We started off this particular sermon this week by asking what the church is and why we exist. For many people, church is a building that we gather in, usually on Sunday mornings, in order to worship God. But there are a few different problems that can arise when we think about the church in this way. First the church is a place, not the people. Growing up, one of the first songs I remember learning in children's choir goes "We are the church together." and goes on to say "the church is not a building, the church is not a steeple, the church is not a resting place, the church is the people" complete with hand motions. But somewhere as we grew older, this vision of the church being the people has been replaced with the idea of the church being a particular place. Which can lead to a second issue, when the church is a location then we can choose whether to go or not. But the church is not voluntary. The church is compulsory if we believe in Jesus Christ. We are drawn together under one Lord and one baptism. If we are a believer, we are part of the church.
Instead of seeing worship as being the church, worship instead is a particular time that informs our common life together. Here we pray as one, to have the heart of Jesus and to seek together to follow the Lordship of Christ. And if we truly worship together, not as individuals wanting our personal needs to be fulfilled, but as believers seeking to fulfill the mission and ministry of Christ, that can change us.
What is the church to you and how does the church bind your heart to Christ?
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