiences of following Jesus, our Savior and Lord.
Grandchildren, these next sentences are most important! There are no churches. There is only one church. One Church! Sure there are many buildings that shelter Jesus’ followers from the elements and there are many names posted on these buildings, but there is only One Church because there is only one family-the family of God.
Sure there are differences in the Body as one would expect, but there’s only one family because there is only one Father.
So is the Church an old building with pews, chairs, and an altar? No!
The Church is a world-wide family of devoted followers from every age, every race, and every country imaginable! Talk about diversity! This is the family of Jesus’ followers.
So you see Grandchildren, you and I are the real church. When we trusted Jesus to save our souls, “we” became the true church. Someday soon, the real church “people” will be able to meet together in buildings and that will be wonderful.
In closing, Grandma and I visited our friends, Jack and Nancy Steele in their home last night for over five hours and you could say we had church together! We shared food, prayed with each other, and built each other up in our walk with Jesus. It was church and it was wonderful!
Until next time,
I love you,
Grandpa