We haven't been to a church building in quite a while. During the children's address the Pastor said something to the effect of:
'We believe through faith. And our faith grows by learning about God. And where do we find God?'
Silence. I consider offering a million answers...
'In...' Jordan and I glance uneasily at each other, 'He's not really going to say it, is he?', our eyes ask.
'In church!' he exclaims, beaming. We shake our heads quietly.
So today I learnt something new: God can't be found in our homes. He isn't there as we share with our children or talk to our workmate, isn't out with the homeless, comforting the widows, celebrating with the newly weds, crooning at a new baby - if we want people to see God, they have to come to church! Silly me, all this time I thought God was bigger than that. I don't know, 'omnipresent', perhaps?
7 comments:
Amen to that! If what the Pastor said was true then why do we have Christian Schools hey?! My goodness. Mind if put a link to that post? It might prevent a rant of my own!
Joel and I have both read and re-read 'The Practice of the Presence of God'. What an amazing little book, filled with truth and inspiration for daily life with Christ. I pray you are both blessed by it.
Hello Ellie, a good blog entry... but isn't God, as you say, omnipresent. In the voice of a comforting friend in the midst of our grief, in the hand of the Salvo who gives a homeless man soup and in church in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. Yes, the balance needs to be restored where God has been restricted to a building, God is everywhere, especially wherever his children go and this is something that has at time been ignored. But in that building we call 'church' God meets us the church - the body of Christ - in a very special way that is logistically improbable for the rest of the week. Another case of both and, not either or.
You are aware of the need for balance. Thanks for your entry.
Cheers adrian
Cheers adi
Hey Jordan and Ellie! Interesting thought Ellie. We have have been doing much thinking along those same lines since we have been travelling. Thanks for that! Just wanted to say hi! We are going back to Canada in 3 days. We have been having all kinds of fun here(we are in Cairns right now), check our blog for all the details, hopefully I will be getting pictures up soon! Take care guys, keep in touch.
Blair and Bec
hey ellie I really like that cartoonchurch.com website. I was surfing through it earlier today.
good stuff! L)
For what it's worth I think it's also about considering what else the body of Christ offers us in fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Sure this can be done in homes, in the workplace, in the shopping centre etc etc but much of our support, friendship and solace in times of need, have come from those who we meet on a Sunday in the church building, and whom we may not meet directly with on other days. Over time too that much broader support manifests itself in the solidification of the values that we hold dear, that our children have seen in others as they mature and develop their own faith. Sure we may be mixing with a select few if we weren't meeting in a church building, but children operate on a concrete level and they learn by what they see.....they see us all working together as the body of Christ meeting each others and our own needs on a scale they may not otherwise see. Food for thought.
Hi Ellie, thanks for a very intesting post (and thanks to Rachel for telling us about it!). I get your point, but I can't help but think that we might be missing the point that the Pastor was trying to make. The reason I say this, is because I've said similar things myself. Let me explain what I mean. I agree that 'church' isn't just a building, but we call it a 'church' because the Church (the body of Christ) gathers there. Doesn't Jesus himself give us the promise that where two or three are gathered in his name he is there also? Now I don't think Jesus is saying that he can only be found in church, but for our sake he promises to be with his people whenever they gather to worship him. Why would Jesus make a promise like that? Not for his sake, but for ours. When I think over my life there have been many times when I didn't feel that God was very close to me at all. I think that's why Jesus' promise is so important to me. In fact, at times like that I hold on to that promise that when I go to church (ie. when I gather with God's people in his name)he is going to be there for me, reaching out to me, holding on to me whether I can sense him there or not. If this isn't true, then why go to church at all? Of course God is with you in your homes, at work, at schools, etc. But one place we can go and we can be sure that God is with us and even more specifically that God is giving himself to us in miraculous ways is church. Yes, more than just a building... a gathering of believers in God's name. And isn't that what church buildings are there for? Food for thought anyway...
Matthias
BTW. Sorry I haven't got the drama stuff out yet... will make it a priority for this next week! M
Good discussion! And what a nice surprise to see that you're blogging! I feel similarly to Matthias on this one. I think, also, that this is partly why home churches are growing to be so popular these days - people know that God exists in all good things and so why not worship at home? (I'm aware that there is much more to the home church movement and I'd be interested to hear more). I feel that God has given us church buildings as a gift - a place that we set aside and join together as a community to worship.
Post a Comment